War is crime. It's preposterous to frame it as not a crime. Crimes will happen in war, whether a "good" war or war on the "bad" side. War is crime. There should be no confusion about that.

In the end, would have the Japanese population suffered more with a conventional ground war vs firebombings or atomic bombings? I believe the consensus is stopping the war as quickly as possible spared the population the worst of it.

Then we agree, and that was my point, Allied bombings of mostly civilians is a crime.

Not "Allied" but all bombings, including Axis bombings of purely civilians were a crime. However, you have to make a decision do you engage or sit back and watch the larger crime happen?

In great wars like this the distinction between military and civilian is tenuous. Japan, like Germany, was thoroughly a martial economy.

If you start a fire, don't complain later you got burnt.