Suicide

The other day I started a post about the widespread use of the term "cowardly" in reference to suicide bombings. From September 11, 2001, to the present, that has been the epithet most predictably applied to such attacks. In the post, I was going to say:

I don't get it. I can see how it might be cowardly to drop bombs from an airplane beyond the reach of ground fire, or to launch a cruise missile from a ship hundreds of miles from its target, or to fly one of those Predator drones from the comfort of your office in Langley. But suicide bombing? Nuts, maybe, but not cowardly.

But then came Virginia Tech, and I was glad I never finished that post. Something about the killings there made me question its conclusion, although I'm still not sure why. Is it that the victims at VT were in some way more innocent than other victims of suicide attacks? Why would that be? Is it, perhaps, because the attack there was not political, was not an act of war?

Or was it?