Bombers have no effect on the war? (The real one)

[Gemini]

Never thought about it that way.  Maybe we will wise up someday.

and maybe the moon is made of cheese

[Shifty]

Shifty added the Waffen-SS to the list, although I though it was generally agreed upon that they committed war crimes...

No you added them to the list I just made a remark about the uniform in your avatar. The list si all your doing. I do find it amusing you leave the Luftwaffe off your list.

[Oldman731]

No you added them to the list I just made a remark about the uniform in your avatar. The list si all your doing. I do find it amusing you leave the Luftwaffe off your list.

Guernica, Warsaw, Rotterdam, London, Coventry, Belgrade, Stalingrad....hey, those were honest mistakes, quite different from deliberate terror raids.

Blood and honor, Shifty, get with the program.

- oldman

[GScholz]

It depends.  If you are part of a citizenry that voted in a regime and supported its conquests then you probably have in mind that your city (in the days of WWII weaponry) might get bombed as a consequence of your nation's activities, whereas if you are a passive dweller in a conquered country, you probably have in mind that that it's not just for you to be rounded up and killed.

Perhaps, if not for the fact that the German people thought they were the defenders. After all, France and Britain declared war on them right?

“Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”

- Hermann Goering

[GScholz]

When the firebombs started raining down on the Japanese civilians Japan had lost the war a long time ago. Conventional strategic bombing alone would not have broken the Japanese fighting spirit; it didn't in Britain in 1940, nor in Germany in 1945. Only nuclear warfare could achieve that since you can't hide from "canned sunshine". Strategic bombing in WWII was a failure, and a huge waste of resources. By today's standards it was also a crime against humanity.

So is the uniform in your avatar.

----

No you added them to the list I just made a remark about the uniform in your avatar. The list si all your doing. I do find it amusing you leave the Luftwaffe off your list.

Nah... You made the connection. And now I see others like Oldman pile on the "they did evil things too!" bandwagon. "Other people did it too" has never been a reasonable or viable defense for war crimes (or any other crime for that matter).

[GScholz]

Blood and honor, Shifty, get with the program.

- oldman

Huh, the US Marines?

[Shifty]

Huh, the US Marines?

(Image removed from quote.)

Again.. The list is yours, you're the one making the list and you made this list and made your moral judgements while proudly displaying the uniform of one of the most evil regimes in history. Which I pointed out to you. As for the photo they dishonored the American flag by displaying that filthy SS flag below it. They were reprimanded for it, not worshiped as heroes of the state. A far cry from wearing the symbol as part of their uniform and purposely killing non combatants and POWs as part of their regular duties and swearing allegiance to a lunatic who started a world war by attacking his neighbors. You're grasping at straws and you've still failed to add the Luftwaffe the very people that wrote the book on terror bombing to your list. Your misguided Teutonic hero worship isn't going to change history. Germany started the war using the very tactics you denounce. In fact Germany's leader publically called for the complete and utter destruction of cities. You can blame the USAAF and RAF Bomber Command until your swastika's fall off but what happened to Germany in WWII was brought on by Hitler and the German people who supported him.

[GScholz]

"...while proudly displaying the uniform of..."

 

[Shifty]

"...while proudly displaying the uniform of..."

 

What would you call it? A giddy smarmy looking Nazi character is not most people's first choice for an avatar.
You seem to be quite proud of it.

[GScholz]

Personal attacks is all you have left. Pathetic, but not unexpected, and quite amusing. 

[Oldman731]

"Other people did it too" has never been a reasonable or viable defense for war crimes (or any other crime for that matter).

While this sounds nice, it's just not so.  The most obvious example in our current context is that the Germans weren't tried for their own "terror bombing" war crimes.  "He did it first" is a recognized basis for self-defense in criminal law, for equitable estoppel in civil law, and has been a general principle of society, everywhere, since someone first came up with the "eye-for-an-eye" notion.

That doesn't make the conduct pleasant, or even useful, you understand.

- oldman

[Vraciu]

Huh, the US Marines?

(Image removed from quote.)

Those don't look like Marines to me...

[Vraciu]

What would you call it? A giddy smarmy looking Nazi character is not most people's first choice for an avatar.
You seem to be quite proud of it.

It is from that Tarantino film.  The guy was a dork.

[Brooke]

Perhaps, if not for the fact that the German people thought they were the defenders.

That's a valid point.  I still think, though, that there would be a difference in feeling about their situation between a citizen of Germany post 1940 subject to bombing and, say, a person living in the Ukraine or Poland subject to being rounded up and executed.

[Brooke]

People often say that Germany started the war, but Germany and the Soviet Union together, as allies and with a pact to divide up Europe between them, started the war in Europe.