The fire bombing of Dresden (which was undefended) was meant to be just that, to "terrorize" the population into submission. If you watch the documentary, General Doolittle was totally against it and was over ruled by none other than FDR himself. The documentary also bring to light all records of the fire bombing of Dresden and other non-military targets were expunged after WWII. UNLIKE Hiroshima and Nagasaki, these were completely unnecessary .
I would attribute FDR's support of the Dresden bombing to both his being an anglophile (he probably used phrases like "in hospital" and "Doctor will see you now", as well as the so-incorrect "graduated prep school") and the almost hypnotic control that Churchill held over him.
