Is
it morally acceptable for the United States to conduct targeted killing in
another country?
One of the questions that some people still ask
today is if it right for the United States government to conduct targeted killing
in someone else’s country? One of the reasons why this question is still being
asked is because the United States has been known to kill terrorist and
suspected terrorist on foreign soil without permission from the government of
those other countries. For example, Osama Bin Laden who was responsible for the
911 attacks was hunt down and killed in Pakistan by one of the US finest seal
teams. In addition, “there has been an expansion of targeted attacks using
Predator drones in a number of countries, including Libya, Pakistan, and Yemen,
where no active war is actually being conducted” (Banks, 2013, p. 240-241). Even
though I admire the fact that we capture Bin laden and many of these drone
attacks have been successful in wiping some of the other suspected terrorists,
I do not fully support the targeted killing that is being conducted by the
United Stated, and here is why.
First
of all, as Banks (2013) points out, “nation-states are required internationally
to respect each other’s sovereignty and therefore do not ordinarily conduct
hunts in other states, let alone carry out targeted executions within their
territory” (p. 240). Therefore, when the United States just decides to go into
someone else’s backyard and do what they want, I find that kind of action to be
very disrespectful to that other country. If we are going to be the leader of
the world we should set the example and show leadership in every area and do what
is right, which is as Banks (2013) also explains, submitting an application for
extradition to the host state using the agreed-on legal processes set out the
extradition treaties for the host state to arrest the fugitive (p. 240). This is
what I believe should be at least tried first, because in addition to killing
the suspected terrorist many innocent civilians sometime get kill during these
targeted attacks. If the host state fails to do their part then we take further
action.
Reference
Banks, C. (Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and
Practice. (3rd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Publications.
