[jimt]

Why did God also require the killing of the Canaanite children?....However, we can speculate, and it is possible that these children would have gone on to commit the crimes of their parents.

We can also speculate that God had nothing to do with it, and that the Israelites were trying to dress up a horrific act by saying "God made me do it".

You can put a tuxedo on a pig but it's still a pig.

[Aquinasfan]

We can also speculate that God had nothing to do with it, and that the Israelites were trying to dress up a horrific act by saying "God made me do it".

You can, and many people do, but I don't find the argument compelling.