Did all of us feel interested in bombing buildings only when the men we slept with were urging us on?
—Jane Alpert (b. 1947)
The compulsion to do good is an innate American trait. Only North Americans seem to believe that they always should, may, and actually can choose somebody with whom to share their blessings. Ultimately this attitude leads to bombing people into the acceptance of gifts.
—Ivan Illich (b. 1926)
How much atonement is enough? The bombing must be allowed as at least part-payment: those of our young people who are concerned about the moral problem posed by the Allied air offensive should at least consider the moral problem that would have been posed if the German civilian population had not suffered at all.
—Clive James (b. 1939)