It’s been awhile so it seems again it’s time for a helpful reminder that noncombatant immunity isn’t just a good idea, it’s the law.
In other words: You’re not allowed to kill civilians.
Killing civilians is against the law. Killing civilians makes you a criminal.
Yes, but …
No buts about it. You’re not allowed to kill civilians.
And, also: You’re not allowed to kill civilians.
This is neither new nor controversial, yet putting the matter in such stark terms always seems to upset people.
On the one hand, this isn’t surprising since the killing of civilians has become a scarcely remarkable, dog-bites-man commonplace. Yet it’s still surprising that anyone could find this elementary notion upsetting: You’re not allowed to kill civilians. If you’re one of those people who finds this upsetting, bear in mind what it is that you’re upset about. Apparently someone you feel ought to be immune from criticism has been killing civilians and you feel I’m criticizing them by pointing out — in the most abstract terms, without any mention of particulars — that this is something that no one is allowed to do.
"What you really mean …" people say — because they’re certain that when I say "You’re not allowed to kill civilians" I must really mean something other than "You’re not allowed to kill civilians" — "What you really mean is that you’re not not allowed to target civilians."
No.
What I really mean — and again it’s not just me, or my opinion, or my preference, it’s the law — is that You’re not allowed to kill civilians.
