To: politics.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk
Re: Why we should express shame and regret for what British bombers did to Dresden

Date: Tuesday 2 November 04

Dear Sir/Madam,

An expression of shame and regret for what British "bombers" did to Dresden in particular and to other German cities in general, is long overdue, not just, or even primarily, for the sake of Germans, but for our own sake and credibility ("German tabloid demands apology from Queen for wartime air raids and "Sorry, the war is over").

If it was justifiable for Britain and America to deliberately target and kill 10's of thousands of enemy civilians when fighting a war they were already certain of winning, how much more justifiable it is for Palestinians, for example, to deliberately target and kill relatively small numbers of Israeli civilians today in their struggle for liberation.

If you want to remain a barbarian, at least be consistent. Nothing is more despicable and loathsome than a hypocrite. And that is not all, or even the worst of it: it perpetuates a vicious circle of justified barbarism.

Barbarism is barbarism is barbarism. It is barbaric to target civilians - whether in Dresden or Hiroshima 60 years ago or in Tel Aviv today.

Expressing shame and regret for the barbarism of one's ancestors is a first, but very necessary step away from our barbaric past and towards a more just and humane future.