“As far as casualties were concerned I think there were more casualties in the first attack on Tokyo with incendiaries than there were with the first use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The fact that it's done instantaneously, maybe that's more humane than incendiary attacks, if you can call any war act humane. I don't, particularly, so to me there wasn't much difference. A weapon is a weapon and it really doesn't make much difference how you kill a man. If you have to kill him, well, that's the evil to start with and how you do it becomes pretty secondary. I think your choice should be which weapon is the most efficient and most likely to get the whole mess over with as early as possible.”

—  Curtis LeMay

The World at War: the Landmark Oral History from the Classic TV Series, p. 574

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Curtis LeMay 13
American general and politician 1906–1990

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“We’re at war with Japan. We were attacked by Japan. Do you want to kill Japanese, or would you rather have Americans killed?”

Curtis LeMay (1906–1990) American general and politician

From his autobiography, also requoted in Rhodes, 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb', p. 596

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