Discrimination: A Hypothetical Situation

The theory of jus in bello and it's principle of discrimination are meant to limit the violence to a specific group, combatants, but what would happen if noncombatants were impeding combatants on their war path?

For one example of this I can cite the fear that the United States' strategists faced that Saddam Hussein could stockpile civilians in military bases to eliminate the possibility of a bombing. The question then arises, should we kill the civilians who are forced to hide inside a base that holds a large majority of an enemies stock hold? From here an examination needs to be made by military and civilian leaders of the attacking nation about the threat that the aforementioned stock hold possesses. If the destruction of this stock hold would severely impair the opposition and create a quicker end to war would it be ethical to kill those civilians quarantined inside with the weapons and/or supplies? I think that a great source of information on the target with civilians inside should be studied, but there could be an ethical way to kill those civilians. The only possible way for the death of the civilians to occur is if it is found that the destruction of the stock hold, and consequently the civilians, would provide an almost immediate end to the fighting. This is the only case I can think of that would permit the killing of innocents other than the innocents voluntarily become combatants.