Dresden, located in the middle of Germany,

was a rail base for sending soldiers to the front... used by Nazi troops to advance on the Allies

a couple of months before the war ended and every able man down to the age of 17 was already fighting either on the east (Red Army at Breslau/Wroclav 140mi from Dresden) or on the west front (Ardennen offensive)?

We know all that 67 years later, but it was not so clear at the time. Dresden was a major rail transportation and communication centre, housing 110 factories and 50,000 workers in support of the German war effort and a legitimate military target.

So Ahmedinajab and Netanyahu will be able to claim they were wrongly informed? After all, the American attack on Iraq was clearly quite justified; Iraq had WMD. Somehow I feel that the responsibility to be rightly informed is also part of the equation.

But I think we can agree, no Nobel Peace Prize for Netanyahu or Ahmedinajab.

Yeah, I can agree with that statement, but we will be giving one to Mandela or McGuinness soon enough

Nelson Mandela got the Nobel Peace Prize 19 years ago in 1993.

OK, my kind of humour needs a little work,

I am aware of both Mcguiness and Mandela, and their actions

Dresden, located in the middle of Germany,

was a rail base for sending soldiers to the front... used by Nazi troops to advance on the Allies

a couple of months before the war ended and every able man down to the age of 17 was already fighting either on the east (Red Army at Breslau/Wroclav 140mi from Dresden) or on the west front (Ardennen offensive)?

We know all that 67 years later, but it was not so clear at the time. Dresden was a major rail transportation and communication centre, housing 110 factories and 50,000 workers in support of the German war effort and a legitimate military target.

both fronts were collapsing and known to be collapsing, a military target, then why was it not hit earlier. It was a test, to let the Soviets see what could be done, no military reasoning except trying to put the frighteners on Stalin at the expense of non combatant civilians, and did it work?