That is why Saddam Husein is still alive. The US could have killed him by bombing more (...). But, then he would have become a hero.

Actually, they did try to take him out. I remember seeing a very specific breifing on the subject, where Norman Schwarzkopf specifically said that they targeted military installations they thought he occupied, with the sole intent of killing him.

Unfortunately, the time-lag factor of intelligence prevented them from hitting their target. They didn't have any trouble knowing where he had been, and they sometimes even knew where he was at any given time. However, it takes time to mobilize forces and plan attacks, and by the time they attacked that building, he'd moved on.

I fear that any action made against the terrorists will have similar problems.

My point is that, although I don't know anything about the "legality" of attempting the assasination of a military leader, I don't think they are worried about martyring someone. They are interested in achieving a much more practical objective. If you're fighting an enemy in a war, you can't hesitate because you're afraid of martyring your enemy. That would be foolish.

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Tony Fabris