Because the laws of war is different when you have civilians as your main targets? Here is my standard reference about the subject. Note that it is critical of

Because the laws of war is different when you have civilians as your main targets? Here is my standard reference about the subject. Note that it is critical of the US -- and that ROE is still followed quite closely. Compare that to [terrorists and non democracies]. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v25/n04/michael-byers/the-laws-of-war-us-style http://www.lrb.co.uk/v25/n04/michael-byers/the-laws-of-war-u... (Are you really surprised by the content of this answer..?) ---- Edit: My answer to throwaway98237's deleted follow up comment: >> a small band of tribes from Afghanistan >> Also, the "laws of war" have evolved over time. You went from: Setting an equal sign between terrorists and real armies (which use legal weapons psychological warfare against enemy soldiers, not against civilians). To: Excusing terrorists because (a) some of them also do guerrilla warfare and (b) because the laws of war were a bit different 50+ years ago? That is just not coherent. Bye.