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Killing Terrorist Chieftains is Legal
(Jerusalem Post) Alan M. Dershowitz - According to the top American commander in Iraq, Lt.-Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the U.S. Army was recently given a highly specific military order: to kill radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. This order for extrajudicial killing is perfectly legitimate and lawful under the laws of war since al-Sadr is a combatant. He leads a militia that has declared war on American and coalition forces, as well as on civilians, both foreign and Iraqi. He is at the top of the chain of command, and it is he who presses the on-off button for the killings. There is no legal or moral difference between al-Sadr and Hamas leaders Yassin and Rantisi, terrorist commanders responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths.