Assassination - Re: What is the moral course

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>---- Original Message -----
>From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu>
>
>>The progressive goal has to be to focus that military response narrowly on
>>those responsible, a sentiment that has widespread support with the public,
>>who have been heard repeatedly to say they want blood, but the right blood.
>
>-You mean assassination, or "targeted killing" in the media parlance
>-of the moment about Israel & Palestinians?  I'm opposed to reversing
>-executive orders & legalizing it again, though I'd expect that in the
>-coming weeks & months more would advocate such a course of action.
>
>Secret assassination has a problem, since it's disallows democratic
>accountability.  But I have no conception of why progressives should be
>opposed to public assassination, unless they are complete pacificists.
>Killing the leader of an enemy nation or organization seems infinitely
>preferable to killing drafted soldiers or many civilians.  In many cases,
>assassination may be ineffective, but that is a separate issue from the
>moral concern.
>
>-- Nathan Newman

For the sake of clarification, would you tell us if the above is 
something you say speculatively only in venues such as LBO-talk, 
thinking aloud so to speak?  Or is it your considered opinion, 
something you might polish & publish as an op-ed piece in a 
large-circulation newspaper?  I ask because sometimes people write 
things for e-lists, etc. that they would not dream of writing for 
print media (which are somehow perceived to be more "serious" than 
electronic ones).

Yoshie