Better to end the war this way than let it continue.

What about Koln and Hamburg as well? Or even Tokyo, Ataki, Kobe and Osaka? The worst thing about Dresden was that its main purpose, as far as Harris saw it, was not to end the war, but to show the Soviets what the RAF was capable of, in case they wanted to move any closer West. People somehow justify the attacks on Dresden by saying the German people got exactly what they deserved for the way their country handled the war and the for the Holacaust in general. I just wonder how many citizens of Dresden knew the situation. Having a leader that controls every media outlet in the country, a second point of view wasn't all that available. Reading stories in Anthony Reed's 'The Fall of Berlin' really makes you understand how little the people of Germany actually knew, abou the war, their country, and even the atrocities that their government committed.

This is one of the most shameful things the U.S. has ever done in a war. There was no justifiable reason for bombing a purely civilian target.

People hello,there were not a lot of military targets in London or any other UK cities and the Germans bombed them. So they were not as good at it as the allies. Besides they started it, they invaded Poland. They should have thought about the consequences when they started bombing civilian targets.

A totally ruthless action, with no real redeeming military value. It falls somewhat under the category of Let's do it just because we can, as there seems to be, at least in hindsight, no other justifiable reason for doing it.

To those who bewail the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, take note: this was the worst and most devastating bombing attack of the war. Done with the full knowledge that Dresden was a non-military target, it was entirely unnecessary. Having said that, only fools and dreamers expect wars to be fought without the death of the innocent. Appalling actions are a normal by-product of war, and will be until the ending of the world.

The fire bombing of Dresden killed more than 135,000 people - more than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki COMBINED. The appalling thing about Dresden is that it was a civilian city. No munitions, no soldiers, no military targets. The bombing of Dresden was ordered with the express purpose of breaking the Germans' will to fight, in full knowledge that it would be a civilian massacre. Those who want to know more should read Vonnegut's anti-war classic, 'Slaughterhouse Five.'

An entirely unnecessary massacre which accomplished exactly NOTHING. Appalling and sad, but it is unrealistic to expect only level-headed and sane thinking in wartime. Both sides kill innocent people, whatever the war, whenever the time.