Hiroshima and the terror war

Ramesh Ponnuru, proving that conservatism hasn’t totally lost its soul, has an article cautioning against loosening the restraints on the means by which we fight wars. Conservative pundits like Max Boot and Mark Steyn have been citing anguish over the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (as well as the bombings of Tokyo, Dresden, etc.) as evidence that we’ve become pantywaist pacifists in our conduct of war (never mind that “smart” bombs are nowhere near so smart as to guarantee no “collateral damage”).

Mr. Ponnuru, however, rightly points out that there are limits to how much collateral damage is morally acceptable, and that intentionally targeting civilians constitutes crossing a bright moral line. He wonders if those who defend the bombings of World War II can logically rule out targeting civilians in our current “global struggle against violent extremism.”