This diary attempts to examine the dynamics and patterns of the infliction and justification of civilian casualties in modern war, as well as the shifting approach of contemporary morality to the subject. It is not my purpose or interest to assign the label of "worst bad guy" to anybody, or to lionize any particular militaristic entity. In general my view is in line with the ancient insight that he who kills a man has killed all of humanity, and that degrees and gradations of moral culpability and comparative blame are meaningless in the face of the phenomenon of war and the tragedy of death, leaving only cold rational calculations and historical analysis as possible modes of intellectual interaction with this topic.
I do recognize that there is a difference between the intentional targeting of civilians for the purpose of terrorizing a given population, and the willingness to see a certain number of civilians killed in order to hit a valued target, and this possible distinction is among the topics that I will examine below the fold.