Without getting tangled up in too many examples, or the politics, to my mind a "cowardly attack" is one where the victim has neither the awareness nor ability to defend themselves.
A soldier has that awareness, and if he doesn't that's bad training.
Those in the twin-towers had neither, and no matter the guts of those about to die, the victims, including the passengers, were subjected to a cowardly act.
As for suicide bombers, if they strike a military/police target, it's not cowardly, the victims know they are under threat, and should be expected to stay alert. If they strike civilians, that's a cowards act.
The Palestinians know full well that Hamas is launching rocket attacks from their midst, if they don't want to be hit by the Israelis, the choice is their own, stop Hamas themselves, or get the H out of there. They had the awareness, so have no right to complain, in my opinion.
The civilian victims in Afghanistan are slightly different, they have no reasonable hope of evicting the Taliban, and fleeing isn't a realistic option either, it's a tribal society and the Taliban will violently punish them or their relatives, so I would call the un-manned strikes that kill them as cowardly. JMO.

Apart from the last post we seem to have overlooked the fact unarmed victims are the target.
Every time non combatants unarmed, are those meant to be butchered.
And can we look at those who kill themselves while committing these crimes against humanity?
They unfortunately do not see the act as death, but the start of a perfect life.
They truly do not have the same view of death as us, are in fact brain washed, can any one say that is bravery?
And the thread of blame every thing on America is here to see, yet how do we say that about Bali?
As Pakistan readys for the explosion that surely is coming, we may see more of these brave murderers act here.
Sorry but no hero's kill innocents, they are not cowards? well they are not hero's and maybe not quite human.

csteele, my lameish point about "barracks invasion" was more along the lines about risk to the shooters. very little risk firing from a distance with planned escape route and ability to abort at a moments notice.

With a IRA ceasefire in place for a decade or so prior to these events, perhaps the fairest thing to do was declare it over so that the army could put themselves back on full alert. Two soldiers who more than likely had nothing to do with past troubles, were killed. And I'm not sure for what "benefit".

cheers

It takes courage to live.
It takes even more courage to live while letting others live as well.
It takes even further courage to live while letting others do as they want.

Yes, it takes a little courage to blow oneself up with the others - but not as much courage as letting them live and respecting their free will and being different.

So this is what renders those acts as relatively cowardly.

Maximillion,

How you view the attack on the Pentagon that also occurred on 9/11? Certainly a military target but one that also claimed the lives of innocent victims. I suppose I'm looking for a clarification of what circumstances we accept 'collateral damage' (read extreme violence against civilians) as part of the price for achieving the objectives of an attack before we call it cowardly?

I have a little more difficulty with your Hamas call. I'm not sure how much opportunity Gazan residents have to get themselves out of Gaza and why can't the same asked of those Israelis living within range of the rockets coming from Gaza? Indeed can't your sentence could just as easily read "The Israelis know full well that their government is launching attacks from their country, if they don't want to be hit by the Hama rockets, the choice is their own, stop their government themselves, or get the H out of there. They had the awareness, so have no right to complain, in my opinion."

When you say "A soldier has that awareness, and if he doesn't that's bad training." do you have any sympathy for Rojo's position that the soldiers who were the victims of the Real IRA shootings would have had little awareness of danger after 10 years of peace?

Yuyutsu
Except for your reference to blowing oneself up your missive may just as well be a plea to leave the Afghanis alone. Remember it is our counties that have invaded theirs not the other way round.

I think to have any validity a true definition of a 'cowardly attack' should be able to be applied equally irrespective of the participants.

Csteele, simply put, ALL the plane attacks I would classify as cowardly, as defined in my post.
Hamas- Since the Israeli attacks were in response to Hamas repeatedly breaking cease-fire agreements, and sending rockets at civilians at random, I don't feel you can legitimately flip my statement. The Israeli's were attacking the attackers, and the surrounding population knew EXACTLY what was coming, the Israelis published the fact well in advance. The Hamas terrorists are the sons, fathers, brothers etc of the victims, not a separate force, it was up to those they claim to be fighting for to deal with them. As for getting themselves out of Gaza, well, they all knew where the attacks would come, how hard would it have been just to walk away, to put some distance between themselves and the targets? They chose to think the Israelis wouldn't pay them in the same coin they had been spending, their mistake. And they've paid for it.
NI- While it is a valid question, it still goes to the fact that they were there for a reason, and while the pizza guys were innocent victims, those officers should have been aware of the potential, training remember. To say that someone on guard should not be expected to be on guard rather defeats the purpose of having a guard, doesn't it?
Collateral damage- to be honest, I find this one as difficult as most people. It happens, that's a fact of conflict, but as to the what, how, who, right or wrong etc, I have no simple answers. Does anyone? Even in the days of fixed battlefields there was never a time when the civilian population didn't suffer thus, or make handy victims. I have no idea how it could be reasonably prevented, short of packing all contestants off to fight on the moon.
Now wouldn't that be nice? Peace on Earth might actually mean something then, lol.