Here's a question: Why do we say that Russia attacked Ukraine? Sure, it's true. But what is more true is this: Putin decided to attack Ukraine. Because it surely was not the thousands of conscripts he sent to do the job or die trying. Or their families. No, one man started this war and one man could end it. Why on God's earth are we killing a bunch of non-decision-makers for the decisions of one man?
Well because that is how war has always worked, right? But let's think about it....
How many actual decision-makers were involved in German aggression during the Second World War? Hitler and a few others. How many Germans had to die for those decisions?
Did the Iranian people decide to fund Hamas and Hezbollah? Or was it a small group of ayatollahs?
What if we could have just killed Hitler early on in the war? Not only would many lives have been saved, but the decision-maker would have been held accountable for his decisions. Sooner, prior to countless deaths.
Could we possibly just kill Putin? Maybe not. But we sure as hell could kill the ayatollahs. We know where they are and we have the capacity to kill them. We should hold them accountable for their decisions. Hamas leadership is reportedly living in Qatar. No doubt the NSA knows exactly where. Don't ask the Qataris; just send a team.
Here's a proposed new rule for twenty-first century warfare: Whenever and wherever possible, instead of killing a bunch of twenty-year-old conscripts, hold the decision-makers solely and individually responsible, and kill them. Tell everyone in advance that this is how you will respond to any attack. No, we are not going to kill the children of your country, we are going to kill the decision-makers. In fact, I would simply make this US policy moving forward. No more skirmishes off the coast of an aggressor nation. No, no, we will target the leader, and we will kill him.
Now, I can hear the naysayers already: But without a trial, this is simply murder. But here is my response to that: How is killing conscripts any less wrong?
Today we have the technology for this. Maybe not against Russia or China, but surely against a country like Iran or Venezuela or Cuba, or against any African tinpot dictator. It is the difference between our technology and their technology that would make this new type of warfare possible. Exploit this delta to save lives.
In this developing century, let's bring individual accountability to warfare.