[MarkL]

that's illogical. If someone preparing to defend themself makes it ok to kill them, then its ok to kill anyone except people who willingly walk into the gas chamber.

Not at all... If someone is preparing to become a combatant in a war, then they are fair targets... I am not a believer in a "fair fight" when it comes to fighting a war. I believe that if you're going to take the hideous plunge into war, then you have to be ready to use overwhelming force against the combatants.

The fact is if someone makes an obvious attempt to not be a combatant then the military has the moral obligation to try not to involve them. However, if a civilian attempts to "defend himself" against a military force, then that person is a combatant.

Mark

[HaveGunWillTravel]

Well, whether or not one is a combatant, it would seem that if one is simply preparing one's self for defending against an attack, this should not make it any more ok for the attacker to be attacking them. Relying on the moral obligations of an attacking military to leave those who are not defending themselves alone is foolish. If you are going to be attacked, preparing yourself shouldn't give the attack any greater justification. If you are killed by someone you didn't personally provoke, you have then had your right to be left alone violated. If being willing to try to defend yourself against an attack makes it ok to attack you, then you should be able to defend yourself with overwhelming force. Heck, it should then be ok to attack everyone pre-emptively. We should just nuke everybody right now. (Before we lose our advantage.)