Bomber Harris was nothing more than a War Criminal. Knowing that Stategic Bombing was having little effect on the German War industry he kept it up as a way to break the spirits of the German Civilians. He did not give a stuff on whether there was or was not war industies in the Target Area , just as long as he killed as many civilians as they could.
Bomber Harris stands shoulder to shoulder with other winners like Heydrich, Himmler and Dirlewanger.
Harris had a responsibility for the RAF personel, who went to Germany, and their safety would have been at the forefront of his mind. Why was this wrong?
With the Technology avaliable at the time, precision bombing was very difficult, and RAF losses were unacceptably high. Area bombing WAS succesful in hindering German industry, it DID reduce the losses to RAF bomber crews, whether you think it was justified or not.
If area bombing was to be avoided then the only alternative would be precision bombing, and if the RAF and later the USAF as well had tried that the losses would have been too large to make it worthwhile, and would have prolonged the war, as it was it diverted German units which would otherwise be used against the Russians, the British or the Americans.
As for the bombing of Dresden, the matter in which people have claimed is a war crime, 23% of the Industry of the City was destroyed. The infrastructure was destroyed, and the communications were severely hampered. This is important as Dresden was a centre through which German Troops were heading to the Eastern Front, also in relation to it being called a 'war crime', the Soviets used the bombing during the Cold War to help promote the cause of Communism, and create an anti-western athmosphere, with these factors combined, I disagree that the bombing was a war crime.
As for the claim that Harris was no better than Dirlewanger, Heidrich or Himmler, that is a simplistic and false comparison. That implies that he was on a par with the mass killings of the holocaust, which is false, and does not take his reasonings into account.
Harris is much maligned, and I dont feel its deserved.