[marsh2]

I expected this to discuss the overt waging of war on civilians as the breaking of a Western taboo. (Not sure if that is a rule among Muslims, but it appears it may not be. On the other hand, it appears to be a long standing tactic of some of the Irish groups and then there are the animal rights and extreme environmental groups that use it. Perhaps the ruke exists only at the international level.)

Suicide bombers, using the threat of violence upon civilians (not military or government targets) to attempt to influence political policy... Perhaps we are not all on the same page here? or are we?

[thucydides]

Your point is well taken; of course attacks on noncombatants are utterly despicable and contrary to our values. I thought Mayor Bloomberg's rhetoric was rather impoverished when he talked about an attack on a lifestyle. These are not only attacks on human beings, but on the ideas that give meaning to their existence. Incidentally, this kind of barbarism is nothing new in the region. Unfortunately, with the decline of traditional values in Western civilization, it seems to have spread, facilitated by our failure to deal effectively with it, as the Greeks would have.