'The same arguments were used when the SAS shot dead three IRA members in Gibraltar in 1988 and, conspiracy theorists aside, we appear to have avoided descending into a police state rife with extra judicial killings in the subsequent 27 years.'
I don't think anybody disputes now that extrajudicial execution was an instrument of British policy in Northern Ireland for an extended period. The main problem that people had with it was not necessarily a moral or legal one but that in a significant proportion of instances the person killed was unconnected with any paramilitary organisation. That it stopped had more to do with the de-escalation of armed conflict in the area than a reconsideration by the British Government.
I would be quite happy to see the military capability of the British Army used more widely to attack ISIS. However, parliament has not given permission for air strikes in Syria. The justification for these killings is not that these men are enemy combatants but they are British citizens who pose a threat on the British mainland. Even if you regard this threat as credible, which would fly in the face of all logic, what you then have to justify is how can we be comfortable with our Government having the license to kill us if they allege we pose some sort of threat. |