02-21-2003, 09:44 PM
Here is why.
1. The decision to start the war was Hitler's. He cried havoc, and let slip the dog of war. As the elected leader of the German government, no fooling, he won election as Chancellor, he did not take power in a coup, his and his cabinet's decisions led to the outcomes that included war.
2. The V-1 and V-2 attacks on London were pure terror bombing and explicitly aimed at the civilian populace of London. At some point, the Brits decided that payback was due, and that they would repay in kind a terror attack on a German city. That is the logic of a nation at war.
3. Leaders do not go to war, that would be a duel, nations go to war, and the leaders lead them. But every one is involved.
Was the fire bombing of Dresden strategically necessary? Maybe not, but you might find a Brit or two in 1945 who felt it was emotionally necessary.
This revisionism strikes me as naive in the extreme. War takes emotion to successfully conduct, it takes, really, all you have to win when it is an all or nothing struggle. Ask the Vietnamese: they gave all they had to win, and paid a heavy price.
1. The decision to start the war was Hitler's. He cried havoc, and let slip the dog of war. As the elected leader of the German government, no fooling, he won election as Chancellor, he did not take power in a coup, his and his cabinet's decisions led to the outcomes that included war.
2. The V-1 and V-2 attacks on London were pure terror bombing and explicitly aimed at the civilian populace of London. At some point, the Brits decided that payback was due, and that they would repay in kind a terror attack on a German city. That is the logic of a nation at war.
3. Leaders do not go to war, that would be a duel, nations go to war, and the leaders lead them. But every one is involved.
Was the fire bombing of Dresden strategically necessary? Maybe not, but you might find a Brit or two in 1945 who felt it was emotionally necessary.
This revisionism strikes me as naive in the extreme. War takes emotion to successfully conduct, it takes, really, all you have to win when it is an all or nothing struggle. Ask the Vietnamese: they gave all they had to win, and paid a heavy price.
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete