[Avodah] Milchemes Mitzvah vs Onshei Beis Din

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

Rav David Stav (chairman of Tzohar)
<http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4711092,00.html> recently
ruled that harming neurtalized terrorised would be a "moral
breakdown".

    People who are not involved in murderous activities and those who
    no longer pose a danger must not be harmed.

    The blood boils when you see Israeli Arabs, young and old, who have
    been making their livelihood from Jews, murdering children, soldiers,
    women and men indiscriminately, without any gratitude. ... It is
    precisely on these days that the strength and uniqueness of the
    Israeli society is put to the test.

    These days, when the boiling blood is mixed with civilian willingness
    and resourcefulness, it's important to maintain our moral superiority:
    To avoid harming a person who is uninvolved in murderous activity,
    and to avoid harming those who have already been neutralized and no
    longer pose a danger.
    ...
    It's not because they are immortal. They deserve to die, but that
    is not our way. Harming a terrorists who has been neutralized
    causes double damage: The collateral damage is when these images
    are distributed, and the main damage is harming our moral norms. We
    will not stoop down to our enemies' despicableness, and we will not
    contaminate ourselves with a moral breakdown.
    ...

There is a metzi'us question that is off topic for Avodah and not
likely to yeild productive discussion on Areivim: RDS sees the
resulting images in the media as increasing the threat to Jewish
life. I would have assumed that the overall effect would be to
reduce the number of Arabs willing to try copy-cat attacks.

I raise the topic of metzi'us not to launch that discussion, but to
note the whole calculus involved, that we have to raise this kind of
reasoning altogether. Is this kind of math what underlies the mitzvah
aspect of a milkhemes mitzvah? Is a defensive war, or a war to kill out
a harmful barbarian tribe of killers (Amaleiq) a mitzvah because it
means the fewest deaths overall? An obligation to chase the lesser evil?

RDS raises the issues that "the main damage is harming our moral norms",
and many understand the Beris Shalom that HQBH cuts with Pinechas to be
exactly that -- a guarantee against such damage. Certainly soldiers,
and to a lesser extent even mohalim and shochetim, face this issue
of being desensitized. And yet, in all those cases, it is outweighed.

As for the question in my subject line, to elaborate:

In war, the calculus of life is much different than in court. Including
having more allowance for collateral damage.

Does anyone discuss the line between treating an attacker as a criminal,
and thus subject to however beis din ought to be judging and punishing
benei Noach, and when the attacker is seen as part of a hostile force,
where aggression is more readliy legitimate?

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             It's nice to be smart,
micha at aishdas.org        but it's smarter to be nice.
http://www.aishdas.org                   - R' Lazer Brody
Fax: (270) 514-1507