Germany asks will Queen say sorry?

Reuters ^ | 10/29/04 | Alexandra Hudson

[fso301]

The Queen should apologize but only for the British not having the spine to stop Hitler back in the 1930's.

[Siobhan]

The Germans want an apology for Dresden?

Shall we not reply, "What about your German fire-bombing of Rotterdam?"

After the war, the German state should have been divided into tiny bits and each part forced to learn and function in a different language, with German banned, as punishment after the war. And when I mean a different language, I mean the area around Stuttgart would have had to learn to function in Quechua. And around Berlin they would have had to learn and function in Tagalog. And their language and culture should have been erased as payment for what they did to the Gypsies, the Jews, the Poles, to the British, the Czechs, and the list goes on.

But my views are very moderate on this subject...

[Pitiricus]

Well, the Krauts are sorry they didn't finish off all Jews...

Then they would have this lovely Pali state with arafart as its head (gag!)

[Noachian]

Wasn't Germany --unlike Japan before the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings-- on its knees before the bombing of Dresden?

One thing I learned a long time ago is to never second guess decisions that were made a lifetime ago.

At the time, the military commanders had information we don't have today and it was their call.

[LTCJ]

sorry the Anglo - American alliance is that we've forgotten how to wage unconditional war against genocidal totalitarian cults

I'll BUMP that.

With all due respect to those who have already given so much, we sure used to get a lot more mileage out of those three little letters.

[hchutch]

I will probably win NEGATIVE sympathy points for saying this, but here goes:
Germany, given what YOU did in World War II - consider yourselves fortunate we ONLY firebombed Dresden.

[APFel]

From what I understand (and I am recalling this from something that I have read in the past, so I will sheepishly stand by it) is that the Dresden raids were conducted in order to maximize the Soviet's traveling rate in Germany. In other words, the Western allies obliterated a site that may have caused the Soviets casualties and lost time in their march to Berlin. Clearing a hurdle by burning the hurdle down to ash, so to speak.

If anyone can verify this. I would be obliged.

APf

[Bad Dog2]

Queen to Prince Philip, "You know I mentioned the war but think I got away with it."

I'm half English and won't bore you with how many relatives i lost during the war.

It just shows you the the level of unbelievable role reversal they have assumed. Typical socialist victim brainwashing.

[jerod]

Sorry for WHAT? Sorry you picked HITLER to lead you down the road of ruin. Sorry you gassed 6 million jews.

Give it a freaking break!

[CatoRenasci]

Well, since Arminius was actually a traitor to the Romans after having been on their side, not so absurd.

Seriously, this reminds me of the MAD magazine parody of WWII movies 'then' and 'now' in the '60s where the 'now' version of a film on Pearl Harbor showed President Roosevelt apologizing to Emperor Hirohito because exploding US warships gave Japanese attack pilots headaches and earaches.

[Praxeologue]

The firebombing of Dresden has since 1980 become a socialist cause celebre. This is because the USSR blamed it on the US. When it became clear that it was GB's responsibility, the socialists were already on automatic pilot; so they are pursuing GB for an apology.

It is the natural human tendancy for humans to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions.

Old Nazis are just old socialists.

[marty60]

My thoughts exactly.

[CatoRenasci]

I'm half English

Well, then you're more English than Lizzie Windsor (actually Battenberg --"Mountbatten" as anglicized --is her married name, nee von Saxe-Coeburg-Gotha -- Windsor as anglicized). I don't think there's much 'English' in any of the Windsors except for the Spencer blood Diana brought in to the young princes.

[wideawake]

But Germany was already invaded and, for all practical purposes, defeated. Bombing Dresden was not going to save the lives of Allies and did not contribute to ending the war. (Again, if anyone knows better, please correct my history.)

Here's the time line.

From September 1944 to April 1945 the Nazis launched thousands of V@ rockets specifically to target civilians in the UK.

From December 1944 to January 1945 the Nazis fought the last great offensive of the war, the Ardennes Offensive which we call the Battle of the Bulge.

Dresden was bombed in February 1945.

From the Allied point of view, Nazi Germany was a weakened but not yet defanged beast. The Battle of the Bulge ended just a week or two before the firebombing of Dresden and the Allied command was not about to let up on the Nazis after they had almost been successful in retaking territory from the Allies. Especially since during that offensive the Nazis had just killed US and UK POWs wholesale, executions-style.

Additionally, dozens of German rockets were landing in the UK every day in February 1945.

Suffice it to say that in February 1945, with rocket bombs falling daily in London, US troops finding the slaughtered bodies of POWs and more and more reports of genocide from the East, the Allies were not too concerned about overdoing it when they bombed Dresden.

Nor should they have been.

[FeliciaCat]

This is a sickening, shamefull request. SHAME on the Germans who think this is right.

[HostileTerritory]

Have they ever apologized for murdering millions of Jews?

Yes. They actually pay annual reparations. In gold.

Those Jews sure do love their gold, don't they? Lovely. And false.

West Germany paid out a lot of money to Israel after the war to compensate people for the loss of their families, lives, and property in Europe during the war. A lot of the reparations came in the form of German-manufactured goods such as trucks and cars. I believe those reparations wrapped up ages ago. Some elderly exiles in America receive small annual checks from Austria. Perhaps from Germany as well? I don't believe the totals come close to matching what was stolen during the war by the Nazis, but that's impossible.

Many European governments, including the Netherlands, France, and Switzerland, made out like thieves with the assets of Jews who were killed. Read up on the assets of the Lippmann-Rosenthal bank in Amsterdam, where Jews were forced to turn over all their valuables (incl. wedding rings) which the Dutch government kept after the war. A lot of independent groups hushed up their involvement for 50 or 60 years, waiting for all the claimants to die. They have mostly succeeded.

Recent reparations cases have dealt with non-Jews involved in slave labor (payment for their work) and insurance policies that Swiss companies refused to recognize after the war.

[HostileTerritory]

The Queen Mother was English, I believe, certainly moreso than anyone in the family she married into. Prince Philip may be half-Greek by ancestry and not just by family residence. The family is a mishmosh, but they are mostly German with English contributions by the Queen Mother and Princess Diana.

[dfwgator]

Consider the Marshall Plan our apology.

[shhrubbery!]

Thanks for that history. I respectfully disagree not with your facts, but with your conclusion. I believe we share strongly pro-life positions, so I'm surprised to find you giving unqualified support to the bombing of Dresden.

To my knowledge, unlike Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Dresden was not of military significance. Berlin was, and I certainly don't dispute the necessity of bombing there (and Berlin was devastated -- I lived there for a year in the '70s, and even then, 30 years after the end of the war, the destruction was incredible).

One last thing: I'd just like to point out that the same German newspaper quoted in this article, Bild, has endorsed President Bush:

"Bush has learned the lessons of history. Good words do not help against violent fanatics, only military strength. With him, as opposed to Kerry, there is no waffling," it said.

"With Bush, we know what to expect. No one knows what John Kerry stands for and where he wants to lead America -- and the world."

Noting widespread opposition to Bush in Europe, Bild said that history had proved another conservative Republican US president, Ronald Reagan, to have been on the right side of history.

"We thank him for the end of the Cold War and reunification. It is very possible, that we will also be thankful to George W. Bush one day," it said.

EUROPE'S BIGGEST NEWSPAPER ENDORSES BUSH (GERMAN TABLOID PAPER CALLED BILD)

[Michael81Dus]

Yes, Germany has apologized for all that mentioned.