"It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of bombing of German cities simply for the sake of increasing the terror, should be reviewed. Otherwise we shall come into control of an utterly ruined land. We shall not, for instance, be able to get housing material out of Germany for our own needs because some temporary provision would have to be made for the Germans themselves. I feel the need for more precise concentration upon military objectives, such as oil and communications behind the immediate battle-zone, rather than on mere acts of terror and wanton destruction. "
Winston Churchill to Arthur Harris on March 28th 1945
In fact Harris had a history of using indiscriminate bombing notably in Iraq in the 20's and 30's.
However there was a military objective, the fact that it was carried out without any regard to civilian casualties was part of the savagery of war. How far back should we go in all this apology business. Should the Queen apologise to the french for giving them such a beating at Agincourt. Henry V did a lot of terrorising during that ugly war. Should she apologise for terrorising the colonists during the war for US independence?
Nobody disputes that atrocities were commited by both sides during that war. Unfortunately if you start a war for what are later percieved to be bad motives you get little sympathy when you come out of it badly.
Personally I think the leaders of post war Germany did a good job of acknowledging the evils of the Nazi era in stark contrast to the Communist/socialist regimes of Russia and China - which even today have failed to atone for their enormous crimes against humanity.