The purpose of this comment is to provide a legal framework which supports the use of assassination as a preemptive instrument against terrorism. In doing so, this comment will: (1) offer a sensible definition for assassination and its relationship to war; (2) examine both the historical and

political underpinnings of the current United States policy on assassination;and (3) review sources of international customary and treaty law to extrapolate guidelines for using assassination overseas in the War on Terror.