V2 vs. Stuka

In the current issue of the NY Review of Books Freeman Dyson reviews "Von Braun" by Michael Neufeld. Dyson makes three interesting points:

• By devoting resources to the production of the V2 rocket rather than the Stuka and other fighter planes Germany essentially gave away a very potent weapon. The rockets killed a few thousand in London, but the fighter planes were downing many British bombers. Dyson estimates that each V2 meant one less German fighter plane and ten more British bombers. He attributes the misallocation of resources as being the result of the internecine battles between the branches of the German military.
• Dyson concludes his essay with some thoughts about war and war criminals. Dyson worked for the RAF during the war and helped plan the bombing of Dresden, for which, had the Axis won, he could have been tried as a war criminal. "Even the best of wars involves crimes and atrocities, and every citizen who takes part in war is to some extent collaborating with criminals."
• Finally, "the moral imperative at the end of every war is reconciliation. Without reconciliation there can be no real peace."