[2] In northern Ireland, an assassination campaign was directed against representatives of the British Army, the RUC, the Ulster Defence Regiment, and their respective reserves.
According to The Washington Post, among Syria's "most notable activities of the past few years have been the serial assassination of senior Lebanese politicians, including former prime minister Rafik Hariri".
[8] In 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush signed an intelligence finding that could have opened the door to an American targeted killing campaign.
"[9] Similarly, Amos Guiora, Professor of law at the University of Utah, writes: "Targeted killing is ... not an assassination", Steve David, Johns Hopkins Associate Dean & Professor of International Relations, writes: "there are strong reasons to believe that the Israeli policy of targeted killing is not the same as assassination", Syracuse Law Professor William Banks and GW Law Professor Peter Raven-Hansen write: "Targeted killing of terrorists is ... not unlawful and would not constitute assassination", Rory Miller writes: "Targeted killing ... is not 'assassination'", and Associate Professor Eric Patterson and Teresa Casale write: "Perhaps most important is the legal distinction between targeted killing and assassination".
[14] Barack Obama has ordered unmanned aerial vehicles to carry out targeted killing attacks on Taliban and al Qaeda leaders, which the U.S. distinguishes from assassinations,[15] though this semantic is disputed by his critics.