Obama finally apologizes for murder by drone strike... since it was an American

[AFTT47]

I imagine a lot of people are familiar with the rather odd 1985 movie, Real Genius. The premise was centered around a college physics professor developing a powerful laser capable of vaporizing a human target from space. Much was made of the fact that this was assassination and therefor unethical. They weaseled around the issue though by focusing on the fact that the professor wasn't personally doing shit, embezzling the government grant while having his genius students unwittingly doing the work.

The real-life drones aren't as sexy as the fictional tiny shuttle with the killer laser but idea and end result is exactly the same. We kill people with the push of a button - without trial. It is assassination. Whether it is justifiable or not is another issue.

I personally took part in Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990-1992 and did often muse that it seemed like a lot of work because of one asshole (Saddam Hussein). It would have been much simpler and much cheaper (in terms of resources and lives) to just kill the bastard. Would that be ethical? Kill the one son of a bitch without trial in order to save lives on both sides? I don't think it's a simple question. Maybe there is no correct answer.