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Is it acceptable to target (i.e. kill) civilians in war?

Topics: Philosophy   Crime   War   Ethics   Terrorism  

Background

Civilian casualties are inevitable in war, but is it an acceptable strategy to explicitly target civilians?
 
Is it acceptable to target (i.e. kill) civilians in war?
Logically, if Disagree then Disagree with Were the atomic bombs dropped on Japan justifed?
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Agree
AnswerExpert
Quote
United States President,1945-1953
The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians. But that attack is only a warning of things to come. If Japan does not surrender, bombs will have to be dropped on her war industries and, unfortunately, thousands of civilian lives will be lost. I urge Japanese civilians to leave industrial cities immediately, and save themselves from destruction.     
09 Aug 1945   Source
Christian Philosophy Professor
...if the enemy deliberately places his forces in a manner to increase the losses to noncombatants because he knows we’ll not shoot at those forces... we are justified in worrying less about noncombatant casualties as a result of this or that attack, because if we don’t worry less here and now, the number of noncombatant casualties overall will increase significantly.     
01 Apr 2003   Source
Leader of Al Qaeda
And as I looked at those demolished towers in Lebanon, it entered my mind that we should punish the oppressor [i.e. the United States] in kind and that we should destroy towers in America in order that they taste some of what we tasted and so that they be deterred from killing our women and children.     
01 Nov 2004   Source
Disagree
AnswerExpert
Quote
Former Prime Minister of U.K.
It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of bombing German cities simply for the sake of increasing the terror though under other pretexts should be reviewed. Otherwise we shall come into control of an utterly ruined land. The destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of allied bombing. I feel the need for more precise concentration upon military objectives rather than the mere acts of terror and mass destruction, however impressive.     
28 Mar 1945   Source