[hermit22]

I'd have to look back at the Geneva Convention docs to ensure that it specifies non-combatants (ie. priests) as combatants. But we'll assume it does (I don't think so; witness the Noriega operation). Wouldn't attacking that church be a horrible thing to do politically? When we try to devise the rules and methods of national security, we must do so with the popular effect our actions will have in mind. We were so bent on destruction of the Soviet Union that we became myopic in this regard - which is, in large part, why we're seeing the current backlash. If we start attacking any mosque a soldier runs into whether or not they attack from inside its walls, it will appear to be proof of Islamic extremist rhetoric about our inherent evil.