Well, Churchill was not a political idiot. Harris followed direct orders, and was disgusted with Churchill's perfidity in that statement. Indeed, Harris demanded Churchill withdraw the memo about Dresden condemning "acts of terror and wanton destruction", and Churchill did so, though as ever the withdrawal was much less widely reported than the memo.
My grandmother (no idiot) showed me a propaganda leaflet from 1941 she had kept, which claimed that the 'Blitz' had had no chance of success against the stout British people, but also claiming widespread bombing of German cities would succeed.