Killing civilians

In the news are reports that Trump had to reverse his statement about purposely bombing civilians, mainly the families of ISIS members. He was told this was illegal and he changed his mind. The laws regarding war were codified in 1899. Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague, II), July 29, 1899 There are many rules in this code and here are just a few. a. To employ poison or poisoned arms; b. To kill or wound treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army; c. To kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down arms, or having no longer means of defense, has surrendered at discretion; d. To employ arms, projectiles, or material of a nature to cause superfluous injury; In WW 1 and WW 2 these rules were broken on a regular basis by all sides. It is agreed to by experts that the US could have won WW 2 without firebombing civilians in Germany and Japan but they did it to save the lives of American soldiers. The same can be said of the use of the Atomic bomb. Would American citizens, if asked today, change their minds and agree to sacrifice the lives of American soldiers to save civilian lives.