However, and this is a serious question, if your homeland, your town, your neighborhood, were being invaded by a foreign aggressor, illegally, if your people were being bombed, strafed, shelled and shot at, what "rules" would you obey?

Would you do whatever you could to impede them, or would you have some "rules" you'd follow?

The US is being a bit careful about civilians here, for the first time in recent history, because of Arabian concern. That area is tense enough, and the unmitigated slaughter of civilians would cause more problems than it would solve.

Rightly or wrongly, in that neck of the woods we are identified with the Israelis, whose tender mercies are expressed very often with American arms and funded with American money.

Sorry. That ain't "compassionate conservatism", it's pure practicality.

Anyway, I'd be curious to know what conservatives would regard as "fair" if they were defending their homes.

Arf