TARGETED KILLING

For centuries, the United States has been known as the nice guy that would never stoop to targeted killing or assassination, in short murder, outside the confines of a battlefield. Such conduct is thought to be beneath the morality of the citizens of the United States. Is it illegal to incorporate targeted killing instead of arresting and implementing the full measure of due process? Is it ethically wrong to target an individual of another country that has perpetrated hostilities towards the United States?
From law enforcement’s point of view, it is immoral to kill another human being suspected to have committed a crime without applying due process. First, to assassinate an individual outside the boundary of a war zone is unethical. Second, assassination is a violation of human rights, a principle element of our foreign policy. Last, it is a violation of human decency and in direct violation of the values of the United States (Patterson & Casale, 2005).
The United States has conducted and succeeded in targeted killing operations as far back as World War II. The United States intercepted communications traffic of an inspection tour to be conducted by Admiral Yamamoto, Imperil Leader of the Japanese Navy, planner and leader of the Pearl Harbor raid that produced thousands of casualties (Potter, 1985). The United States executed 8 operations to kill Fidel Castro, and in 1986, Operation El Dorado was ordered by President Ronald Reagan that executed an air raid to kill the Libyan leader, Muammar Qaddafi. The attempt was not productive and didn’t meet the desired results. Rather, collateral damage was inflicted and resulted in the death of the Qaddafi’s daughter (Blum & Heymann, 2010).
In 1981, President Reagan published Executive Order 12333 banning assassinations. Following the 1998 bombing of American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, President Clinton issued a presidential finding that authorized the lethal use of force against targets in Afghanistan. This resulted in the release of Tomahawk cruise missiles at a remote location in Afghanistan in an effort to destroy participating Al – Qaeda membership to include Bin Laden. As a result of 9/11, President Bush broadens the geographical locations and targets of targeted killing to locations that include Yemen and Pakistan. Secretary Rumsfeld established “Hunter Killer” teams to dispatch terrorists. Further, President Bush authorized the Central Intelligence Agency, and the military, to kill American citizens if they were to be found organizing and carrying out acts of terrorism towards the United States and their interests. Government lawyers now have the ability to side step Executive Order 12333 by legally executing Targeted Killing Operations under the umbrella of Counter Terrorism (Blum & Heymann, 2010).
The first targeted killing outside the battlefield occurred in Yemen with the use of a drone. With the authorization of the Yemen government, President Obama ordered the murder of the terrorist Al-Harethi, who was suspected in the bombing of the USS COLE. Since that time, operations spread to Pakistan without the knowledge of the local government (Blum & Heymann, 2010). Is it ethically wrong to kill without evidence, witnesses, and due process?
A moral argument to support and justify the use of targeted killing should respect the values of law enforcement and war. Every effort should be made to formally apprehend the suspect through any legal mechanics. Active members that are involved in the planning of a terrorist act should be appropriately and accurately identified, especially in the absence of uniform. Targeted killing should only be used as a last measure, when all other means have failed, with an emphasis on the limitation of collateral damage (Blum & Heymann, 2010).
In the United States if one were to change the paradigm from law enforcement to counter terrorism, targeted killing would never be immoral. The event can even bring overwhelming public support i.e. the death of Bin Laden.

References

Blum, G., & Heymann, P. B. (2010). Laws, Outlaws and Terrorist: Lessons from the War on
Terrorism, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Patterson, E., & Casale, T. (2005). Implications of Targeted Killing. International Journal of
Intelligence and counter Intelligence. 18 (4): 638-652
Potter, E. B. (1985). BULL HALSEY. Naval Institute Press (ISBN 978-087021-146-3)