America Owes Germany No Apology for Dresden

There's some discussion online today that's one more reminder why I really dislike the Obama administration. From Pamela Geller, "Obama to Apologize to Germany for WWII." President Obama will visit Dresden during a June European tour that coincides with the D-Day anniversary. The location is significant to any student of World War II. In February 1945, Allied bombers launched Europe's most devasting incendiary air raids on the city. The resulting firestorm killed an estimated 25,000–35,000 people. The Dresden campaign is a key example of "total war" doctrine in an unconditional conflict, and Americans have no reason to apologize.

Pamela cites this passage from Free Republic:

The symbolic significance of a visit to Dresden by the American president — especially one undertaken in connection with a D-Day commemoration in France — may be missed by some Americans, but it is absolutely unmistakable for the German public. For Germans, Dresden is the symbol bar none of German suffering at the hands of the Allies. The city was heavily bombed by British and American air forces in February 1945, toward the end of the war. According to the most recent estimates of professional historians, anywhere from 18,000 to at most 25,000 persons died in the attacks. These numbers come from a historical commission established by the city of Dresden itself. But far higher numbers — ranging into the hundreds of thousands — have long circulated in Germany and beyond. The bombing of Dresden is commonly described as a “war crime” in German discussions.

It's always a cruel oddity to see German nationals criticizing the Western Allies for "war crimes." But be sure to see the remainder of Pamela's essay. She posts photographs from America's military cemeteries in Europe. And she adds, "The total number of Americans buried at the cemeteries above is 104,366 -- a mere fraction of those who died liberating Europe -- and yet an American president who confuses arrogance with leadership feels the need to apologize in Europe for the country he obviously holds in contempt."

Pictured: The Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium:

The approach drive at Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium leads to the memorial, a stone structure bearing on its façade a massive American eagle and other sculptures. Within are the chapel, three large wall maps composed of inlaid marbles, marble panels depicting combat and supply activities and other ornamental features. Along the outside of the memorial, 462 names are inscribed on the granite Tablets of the Missing. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. The façade on the far (north) end that overlooks the burial area bears the insignia, in mosaic, of the major U.S. units that operated in northwest Europe in World War II.

The 90-acre cemetery contains the graves of 5,329 of our military dead, many of whom died in the 1944 Ardennes winter offensive (Battle of the Bulge).

Hat Tip: Memeorandum.