Jimmy Doolittle was the one who used the bombers as 'bait'. All you have to do is go back to the early RAF ops over France. If it was just fighters, the LW didn't waste time engaging. So the RAF would send a long a few bombers, surrounded by mobs of fighters. The goal was to win the war of attrition.
Doolittle's motto was 'in the air and on the ground'. He wanted the LW to come up and fight. There was no incentive to defend against fighter sweeps.
I'm away from the book case right now, but it's Doolittle who I'm taking this from.
I Could Never Be So Lucky Again: An Autobiography of James H. ""Jimmy"" Doolittle - I've read it.
The RAF and the German Air Force resorted to night bombing raids as early as 1940, because they wanted to bomb each other while losing the fewest bombers. Bombers were not used as bait, but as offensive weapons.
Four engine bombers were developed in the belief, as someone earlier quoted, that "the bomber will always get through." Turns out that they were wrong, but who knew?
Doolittle unleashed 8th AF escorts over Europe to hit targets of opportunity. To put it in AH terms, he advocated "tool shedding."
Yes, it was a war of attrition. Given that the US built more than 50% of all aircraft in WWII, it was really not a contest. Reference:
Dirty Little Secrets of World War II: James Dunnigan. I do not think the Germans entered thinking it would be all about attrition. To refer to attrition as a "goal" is a stretch.
I like to be seen naked on the jumbotron with security chasing me
I'll defer Quote of the Week honors to Billy D.