Cozy Corner

Just because you're not innocent, it doesn't make you a soldier---or a terrorist. And in the course of a just war, what were those IDF soldiers' choices? Few and bad, and they took one.

Up close to the fighting, they have to take a black-and-white view. Those soldiers have to know they're doing the Right Thing. But back here, we can regret a necessity while still proclaiming it the necessary duty of soldiers in service to their community. We don't need to classify that woman as a non-civilian terrorist to say that the building had to be shelled, and she pretty much had to die... but to mourn the death and the necessity. Once we acknowledge it as a mournful necessity, then we can redouble efforts to wipe out the scum who arrange the necessity. We can add to their list of crimes that they take shelter behind old women, and put children's lives at risk to protect their own.

While I agree with you in general, I don't in this specific. Based solely on the data provided in that article, it is reasonable to infer that the three non-shooters knew what was going on, and had provided or were providing some logistical support. In a standing military, you'd call that a soldier - cooks, drivers, or other parts of the logistics tail. In a terrorist army, those same roles - should they be considered civilians?

By your argument, it seems like the KB&R cooks, drivers, and logistical tail are soldiers. When they've been captured so far, it's been reported in our press as civilian employees captured and executed. I don't remember hearing complaint about that categorization. Should we honor these men in the same way we honor formal soldiers, for their commitment to service to their country?

Not my point - you used a "captured and ..." analogy. If Hizb'allah/Hamas chose to start targeting military bases, and in a strike killed those cooks, no one should claim that they were targeting civilians. That's my point.