Targeted Killing and Just War

Is Targeted Killing a part of Waging Just War?

Abstract

The number of targeted attacks by the armies of Israel and the USA against terrorist leaders has been increased since the beginning of the 2000’s. One of the most important events of this process was the targeted attack against Osama bin Laden at the beginning of May in 2011. These missions consist of attacks with lethal violence against one named person of the enemy, and are called targeted killing. According to the claim of the executive sides, targeted killing is a part of the just war, at least in principal. In what follow I examine the question whether targeted killing could really be a part of just war. In short, according to my answer, terrorist leaders like Osama bin Laden are materially innocent, but morally non-innocent, namely symbolic, threats, and for this reason, they can be attacked justly in self-defense by targeted killing. Before examining the question directly, I briefly clarify the concepts of just war and targeted killing.