France, Syria and Afghanistan, children appear to have been specifically targeted by killers focused on the ethnic/religious identity of the victims. Such murders appear senseless and especially cruel to most of us – inhuman. Whether revenge may be some inspiration is irrelevant as hate toward a whole people/civilization appears the overwhelmingly purposeful message. (Victims in France appear to be targeted on basis of being perceived as non-indigenous French). During the Holocaust to Bosnia to Rwanda, genocide wholeheartedly included children. The cruelty of the means of murder was intended as provocation for cycles of killings that would never allow for the reconciliation of beliefs or peoples. We may have believed that we as humanity were beyond murders of children and genocide. We are not. The war in Syria evidences that children there have also been targets. As in Bosnia, I suspect that the killing of children is intended to create an impregnable sectarian divide - to provoke and send message that nothing is shared nor will be including the land. Hate politics needs an enemy, and murder of children is an effective provocateur. Targeting of female non-combatants has also served a similar purpose, perhaps even more effective. One could violate/rape a woman/girl repeatedly while killing a baby/toddler happens in one overwhelmingly damning moment that appears to condemn all of humanity. (It is perhaps the clear moral perception of an artist that connected the murder of a baby to repeated sexual assault of women/girls to ethnic cleansing to the loss of one’s humanity in Angelina Jolie’s film about genocide in Bosnia & Herzegovina – “In the Land of Blood & Honey” - See our Blog for Film - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/angelina-jolie-directorial-debut-tears-raves-sarajevo/45630 ). During the writing of this short article I have sought to avoid any mention of ethnicity/religion of perpetrators. Identifying the murders may only serve their motive to serve us hot plates of hate and induce hunger for not only revenge but also define The Other in less than human terms. We must see the child victims as all of our children. We must see the killers as being possible to be products of any of our societies. We are not protected from being either victims or perpetrators by our religious identity. Best deterrent is sense that we are part of one human family, a shared humanity and fundamental values inspired by faith (or ideology) that emphasizes victimization of one is victimization of us all and crime by one is a stain on us all. By Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey – Follow @MuhamedSacirbey Facebook = Become a Fan at “Diplomatically Incorrect” Twitter – Follow us at DiplomaticallyX See more at our Popular Video Blogs & Current News Event Articles at diplomaticallyincorrect.org/c/war-crimes-justice