Your article is disturbing. You cannot ask the question "are assassinations effective?" without reference to critical legal, moral and political issues that you did not mention. Legally and morally, the taking of any life without due process, including judicial review, is wrong. This should be the case even in warfare when the individual is not part of the combat. In this sense, assassination is a violation of international law and human rights law. As important, it is not a "strategy" that should be carried out or supported by anyone who wants a world governed by the rule of law, including the norm of not killing the public figures of any country. No country wants its public figures killed by its enemies. Assassination is and should be forbidden. We don't want a world where our leaders avoid assassination only by the hit or miss of the efficacy of their security systems. The US should both avoid using assassinations (which it hasn't done) and should condemn it when carried out by others. Sadly it does not provide this leadership.
Your article is disturbing. You cannot ask the question "are assassinations effective?" without reference to critical legal, moral and political issues that you did not mention. Legally and morally, the taking of any life without due process, including judicial review, is wrong. This should be the case even in warfare when the individual is not part of the combat. In this sense, assassination is a violation of international law and human rights law. As important, it is not a "strategy" that should be carried out or supported by anyone who wants a world governed by the rule of law, including the norm of not killing the public figures of any country. No country wants its public figures killed by its enemies. Assassination is and should be forbidden. We don't want a world where our leaders avoid assassination only by the hit or miss of the efficacy of their security systems. The US should both avoid using assassinations (which it hasn't done) and should condemn it when carried out by others. Sadly it does not provide this leadership.