The United States and Assassination Policy: Diluting the Absolute - Reagan, Clinton, and Bush Presidencies, Before and After 9/11 Attacks, The Israeli Example, Iraq War and Targeting the Husseins

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This report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. The U.S. has reached a crossroads with its policy regarding assassination. Executive Order 12333, which explicitly and absolutely prohibits assassination, is still in effect. The ban, however, has been diluted and circumvented since its inception. Past administrations have targeted enemy leaders with "indirect" strikes such as the 1986 attacks against Libya and the 1998 missile strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan. Currently, the U.S. deliberately targets individual enemies, whether in the context of an armed conflict, such as Afghanistan or Iraq, or in the war on terror, such as the November 2002 Predator Hellfire missile strike in Yemen. This ostensibly duplicitous policy has caused controversy for the U.S., both internally among policy makers, military leaders, operatives, and the American public, and externally with the international community. This thesis examines the evolution of U.S. assassination policy, and proposes recommendations for modernizing the Executive Order. The intent is to provide decision makers with a clear point of reference, and a framework for determining when assassination is the best—or at a very minimum, the "least bad"—possible option for dealing with the complex and dangerous threats of modern conflict.

This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

I. Introduction * A. Recent Assassination Episodes * B. Diluting The Absolute * C. Thesis Roadmap * II. Past Analysis: Defining The Undefinable * A. Bullets With Names * B. Defining Assassination: Context Is Everything * III. U.S. Assassination Policy Before 9/11 * A. The Executive Orders * B. Reagan and Assassination * C. Internal Agitation * D. Bush and Assassination * E. Clinton and Assassination: The Agitation Continues * F. Congress Steps In * IV. U.S. Assassination Policy After 9/11 * A. The Day the World Changed * B. Bush (George W.) and Assassination * C. Yemen: The U.S. Breaks the Paradigm * D. Iraq: Targeting The Husseins * C. Carrying Barr's Torch * V. Assassination Policy Tensions * A. The Murky Waters * B. Moral And Ethical Debate * C. Legal Debate * D. Political Debate * E. Practical Considerations * VI. Assassination Policy: The How and the Who * A. A Framework for Decision Makers. * B. Testing the Framework: The Yemen Case * C. Who Should Carry Out Assassination Policy? * VII. The Israeli Example * A. An Enviable Position? * B. The Wrath of God * C. The Al-Aqsa Intifada and Assassination * D. International Condemnation * E. Defenders of Assassination * F. Relevance to the U.S. * VIII. Conclusions And Recommendations * A. Penetrating the Haze * B. Policy Prescription