[Big A]

The West is shredding its values in the name of security as nuclear scientists, terrorism suspects and alleged militants in distant lands are killed with impunity State-sponsored killing is just murder by another name
Mehdi Hasan

I think he is right. I also think that in international relations, especially in war, if one side does not play by the rules (does Iran? Do the Jihadis? Do the Palestinian Arabs?) then the other side cannot play by the rules either. Unless of course they want to lose the war. And I suspect that writers like Mehdi Hassan want the West to lose the war against the Jihadis and the rest. And so does the Guardian.

I also think that since they complain, then this type of action must be hurting them. So guess what should be done?

[Beerinkol]

The author is also wrong on this point, so it appears that he is the one with cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance abounds. To torture a terrorism suspect, for example, is always morally wrong; to kill him, video-game style, with a missile fired from a remote-controlled drone, is morally justified. I don't think it's wrong to torture a terrorism suspect particularly if it means saving lives. We no longer live in a world where rules of engagement are conducted in a gentlemanly fashion. If our enemies play dirty then we need to get down there in the dirt with them or suffer the consequences.

[tgs]

Neither father nor son were ever indicted, let alone tried or convicted, for committing a crime. Both were assassinated by the US government in violation of the Fifth Amendment (''No person shall be deprived of life without due process of law'') The Jihadis declared war. Am I right or wrong? They proved that they are not just joking about it right? September 11, 2001 was not just an imaginary event, was it? And this is the only war in history in which clowns like Mehdi Hassan and his interlecutors (the Guardian) want western countries and Israel to try each enemy soldier in a court of law before doing anything to them. Can one imagine the reaction if say in WW2, the Americans would have been required to try each German or Japanese soldier in a court of law, before shooting them? The mind boggles. I do believe in accountability but I don't believe in ridiculous extremes of it in the midst of the nasty, dirty sneaky war that the Jihadis, the Iranians and the Palestinian Arabs are waging. It would be like fighting with both hands tied behind the back.

[MannoFr]

We no longer live in a world where, if some maniac decides to kill 3 million people, we can afford to politely round them up and put them in the dock for a trial whereby they'd be given a life sentence in a cell somewhere, or, if the Guardian got its way, a parade and a peerage.

[Beerinkol]

And, of course, cute little boy on the photo.... fatherless child made orfan by the heartless Western assassins.
There is no limit to how low the Guardian press can go.

[Lt_Apple]

That just reinforces their own bigotries that they have never considered Jews to be human beings. Because they've never uttered a peep about dead Jews. That's not immoral because to them it's no different than killing rats. All they've done is drive their own point home with this.

[Slonopotam845]

Here is another angle to this issue, DOUBLE STANDARDS and HYPOCRISY by individuals and nations who should know better ... !!!
Moreover, celebrity legal eagle Alan Dershowitz argues that the non-response to Mr bin Laden's assassination from governments with a record of condemning the practice reveals the shady substance of these objections. Noting that "a US national security official has confirmed to Reuters that 'this was a kill operation' and there was no desire to capture Bin Laden alive", Mr Dershowitz correctly infers that "those who have opposed the very concept of targeted killings should be railing against the killing of Osama Bin Laden". But they aren't.

Among others, these critics include officials in Britain, France, Italy, Russia, the EU, Jordan, and the United Nations. [Jack Straw, the former British foreign secretary] once said, "The British government has made it repeatedly clear that so-called targeted assassinations of this kind are unlawful, unjustified and counterproductive." The French foreign ministry has declared "that extrajudicial executions contravene international law and are unacceptable." The Italian Foreign Minister has said, "Italy, like the whole of the European Union, has always condemned the practice of targeted assassinations." The Russians have asserted that "Russia has repeatedly stressed the unacceptability of extrajudicial settling of scores and 'targeted killings.'" Javier Solana has noted that the "European Union has consistently condemned extrajudicial killings." The Jordanians have said, "Jordan has always denounced this policy of assassination and its position on this has always been clear." And Kofi Annan has declared "that extrajudicial killings are violations of international law."

Yet none of these nations, groups or individuals have criticized the targeted killing of Osama Bin Laden by the US. The reason is obvious. All the condemnations against targeted killing was directed at one country. Guess which one? Israel, of course The ethics and realpolitik of assassination

[Slonopotam845]

a US national security official has confirmed to Reuters that 'this was a kill operation' and there was no desire to capture Bin Laden alive This was a very wise move and IMHO Israel should adopt the same policy with all known terrorists.
After the release of Gilad Shalit there was some murmuring about making laws about how many terrorists should be released to free a captive soldier in the future.
No captive terrorists would make this law mute and make them think twice. As the situation stands a potential murderer knows that he will be released in a hostage swap.
Let's get the deterent back.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Ne...sh.aspx/229943
A female officer with the Judea and Samaria Division of the police was reprimanded by a disciplinary tribunal after she had slapped Amjad Awad, one of the two killers of five members of the Fogel family Now this is really disgusting and make me quite angry. She should have shot the bastard.