I mean I don't disagree with that, the AUMFs are considerably broad. But actions justified under the AUMF can presumably still be illegal for other reasons (eg violating international treaties the US is partner to etc).
But even ignoring that, there are reasonable arguments that they wouldn't cover the Soleimani assassination. The White House may have had legal advice that they did, but the White House lawyers have certainly been losing a lot of court cases and none of this has really been tested. But it's also unlikely to actually be tested either, so we have the status quo of everything being of dubious legality with disagreements as to whether it really is or not depending on who you ask.
Edit:
After reading your previous post I mostly agree with that. It's just quibbling about where exactly it falls on the scale of theoretical legality.
Last edited by Trifle; 2020-02-18 at 04:46 AM.
To add to what @Kellhound said, this was the likely missile used. The R9X "flying Ginsu", a modified hellfire missile. It has no explosives. Instead a fraction of a second before impact, six 3 foot long blades extend from the body.
This is how precise it is: it can destroy the inside of a car without destoying the care far away from the impact point:
I want to put this into perspective: the front hood, lights and side panels of the car that was struck by a missiles in this picture, are in good enough shape to be sold as replacement parts.
Here is another one:
This has been the drone-based weapon of choice in settled areas since 2017.
That's a bit mis-leading:
Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_B...strike#Attack:
Additionally, wiki sources this Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sebasti.../#3234944b4bb6At 12:47 a.m., the Reaper drone launched several missiles, striking the convoy on an access road as it departed the airport, engulfing the two cars in flames and killing 10 people.
The photo shows print on the fragment that notes the missile weighs 52 kilograms (114.6 pounds) and requires two persons to lift.
...
But there’s a problem: Hellfire variants have listed weights between 45 to 50 kilograms. And given that the targeted car was reduced to a blazing wreck, we can rule out the use of the blade-armed Hellfire.
In fact, a weapon intended to replace the Hellfire, called the AGM-179 Joint-Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) does weigh 52 kilos (115 pounds), and is designed to be fired from the same helicopters and drones. It essentially plugs an advanced guidance-cone into the body of a standard AGM-114R missile (the motor, flight control system and its multi-purpose warhead).
Having spent time doing BDA on confirmed pictures of the strike, I am walking back my statement about kinetic warheads. The US only used location to curtail collateral damage.
Isn't that some kind of fletcherer weapon? Aren't they mostly banned?
Completely unrelated, but kind of tangentially related in that this happened in the same broader conflict; not really worthy of a new thread...
https://twitter.com/ibrashino/status...18147938082818
I had no idea US forces and Russian forces were operating in such close proximity in Syria that they are literally running each other off the road. Hopefully they don't start shooting at each other.
This is this kind of shit that will lead your country to fall, in the end. Keep thinking that way, but dont ask why you are so hated. Dictators, ruling by force, flexing muscle and act like bullies never end well. This is already making you look like the bad ones.... those who will end you Will be considered the good ones.