posted by jmog
Willing to be wrong here, but beheading babies is worse than civilian casualties in a war, I figured that was pretty common sense to me
I'd agree with that point, but add the caveat that this is by purpose due to the nature of the conflict. One side is noticeably more advanced as far as military stuff goes and has a very powerful big brother that typically backs them up, giving them the ability to totally shell the hell out of the other side. So, the other side attempts to level the field a bit by inspiring fear via doing stuff that civilized people would consider an atrocity.
If anything, reminds me of studying the time period when European colonists settled America and pushed the Indians out of their lands. The colonists were more advanced military-wise, but the Indians were able to make it tough on them by using guerilla tactics and being very creative in finding horrible ways to torture and kill people they captured.
I'd argue that if you're arguing morality when it comes to war and conflict, you're lucky enough to be far away from it and that, if you are part of it, your only real concern is doing whatever it takes to win -- whether that be using force to crush the opposition or using atrocities to demoralize them.