To have their cake and eat it too: Many top minds have this pesky not wanting to be complicit in killing people thing... so say that you super promise not to work with the military can sometimes trick those people.

Hitler wasn't on track to 'get the bomb' before the end of the war.

So it wasn't an America or Germany situation, in fact nobody on the planet was close to 'getting the bomb' in 1942. Though not for lack of trying. The Manhattan project was a stupendous effort compared to anything else done to move science forward by brute force up to that that. And short of the space race nothing like it has been seen since until the current effort to bring AI into the world and in some ways it still pales in comparison.

Relatively few people on HN have a total objection to arms dealing.

For example, not many people oppose the sale of F35s to Australia or Leopards to Norway.