This Wednesday, we will be discussing assassination missions.
Can it ever be justified?
If so, under what criteria?
Do dictators who do not respect democracy and the fair judicial system also forfeit their rights to a free trial?
Can we afford waiting for the slow gears of due process while there is great humanitarian suffering under dictatorships?
Bin Laden, Saddam Huessain, Gadaffi; would the world be better off if they were assassinated? Is that the criteria for deciding?
Who decides?
Did Saddam have a fair trial? Is it possible to have a fair trial under the mob mentality so prevalent when years of dictatorship change?
Can we reason with dictators or should we join their value systems of might is right and fight it out?
How do we justify the continual suffering of the victims while we try to have due process?
Or are assassinations just a simple act of revenge?
Bring your ideas for our discussion this Wednesday!
As far as the U.S.A. is concerned, Executive Order 12333 which has been in effect for quite some time says that officially assassination shall never be a policy of the American government. This especially entails assassination of political figures. Terrorists may not be political figures. The law may have changed too, but you could google the executive order number. CL
ReplyDeleteAs far as Israel is concerned, you might also google or look up on Wikipedia "Munich" (film) by Spielberg (2005, I think). Israel (or government officers thereof) had someone who was perhaps a Canadian executed because he was working on advanced weaponry for Iraq -- quite a long time ago. I think it may have been called a 'supergun' using artillery which may have been capable of very high altitudes. Are weapons scientists who travel ever a legitimate target for targeted killings? CL
ReplyDeleteIf the public was involved in political assassination wouldn't that become a civil war? Of course the alternative does little to alleviate concerns. In the words of Bob "I shot the Sherif, but I didn't shoot the deputy." Then again, lots of people have been incarcerated for aiding in political crimes. Probably a good thing. Everyone's innocent till proven guilty. Right? Detaining war criminals could be a better solution, no?
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