Re: [Marxism] It's the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Dresden

[Les Schaffer <schaffer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Carrol Cox wrote:

> But those who planned the bombing of Dresden were not "the average
> person," and what the average person thought then, or now, is utterly
> irrelevant to the understanding of what happened at Dresden.


i tried to find the reference yesterday but so far i haven't located it,
but it's now clear that scientists and military personnel  were
specifically asked to cook up a new and unique way of setting off a
destructive firestorm with conventional bombing runs. the planning
(pre-meditation) of this act was much greater than i had originally
thought.

Paddy wrote:

> So much of the historical discussion on this, and other lists, ignores
> such considerations - and really shows a very great paucity of
> imagination - discussion of history on "moral" grounds is simply
> ludicrous - it is absolutely necessary to try to imagine yourself into
> the relevant timeframe.


my uncle, who i always looked up to because he fought in WWII, was a
tank driver in Germay. Recently i asked him what it was like to fight
(thinking he'd give me some deep insight). basically he said he sat in
the tank and waited in terror to die. naturally the "average person" (in
contrast to Carrol's Dresden planners) wanted out of the war ASAP. but
this doesn't change the historical view that certain actions were not
intended ONLY for that purpose.


les schaffer

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