Lawler did not claim that massacre of the innocent, or surrender, were the only two choices. He specifically called them "two unhelpful emotional reactions."
He knows--- and you do too ---t hat there's a difference between indiscrimiante killing, which is murder, and descrimiante killing --- targeing the aggressor and his assets, in order to destroy them --- which constitutes a Just War.
True, but others may interpret the “extremes” as the sole choices.