On the subject of Rommel, I definitely admire him for his talents and abilities as a commander. He was arguably the best ground commander in WWII. What he lacked on most occasions where he was dealt defeat was sufficient support to press home the attack. If he had the same resources as Monty, I think he'd have kicked Monty's ass up and down the desert. Look at how much damage he did, how far back he pushed the British armies with the limited resources he had. Then, even after there was no hope of attacking any further and the initiative was totally with the British (through air superiority over the desert, and dominance over, on and under the Mediterranean) he still bloodied the Allies' noses in his fighting withdrawal.
What I can't admire him for is his politics. He was a Nazi. Maybe in the end he did finally see clearly who and what he had decided to support, but by then he had thrown his hat in with people who were responsible for terrible things. It's difficult to condemn him completely, but he can't just be forgiven either. A man that intelligent and close to the seat of power as he was, couldn't have honestly 'missed' the evil going on around him. And I do agree with LR's sentiment that WWII was the closest you could get to saying a war was fought between good and evil.
As for the bombing of cities and civilians (London, Dresden, Tokyo, etc.), I don't think you can justify it. But, you have to consider it in the context of the times. Aside from perhaps the initial raids on London and the reciprocation against Berlin, the bombing of cities was based on the idea that you could break the morale of the civil populations and have the enemy sue for peace through the use of bombing. The strategy was flawed. In every case, except perhaps Nagasaki and Hiroshima, bombing civilians may have caused much death and destruction, but it only served to increase the resolve of the bombed people to resist the enemy. It's possible to say, "Well, the Germans did it first," or whatever your argument may be, but both sides did it and their hands are just as bloody.
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