01-15-2020, 01:22 PM
(01-15-2020, 01:04 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: If General Clarke was specifically taking a hands-on approach, then yeah, sure. Also if General Clarke was actively targeting civilians would be a large factor in it as well.
(Not to say I wouldn't say the US shouldn't retaliate for it in that instance, just saying at that point he stops being a non-combatant/just an official.)
How hands on was Soleimani? Do we actually know? In addition, the targeting of civilians of another nation isn't our business as far as I'm concerned.
Anyway, none of that means that he is not a foreign official. He was acting on behalf of his government and so the assassination was very likely a violation of international law.
(01-15-2020, 01:04 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: The US loses Green Berets who are out doing that job, and the US doesn't treat it like illegal assassinations. Three were killed in Niger like 2-3 years ago.
Three operators that were in the field and ambushed with the team they were working with. That's a very different situation and wouldn't be classified as a targeted killing, much less an assassination.
(01-15-2020, 01:04 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Granted, this is also my opinion as a person who believes we should just mind our own business and let the world police itself if it's not directly effecting us. The only ground presence we should have in the ME is what we need to support the ships that protect US shipping lanes.
I don't disagree with this, at all.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
