Iran Situation

[Belsnickel]

(01-15-2020, 12:03 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Real question, are there really legitimate legality issues?

Soleimani was listed by the US as a terrorist for almost a decade before Trump came into office. I have never heard anyone deny that he is responsible for hundreds of US military deaths and thousands of injured.

Sure we can debate on if it was wise/worth it to kill a foreign leader and that's a valid topic to debate. 

That said, at the end of the day he was a designated terrorist, leader of a designated terrorist organization (a labeling that spanned 3 different US Presidents) who was responsible for killing hundreds of US troops and injuring thousands. That seems pretty open and shut as far as legality goes. It doesn't matter if you're powerful in another country. If you're a non-US Citizen directly going to other countries to arm and train people to murder US troops, I can't possibly see how there's a legality issue.

Yes; there certainly are legitimate legality issues/questions. Assassinations are prohibited under US law. This is, of course, one of the big problems with targeted killings by drone to begin with. In addition, though, the whole reason the idea of an "imminent threat" is brought up is because international law prohibits such killings of foreign officials not on a battlefield unless there is evidence of an imminent threat. Just because he was responsible for many deaths doesn't make the assassination legal under international or US law. Designating his unit as a terrorist organization was done simply to muddy the waters on this, but he was still a foreign official of a recognized state and acting on their behalf.