Again, US would have been justified in bombing factories, bridges,
railroad tracks, etc. Just because a city has legitimate targets
doesn't make the entire city a legitimate target. If the city YOU live
in has industrial centers, then they are legitimate targets to the
enemy. However, the schools, hospitals, suburban homes, nursing homes,
etc are NOT legitimate targets. Even when only legitimate targets are
targeted, many civilians end up as casualties. That's bad enough but
when you knowingly target an entire civilian population, that's
insanity.

so the fire-bombing of Tokyo, which destroyed as much or more of that
city
than Hiroshima, is ok because it took longer and didn't target the
entire populace
-- except that we knew fire-bombing turns into maelstroms that take
out entire
cities. But that's ok, because it didn't "target" the entire city
(just most of it)?

Your logic check is bouncing.