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    Attentat: Das Problem mit dem „Zorn Gottes“

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    1. CEPAORG on

      Submission Statement: “Ukraine’s killing of a senior Russian demonstrates a willingness to pursue the dark arts. But democracies play this game at their peril.” Francis Harris discusses the complexities and consequences of state-sanctioned assassinations, particularly in the context of Ukraine’s recent killing of Russian Lt Gen Igor Kirillov. While such acts may seem justified as a form of justice, they often lead to unpredictable and severe repercussions. The piece highlights the growing trend of targeted killings and the concerns it raises among Western allies about potential retaliation and escalation, emphasizing the risks democracies face in engaging in such tactics against authoritarian states.

    2. Malthus1 on

      I dunno, the thesis seems to be that the democracies shouldn’t do these sorts of things because (a) they lead to unpredictable results, and (b) the authoritarians are just better at it, and this will encourage them.

      I don’t think the thesis is supportable.

      (a) Sure, assassinations have unpredictable results. So does war generally. However, sometimes you don’t get to choose – as your enemy forces war upon you whether you want it or not: Ukraine certainly did not choose war with Russia.

      The issue is, once war is a fact (forced on you or not), is assassination a useful or effective weapon? In some cases, it certainly can be: look at Israel’s use of assassination over the past year – it, as much as any other single factor, has completely gutted the “axis of resistance” (depending on how one defines “assassination”, presumably the pager incident and use of targeted bombings to kill Hezbollah leaders in their bunker has been very effective indeed).

      (b) However, another objection is this – would nations like Russia stop using assassinations, just because their enemies refrain from doing so? It doesn’t appear likely.

    3. crab_races on

      CEPA is a respectable organization, but I think they are committing the logical fallacy of False Equivalency here.

      Ukraine’s killing of a uniformed Russian general during an active war is not comparable to peacetime political assassinations. This was a military strike against a legitimate target responsible for chemical weapons attacks, akin to a sniper eliminating an enemy officer, not an extrajudicial killing.

      In war, such actions are part of legitimate defense, not “dark arts.” Especially against a senior officer who the article itself says personally directed over 8,400 chemical weapons attacks against Ukraine. And assassination is a well-used tool in Putin’s toolbox… i personally wouldn’t expect any new horrific crime from the Kremlin as they already seem to have been pulling out all the stops.

      Oh, and they’ve attempted at least 10 assasination attempt on Zelenskyy… so there’s that.

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