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Verdun was concieved as an attritional battle by Falkenhayen, to the point where the lack of actual territorial objectives compromised German planning. The whole objective was to force the French into a desperate fight on German terms that would exhaust French manpower - and depending on who you be...

It seems logical that her weaponry would be removed before being "released from naval service", but I'm not sure about that. If you can supply an authoritative source that it was, I'll willingly eat crow over this. But interestingly, regardless of her actual status, Hartenstein's warbook ...

Laconia wasn't just a "liner", she was an armed merchant cruiser and thus was not entitled to such 'due process' before sinking. Not quite. She had been taken up by the Admiralty in 1939 and converted to an armed merchant cruiser but had been returned to Cunard, reverted to civilian statu...

You haven't provided a universal system of morality, you ghoulish jackass. Provide it. At least PeZook and Stas can provide arguments against me, idiotic though they are. All you can do is smarm about how old and decrepit you are. I don't have to. You made the proposition, it is your responsibility...

I don't think these people were some sort of criminals in the USSR or whatever or faced some sort of dilemma - there's no need to invent stuff. Sometimes ordinary people, soldiers or partisans alike, commit war crimes. The truth is that partisans often killed civilians or wounded. I don't know if t...

Do you happen to know if these were specially recruited guys or just the usual assortment of "hey, here is a rifle, go kill, pillage and rape" guys? I believe it was pretty much the latter reinforced by criminals who got a choice; "either do a life sentence in the Gulag or join our b...

From a Russian point of view, that might have a certain element of justification in it although opinions may differ sharply on how justified it was. Again, turning maurauders loose on the civilian population to enforce obedience is another long-standing ploy. "We'll protect you against them pro...

I didn't know the soviets used marauding bandits that much in the Winter war. I guess Stalin did not exactly care for the rules of war. IIRC the 'marauding bandits' were used to destabilize the border region for months if not years before the actual military fighting started. Sadly, looking back ov...

You haven't provided a universal system of morality, you ghoulish jackass. Provide it. At least PeZook and Stas can provide arguments against me, idiotic though they are. All you can do is smarm about how old and decrepit you are. I don't have to. you are making the proposition, the onus is on you ...

One of the blessings of the internet is that you can find material the mainstream media does not or will not show. I have seen entire sites full of graphic war photographs. I am sure many of you have come across such material as well showing uncensored images of what happens to human beings hit by ...

Morality is an individual decision. My moral principles that I used to construct my argument are that 1) killing is immoral, 2) putting somebody in danger of death is immoral, 3) soldiers implicitly agree to risk their lives for their nation and to kill others for their nation, so their deaths in t...

That's something that my system of morals allows. Bullshit. You don't have a "system of morals". You have personal opinions and you try to crush any attempt to dispute the validity of those opinions by claiming they are 'morals'. When you grow up you will learn the difference between mora...

The reason that I find it immoral is because it recklessly endangers the survivors which does not, to my mind, equal the benefit gained by sinking the submarines. Further than that, you are demanding universal morality, but I am sorry to say that the universe does not agree with you as to whether t...

There were very good reasons not to target the city-namely that the war was nearly over. Dresden was attacked less than four months before V-E day. Most of what was produced there were components, and therefore would need several months to reach the front lines as usable war material. Furthermore, ...

I see that I'm angering you, and that you might've found the profile button so you could get my actual age. Or maybe you didn't, and you're just pulling this out to try and piss me off too. Well, I'm currently suppressing a few snickers from where I'm at, so I don't think it's working. Maybe you co...

Thank you. Every time I send a little jibe your way, you live down to it. How low can you go, sir? How low? Maybe you could address the rest of my post, instead of confirming that yes, you do fail to simulate a human being. You're welcome. I see you are nothing but a dumb-ass kid. Try to grow up a ...

Slade, you attempting to serve as an arbiter of "adult" ways to behave is hilarious on several levels, but this is not the place to talk about your many faults as a simulacrum of a human being. Do you actually have any intelligent remarks to make or are you going to continue proving you a...

I am not certain about you sir, but if my steak is served well done, I throw it out. If things are reprehensible and objectively wrong, then I will object and try to change these things. You're welcome to try and I wish you luck. As I have said right from the beginning, I think the precedent establ...

I am arguing against its morality. One could easily consider valid targets that it was nevertheless immoral to attack. Dresden is generally considered to have been a legitimate target, but many people still consider its firebombing a horrific and immoral act. One could easily pick other examples. M...

Excuse me, but why is 'precedent' an excuse in this case? Is there any compelling argument for firing on ships picking up survivors? And if there is, is it ethically acceptable to do so? I can't see how, from a utilitarian standpoint, this can be considered to be a 'good' decision. Because preceden...

U-156 may not have displayed it completely properly (though clearly he [Hartenstein] and more importantly Doenitz thought it was proper), but this clearly did not constitute a war crime by today's standards (I'm not entirely sure what the standards were during WW2). Certain repeated hyperbolic clai...

Abusing and manipulating the Red Cross by displaying its flag while rescuing individuals from the water only really counts as such if you have a legalistic perspective. I would consider abusing the Red Cross to be firing or attacking while displaying the flag, or simply raising the flag after an at...

In a perfect world there would have been procedures for enemy submarines rescuing survivors. There was none and this was a total war scenario. It's hard to fault anyone involved. It was a an inevitable tragic consequence of a war as terrible as WW 2. Absolutely; I couldn't agree with you more. Once...

Thank you for once again hearing what you want to hear. You see, I am arguing from the moral perspective. I don't think so; it seems to me that your moral argument is selective and disregards the surrounding circumstances. The conduct of the U-boat and the reasons for its actions are as important a...

This argument is completely wrong. They were carrying them. Using them as human shield would mean that they were commencing an attack while having them on board or to ease their retreat. Both did not happen. If the sub just dived and went away, it would have been perfectly safe, and the fact that t...