Selective Assassination as an Instrument of Foreign Policy

How far should the United States, as a free and democratic nation, go to stop the constant encroachment by terrorists and other extremists upon not only its people but also the freedoms that form the very basis for our society? In the spirit of preserving American freedoms, the United States already employs U.S.

Army Special Forces to engage in unconventional warfare.

But what happens when these military operations fail in situations of vital consequence?

Should we take unconventional warfare one step further, using assassination to achieve political and military objectives?

Would we be justified in eliminating a single enemy to prevent the widespread death and destruction inherent in modern war? This U.S. government document examines the moral issues involved in the adoption of selective assassination as an instrument of national policy and outlines the origin and history of the practice.

That aside, it discusses in detail the planning and control of such an operation to reduce the risk of failure or compromise. Selective Assassination as an Instrument of National Policy raises the question of whether the moral laws which have governed civilized nations in the past will be adequate in the face of present and future threats by terrorists and terrorist nations.

It concludes that they will not - that the United States must seriously consider using selective assassination as a refinement of the tactics of unconventional warfare in order to permit greater flexibility in the attainment of its military and political goals.