Weapons blessing doesn't contradict the commandment of not to kill

I guess we can justify just about anything in the name of God. But I have to wonder what happens when two armies face each other in battle, and both sides have weapons which have been blessed by priests or ministers.  And what of those canons named after saints. Do certain saints have greater power over others when it comes to canons blasting away at each other? And all along I thought that the saints were doing battle for us with their prayers for our salvation, and what they were really doing was guiding canon shells to their targets.  It really is a holy war!  That song my old great grandma use to sing to me a lot, Onward Christian Soldiers, takes on a new meaning. And what of the Battle Hymn of the Republic?

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=5404 <http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&amp;div=5404>

24 November 2008, 18:17
Weapons blessing doesn’t contradict the commandment of not to kill, the Russian Church reminds

Moscow, November 24, Interfax – The Russian Orthodox Church doesn’t see any contradictions between the commandment “thou shalt not kill” and
old Russian tradition to bless weapons and name canons and military planes after saints.

“We bless a tank and a bomber so that the enemy dares not even approach our boarders. So that to drive the enemy out, to protect our Motherland,
our nearest and dearest according to the commandment to love our fellowmen,” the Moscow Patriarchate spokesman Fr. Mikhail Prokopenko was quoted as saying by the Express-Gazeta paper.

The priest reminds, the words “those who live by the sword will die by the sword” became the “slogan of Russian army, people and state.”

“It often happens - and Yugoslavia is a bright witness to this – that foreign will can be cut down only with the strength of weapons. The sacrament of consecration is urged to multiply this strength,” the Russian Church official said.