&gt; Is the author seriously suggesting to view deliberate terror attacks against civilians the same as military strikes (drones or planes — I don&#x27;t see a difference) performed against enemy combatants, by people who are trying to minimize civilian casualties as far as they can?<p>Why not?<p>Let’s that the countries of Xanadu (“X”) and Yalü (“Y”) are at war with each other. Isn’t it meaningful to compare the number of X and Y citizens killed by each other, regardless of how it is carried out?<p>If X says “We’re careful to minimize killing Y’s civilians,” shouldn’t we judge X by how successful it is in minimizing those casualties? Or should we say, “Oh, well, X is trying their best, so no need to keep count or compare the counts.”<p>Quite obviously “terror” attacks and “military” attacks are different things. But it’s perfectly legitimate to compare them by the number of civilians killed. It shouldn’t be the only way in which we compare them. But it’s still informative to compare them.