Dresden was a transportation hub and despite being considered an ‘open city’ the city was home to over 300 small-to-large factories that were turning out war materiel for the German forces. The rail yard was full of arms and ammunition as was evidenced by multiple observed secondary explosions during the bombing raid. The synthetic oil refineries were also valid military targets. Add to this the presence of flak units deployed around Dresden as seen in the German newsreel, “Die Deutsche Wochenschau”, of 8 September 1943 and it is clear that the city was a valid military target.
That a bunch of Germans perished in the attacks bothers me not in the least given that had the Germans been able to do the same to an American city there is no doubt that they would have.
Yes, that is what war is all about. In reality there is no such thing as a innocent civilian. Collateral damage is a misnomer. Anything that weakens the enemy's will to fight is OK, the no-no is the enemy becomes stronger in their will to fight. Something that Rumsfeld mentioned.