Civilian Casualties as Collateral Damage: Are they Justified?

War is a social practice that publicly violates the most universally acknowledged ethical restriction - the commandment against killing - and yet is a common vocation. The assumption that civilians are entitled to special protection in times of war is generally presumed rather than established. But the idea of civilian or non-combatant immunity is doubly difficult to apply. The resulting civilian deaths may appear to be unavoidable tragedies, yet they are not inevitable. The massacre of the vulnerable is its most heinous incarnation. Thousands, if not millions, of young soldiers die, and their losses are grieved yet accepted.