First, that was Britain's directive, not the US, though the US definitely indiscriminately bombed cities in both the European and Pacific theatres as well. Seco

First, that was Britain's directive, not the US, though the US definitely indiscriminately bombed cities in both the European and Pacific theatres as well. Second, Germans were conducting a campaign of area bombing against London in the Battle of Britain and the Blitz, as well [1]: 'The Luftwaffe, which Hitler had prohibited from bombing civilian areas in the UK, was now ordered to bomb British cities.' So this attitude of 'total war' was not one-sided and was precipitated by Germany's "accidental" bombing of British civilian areas, followed by their expressly deliberate bombing of civilian areas. None of this makes this right, but World War II was not the finest hour for anyone in the conflict, and people were generally responding in kind to defend themselves. This was before many of the international norms that are in place today existed. Third, I have already said repeatedly that the US has blood on its hands, but I have also argued that our military policy has evolved considerably since 1945. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_bombing_during_World_War_II#The_Battle_of_Britain_and_the_Blitz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_bombing_during_World...