Growing doubts on legality of US strike that killed Iranian general

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/06/middleeast/soleimani-strike-legality-doubts-us-iran-intl/index.html

((CNN )In the hours and days after Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike, his demise was described in various terms: President Donald Trump said he had been "terminated"; other US officials talked about a "targeted killing" and "lethal action."

But both the Iranian President and Iraq's Prime Minister said Soleimani's death was an "assassination" -- essentially a politically motivated murder.

US officials have rejected the characterization of his killing as an assassination. That's hardly a surprise because assassinations have been illegal under US federal law since 1981. But people have still been assassinated, and the government has not always been considered in violation of the law. This is, in part, because US law does not define "assassinations" with precision, and there are other laws that administrations have used to justify their actions.

The crux of the Trump administration's argument is that the threat posed by Soleimani's plans was "imminent" and that the US response was "defensive." A key requirement in order for a strike to be lawful under Article II of the US Constitution is that a threat must be imminent.

<more>