It is a tragic reality of war that some civilians will be killed even if the soldiers and leaders on both sides strive to attack only military targets. In some cases, civilians simply happen to be near military installations or other legitimate targets.
Nevertheless, people of good will recognize that there should be efforts to minimize casualties among peaceful civilians in times of war.
So what sense can we possibly make of a recent, brutal attack on a Catholic church in Iraq by radical Muslim terrorists?
About a dozen al-Qaida terrorists invaded the church as parishioners peacefully worshipped. The attackers threw hand grenades and began firing on the hapless worshippers. A priest was thrown to the ground as he pleaded with the murderers to spare his congregation. He was promptly killed in a hail of bullets.
The terrorists held the parishioners who survived the initial onslaught hostage until Iraqi security forces stormed the church. At that point, some of the terrorists detonated vests filled with explosives.
The final death toll was 58.
Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed almost 3,000 Americans, British Prime Minister Tony Blair made some remarks that are also apt in the wake of the savage attack on the church in Iraq:
“They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the innocent,” he said of the terrorists. “If they could have murdered … 70,000, does anyone doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it? There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: Defeat it or be defeated by it.”
He added, “And defeat it we must.”
He was right. Humanity simply has no alternative when confronted with such mindless cruelty.