[bandleader]

This attack was VERY SpiteFul!There was Nothing Strategic in Dresden,but a huge amount of refugees fleeing the oncoming Russkies!!!Dresden will ALWAYS be a Black Mark on The Allied War Effort!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JoeProBono]

the_fog_of_war

[schurmann]

People like bandleader, PAR35, and Romulus need to get over themselves.

All praise to Colonel_Flagg for reminding the forum about Frederick Taylor’s book. But 30 seconds with a map ought to make it obvious that Dresden was a transport nexus; at the time it was hit, VE Day was still months away and the Allies were concerned that the Wehrmacht might retreat into the mountainous regions of southern Germany and western Austria, from whence they might wage irregular war for an indefinite period.

Critics of the Allied air offensives pride themselves on superior morality. They might recall that it’s easy to play the self-appointed moral arbiter from a point in time three generations later, easy to second-guess the decisions of leaders and actions of combatants in WWII. Decisions, and actions, it must be pointed out, that played no small part in making their comfort and leisure possible.

Complaining about moral deficiencies in this or that portion of the Allied war effort misses the point. The point can be framed as this question:

Should be choose to be moral, or effective?

If we do not choose the latter, we may not be around long enough to become the former.