While the definition of the term 'war crime' is fairly recent, the murder of civilians (only one of many types of war crime) during times of conflict is hardly a new phenomenon. The only thing that's new to us who have not lived though World War 2 is that a few times, civilians from the West were killed within their own borders. Islamist terrorism, while inexcusable, immoral and criminal, has not erased the boundaries of the battlefield. History shows that even if there were ever any borders on the battlefield, they were erased long ago.