targeting civilians knowingly as part of taking on a target set within a city is, quite simply, attacking civilians
In the cold war one target set was counter-value - Leningrad for Birmingham. Even where the target was very clearly a city with the DPI in the centre it was always stated that the target was 'the HQ of the Western TVD' or some such military target which we all knew was as good as naming Soboran Barracks in Lincoln as justifciation for bombing Lincoln.
We all knew the military would not be there by the time we bombed the place and it was known that collateral damage was the bonus.
I guess it was written that way even then as legal justification. Even in WW2 the target for tonight might have been 'Cologne' but this would have immediately been amplified to identify the military importance of the target.
Turning to Jane,
The best the pathfinder force achieved was 400 yards and that was similar to the Vs in the 60s. The main force would then bomb the marked target. The main force just did not have the expertise of the pathfnders as many crews would be on their first missions and creep back remained an issue until the end.
If you look at contemporary film of B17 raids you will see that they were not attempting pinpoint accuracy either. The master bomber might be leading the run but the formation would drop on command with the formation spread spreading the load.