[HN Gopher] Mossad assassinated Iran's chief nuke scientist with...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Mossad assassinated Iran's chief nuke scientist with remote AI gun
       - report
        
       Author : bryan0
       Score  : 76 points
       Date   : 2021-09-18 20:19 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.jpost.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.jpost.com)
        
       | sillysaurusx wrote:
       | So what is Israel likely to do when Iran has a working nuke?
       | 
       | I ask as a half jew. These questions are intensely interesting to
       | me.
       | 
       | Probably "no one knows" is a decent answer, but I can't help but
       | wonder what sort of plans are already in place.
       | 
       | EDIT: I immediately regret asking about politics. Never mind.
       | 
       | Hopefully things will work out.
        
         | ianleeclark wrote:
         | > So what is Israel likely to do when Iran has a working nuke?
         | 
         | There's a big assumption in this statement. Hopefully stop
         | attacking them if the assumption holds up.
        
         | shoo wrote:
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction ;
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction#Cri...
        
         | jsudi wrote:
         | Demand the USA pays for an endless war in money and American
         | lives, obviously.
        
           | howmayiannoyyou wrote:
           | An anti-Semitic, inaccurate trope. Israel had no horse in the
           | Afghanistan fiasco, no interest in seeing Iran consume Iraq's
           | power elite (status quo now), no love for Assad's continued
           | reign in Syria, and zero interest in US interventions in
           | Kosovo, Panama, Grenada, Vietnam or Korea. By contrast,
           | Israeli lives sacrificed in Lebanon & Syria & on behalf of
           | Jordan have spared the US any need to intervene significantly
           | (if at all) in those countries. Not to mention Iran's
           | expenditures to undermine Israel limits its ability to
           | undermine the Gulf States.
        
             | neartheplain wrote:
             | The influence of the Israel lobby on the 2003 Iraq invasion
             | is not an anti-Semitic trope, it is recorded and
             | acknowledged history. The final decision to invade lay with
             | George W. Bush, and the Israel lobby was far from the only
             | factor in his decision, but their influence was significant
             | and cannot be denied. From the London Review of Books on
             | John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's "The Israel Lobby":
             | 
             | >Pressure from Israel and the Lobby was not the only factor
             | behind the decision to attack Iraq in March 2003, but it
             | was critical. Some Americans believe that this was a war
             | for oil, but there is hardly any direct evidence to support
             | this claim. Instead, the war was motivated in good part by
             | a desire to make Israel more secure.
             | 
             | >According to Philip Zelikow, a former member of the
             | president's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, the
             | executive director of the 9/11 Commission, and now a
             | counsellor to Condoleezza Rice, the 'real threat' from Iraq
             | was not a threat to the United States. The 'unstated
             | threat' was the 'threat against Israel', Zelikow told an
             | audience at the University of Virginia in September 2002.
             | 'The American government,' he added, 'doesn't want to lean
             | too hard on it rhetorically, because it is not a popular
             | sell.'
             | 
             | https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v28/n06/john-
             | mearsheimer/the...
        
             | sevensunsets wrote:
             | There's nothing wrong with discussing the reality of
             | Israeli Zionist influence on US & World governemnts.
             | 
             | "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are
             | not allowed to criticize"
             | 
             | If you'd like to learn more, simply read Culture of
             | Critique (google Culture of Critique PDF for a free
             | version) to learn about the principles of Judaism and the
             | (lack of) respect they have for non-Jews (considered
             | "cattle" by "the chosen").
             | 
             | Nah, let's lose the facade. Israel, Mossad, and the Zionist
             | Lobby has been playing this game for a long time, but we of
             | the free internet have been watching and discussing the
             | situation for years.
             | 
             | It has long been time for this discussion to exit the
             | shadows. It is not anti-semitic to note the
             | disporportionate influence Israeli & Zionists have on all
             | leadership of all three branches of the US government. (Not
             | to mention their involvement in other governments as well
             | as revolutions-- Bolshevik & Chinese communist revolutions
             | were funded & advised by Jews.)
             | 
             | imho: it's Anti-American not to discuss this situation.
             | 
             | Biden's administration leadership is majority populated by
             | Jews:
             | 
             | TLDR List: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jews-in-
             | the-biden-admin...
             | 
             | More in depth background info in this list:
             | https://www.timesofisrael.com/all-the-jews-biden-has-
             | tapped-...
             | 
             | His head of intelligence is an orthodox Jewish woman
             | 
             | https://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-to-pick-orthodox-
             | jewish-...
             | 
             | This article ends with a list of Jewish administration
             | leaders in Trump's circle:
             | https://www.jpost.com/opinion/joe-bidens-a-team-of-jewish-
             | ad...
             | 
             | (Fun fact: all of Biden's and Trump's children are married
             | to Jews as well.)
        
         | pengaru wrote:
         | Israel seems likely to receive a similarly smuggled-in
         | remotely-activated attack, in the form of a small nuclear bomb,
         | with no clear evidence of who's responsible.
         | 
         | MAD doesn't seem effective if you don't _know_ who to attack...
        
         | bawolff wrote:
         | I imagine they will continue to do whatever they think serves
         | their geopolitical position best.
         | 
         | Nukes would give iran a significant power boost and bargaining
         | chip, but it wouldn't magically make them rulers of the world.
         | Iran's geopolitical enemies would still try to contain them,
         | iran would still try and not be contained.
         | 
         | Similar to what happened when the soviets got nukes, but on a
         | much smaller regional scale.
        
           | FridayoLeary wrote:
           | The only local enemies capable of containing Iran is Israel.
           | Even the Saudis are afraid of Iran. Hence the Abraham Accords
           | and a peace treaty between Israel and Saudi Arabia is
           | imminent. And Israel isn't intimidating every single one of
           | its neighbours and trying to control them and starting proxy
           | wars with them. And committing acts of terror against
           | _random_ Iranians all over the world. So Israel have the
           | moral upper ground here.
        
             | LegitShady wrote:
             | when iran gets nukes, saudi will get nukes.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | slim wrote:
       | Why? Is sniper a rare skill ? Is it more difficult to smuggle
       | bombs ? Or to assassinate a scientist in any other conventional
       | way ? It looks like a coverup for the fact they have sniper in
       | Iran
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | 01100011 wrote:
       | Not a lot of details in the article. I'm curious how 'AI' was
       | actually used. Was it used to compensate for wind, distance, etc?
       | Was it used to alert when the target was in range? Was it allowed
       | to automatically recognize the target and deliver a kill shot?
       | Was it used to make sure no innocents were behind him? Why did
       | the apparatus weigh over a ton?
       | 
       | It was only a matter of time before this happened though. With
       | off-the-shelf technology today, even lesser advanced nations,
       | groups and even individuals could put something like this
       | together. Throw in the skills of a more advanced nation, and you
       | get something like this that works from a mile away and
       | effectively destroys all trace of itself before anyone notices.
       | Devices like this could lie in wait for years waiting for the
       | target information to be passed to them. We live in interesting
       | times.
        
         | benbenbenjerry wrote:
         | The term AI was used by The Jerusalem Post in this article to
         | get the attention of people in places like here to give the
         | impression that Israel is technologically advanced and
         | therefore should be more appealing than Iran.
        
           | funerr wrote:
           | Your last comment implies that you know for sure that the JP
           | wants to give an impression, which could be true, but I would
           | be careful saying things like this with 100% certainty.
        
         | secabeen wrote:
         | The NYT article they're cribbing from has a lot more details,
         | but yes, the AI was to compensate for wind, distance and
         | latency to the operator:
         | 
         | https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/18/world/middleeast/iran-nuc...
        
           | Zanni wrote:
           | https://web.archive.org/web/20210918090515/https://www.nytim.
           | ..
        
           | neartheplain wrote:
           | Consumers can buy similar off-the-shelf "smart" rifle scopes,
           | marketed primarily for hunting:
           | 
           | >The Eliminator LaserScope is the most innovative and
           | effective hunting riflescope in the world. With the push of a
           | button, the Eliminator IV ranges and displays the distance to
           | the target (factoring in angle). It instantly calculates and
           | displays the exact aiming point and wind data all inside the
           | scope for complete situational awareness.
           | 
           | >The built-in laser rangefinder is now capable of ranging out
           | to 2,000 yards. Trajectory compensation is accurate at any
           | magnification, and the integrated inclinometer compensates
           | for shots at any uphill or downhill angle.
           | 
           | https://www.burrisoptics.com/scopes/laser-range-finding-
           | elim...
        
             | cududa wrote:
             | Right but the actuator hardware stabilization includes a
             | lot more like measuring and predicting preposition
             | movements, calculating wind speed into the actuator, etc.
             | 
             | This system gives a shooter the calibration data and they
             | can adapt second to second. Replicating a brain for a truck
             | mounted gun with a 1.5s latency is a 10x magnitude of
             | complexity
        
         | JackFr wrote:
         | According to NYT article the AI was used to compensate for the
         | movement of the truck from the guns recoil and the 1.5 second
         | round trip latency to the operator.
         | 
         | Again according to the NYT what was astonishing was the
         | accuracy. Fifteen rounds were shot and no one other than the
         | target was injured.
         | 
         | Of course, take it all with a grain of salt, as both Iran and
         | Israel have reasons to lie about what actually went down.
         | Israel would rather everyone believe they've got super James
         | Bond devices rather than moles in the Iranian intelligence and
         | security apparatus. Weirdly, Iran would rather everyone believe
         | that too.
        
           | LewisVerstappen wrote:
           | Don't really know how to feel about this.
           | 
           | On one hand, it could mean less collateral damage and fewer
           | civilian casualties than drone strikes.
           | 
           | Just yesterday, the US had a drone strike that killed 10
           | civilians. The military and administration proceeded to lie
           | about the strike and pretend they hit the target, but they
           | were called out by the NY Times and had to backtrack.
           | 
           | We could see fewer civilian deaths with technology like this.
           | 
           | On the other hand, this could reduce the "barrier to action"
           | that countries have before they attempt a targeted killing.
           | 
           | Which means even less "due process" for foreign
           | internationals who are perceived to be enemies of the state.
           | If the CIA thinks you're a threat, you're dead.
           | 
           | Let's ignore the question of how good the CIA is at
           | intelligence-gathering.
        
       | hamburgerwah wrote:
       | I don't know what else could make it any clearer but the world is
       | already well into an AI terminator WW3.
        
         | safog wrote:
         | Isn't that fine? Let's get a bunch of robot armies in one place
         | like we used to do in the ancient days and let them duke it
         | out. Whoever wins wins.
         | 
         | Army jobs getting automated is one thing I could get behind.
         | 
         | Just keep the drones out of the civilian areas.
        
           | tsimionescu wrote:
           | > Just keep the drones out of the civilian areas.
           | 
           | I have some bad news for you out of Afghanistan...
        
           | praptak wrote:
           | That's exactly what Gatling thought of machine guns. They
           | were supposed to automate the military jobs which was
           | supposed to limit casualties and also make humanity
           | reconsider going to war.
        
             | mydeskistoosm wrote:
             | Can you direct me somewhere to learn more about Gatling's
             | ethos?
        
         | chollida1 wrote:
         | > I don't know what else could make it any clearer but the
         | world is already well into an AI terminator WW3.
         | 
         | What does this even mean? You've combined 3 completely
         | unrelated terms in Ai, terminator and WW3 to create, well I'm
         | not sure what you mean here....
        
           | Sharlin wrote:
           | In which way are they unrelated in a cultural context where
           | _Terminator_ the movie franchise is a thing?
        
             | user-the-name wrote:
             | In the context of the _real world_ , which is where we
             | live, and which is different from a fictional movie.
        
               | DonHopkins wrote:
               | Wait, wasn't the Terminator Governor of California a
               | while back?
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | Sharlin wrote:
               | It's one thing to argue that an AI terminator WW3
               | scenario is unlikely or implausible. It's just
               | disingenious to claim those three things have nothing to
               | do with each other.
        
           | iratewizard wrote:
           | An AI terminator driven WW3 might make more sense. AI
           | terminator being an AI programed to terminate people (that
           | could go off the rails).
        
           | monocasa wrote:
           | Terminator is a movie about how AI was given too much control
           | over military resources and started WW3 in order to wipe out
           | as much as possible of humanity in one go. This story is
           | about the integration of AI into the military, in a way
           | designed to kill humans.
           | 
           | It doesn't seem unrelated to me.
        
       | jonas21 wrote:
       | The link seems to be a summary of this article in the NYT:
       | 
       | https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/18/world/middleeast/iran-nuc...
       | 
       | It provides more detail and context - the "AI" system was
       | apparently used to properly to compensate for latency and wind
       | when aiming the gun.
        
       | aaron695 wrote:
       | If you are wondering what the AI bit is, it's the claimed facial
       | recognition.
       | 
       | The rest is ~high school mathematics.
       | 
       | Perhaps it could lock onto moving objects (also possibly AI),
       | like a car, once the operator selects them But this is not talked
       | about.
       | 
       | It's hard to believe not shooting his wife was not just good
       | luck. But perhaps.
       | 
       | Real remote gun in Israel -
       | https://mobile.twitter.com/dancohen3000/status/5067115366859...
       | 
       | Cool cyber punk remote water cannon
       | -https://mondoweiss.net/2014/04/machine-installed-bethlehem/
        
       | throwerexpat1 wrote:
       | Could you imagine the uproar if Iran were using robots to murder
       | people in America or Israel?
       | 
       | "Do as we say, not as we do." As an American, I have long-since
       | accepted that my home nation is the bad guy.
        
       | photochemsyn wrote:
       | This kind of thing seems to be a rapidly growing trend. Anyone
       | see this?
       | 
       | "See this report, and the curious lack of media interest:
       | 
       | "According to the U.N. report, Turkish-made Kargu-2 lethal
       | autonomous aircraft launched so-called swarm attacks, likely on
       | behalf of Libya's Government of National Accord, against the
       | warlord Haftar's militias in March last year, marking the first
       | time AI-equipped drones accomplished a successful attack." Jun 7,
       | 2021 VOA
        
       | sevensunsets wrote:
       | "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not
       | allowed to criticize"
       | 
       | If you'd like to learn more, simply read Culture of Critique
       | (google Culture of Critique PDF for a free version) to learn
       | about the principles of Judaism and the (lack of) respect they
       | have for non-Jews (considered "cattle" by "the chosen").
       | 
       | It has long been time for this discussion to exit the shadows. It
       | is not anti-semitic to note the disproportionate influence
       | Israeli & Zionists have on all leadership of all three branches
       | of the US government. (Not to mention their involvement in other
       | governments as well as revolutions-- Bolshevik & Chinese
       | communist revolutions were funded & advised by Jews.)
       | 
       | imho: it's Anti-American not to discuss this situation.
        
       | benbenbenjerry wrote:
       | Israel seems to be trying to buy time before the inevitable
       | happens. Not sure if it's good strategy to keep assassinating
       | scientists when you're going to need every ounce of International
       | support you can muster when the Iranians rain down on you with
       | their nukes.
        
         | LegitShady wrote:
         | those people who believe iran's development of nuclear weapons
         | is legitimate and should not be opposed are unlike to muster
         | any goodwill to israel anyways.
        
       | sixsunsets wrote:
       | "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not
       | allowed to criticize"
       | 
       | If you'd like to learn more, simply read Culture of Critique
       | (google Culture of Critique PDF for a free version) to learn
       | about the principles of Judaism and the (lack of) respect they
       | have for non-Jews (considered "cattle" by "the chosen").
       | 
       | It has long been time for this discussion to exit the shadows. It
       | is not anti-semitic to note the disproportionate influence
       | Israeli & Zionists have on all leadership of all three branches
       | of the US government. (Not to mention their involvement in other
       | governments as well as revolutions-- Bolshevik & Chinese
       | communist revolutions were funded & advised by Jews.)
        
       | popileviz wrote:
       | Iran should have nuclear weapons if their citizens can be
       | assassinated by foreign powers that proceed to brag about it
       | openly. Imagine if the reverse happened - an Israeli scientist
       | killed by Iranian special forces. The United States would be
       | revving up for Iraq 2.0 in a matter of hours.
        
         | howmayiannoyyou wrote:
         | It is hard enough for the US and Russia to prevent accidental
         | nuclear launch, detonation or loss. Many such incidents over
         | the years. So, before you righteously wish nuclear capability
         | on Iran, you might consider the non-linear increase in risks
         | associated with each new entry into the nuclear club.
        
           | yummypaint wrote:
           | Yes, we need to collectively do everything we can to prevent
           | a nuclear tragedy of the commons. That includes continued
           | disarmarment of countries already armed. The more devices
           | exist in the world, the higher the probability that some will
           | fall into the hands of people who are not subject to the same
           | incentive structures as secular governments (i.e. religious
           | nuts) who would eagerly use them. One nuke being unexpectedly
           | detonated in a major city could easily escalate into world-
           | ending catastrophy.
        
         | 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
         | > The United States would be revving up for Iraq 2.0 in a
         | matter of hours.
         | 
         | I doubt it. We don't know what would happen in a fictional
         | hypothetical situation.
        
       | amoshi wrote:
       | This seems to be a clickbait headline - where is the AI part? It
       | was just a remotely controlled gun.
       | 
       | >Next, the report details how the sniper who took out Fakhrizadeh
       | did so remotely from Israel, over 1,600 kilometers away, since
       | the hit squad had long ago left Iran.
        
         | gameshot911 wrote:
         | The NYT article mentioned facial recognition tech, as well as
         | software which would compensate from the lag inherent in
         | controlling the gun by satellite. Maybe the article considers
         | one of those AI?
        
         | _alxk wrote:
         | They apparently used some ML to make predictions about the
         | position of the driver and the future position of the vehicle
         | to account for the lag when they pulled the remote trigger from
         | hundreds of miles away.
        
           | cududa wrote:
           | Right. As well, the gun mounted in the truck needs to account
           | for real world wind, vehicle recoil/ follow through
        
           | uncoder0 wrote:
           | That's pretty trivial 'AI'. The headline mentioning AI is
           | just for clickbait, in reality it was just a remotely-
           | operated drone gun with a fire control system.
        
             | throwaway984393 wrote:
             | Most 'AI' is trivial. If spam detection had been invented
             | today they'd call it "Spam AI".
        
           | Isamu wrote:
           | Sounds like something you'd use a Kalman filter for.
           | 
           | Except maybe because a Kalman filter expects Gaussian inputs,
           | something fancier is used to deal with nonlinear inputs?
           | 
           | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalman_filter
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | kkoncevicius wrote:
       | So this is a public bragging about illegally putting a gun in a
       | foreign country and assassinating a person, all the while being
       | comfortably sure that no national or international pushback will
       | come.
       | 
       | Quite disturbing to read.
        
         | FridayoLeary wrote:
         | What's illegal about it?
        
         | BurningFrog wrote:
         | Iran and Israel are at low level war since many decades.
        
           | greenpeacemaker wrote:
           | This question is out of pure curiosity: can you give me some
           | examples of this "low level war" being fought? Specifically,
           | what has Israel done that's along the same lines as funding
           | Hezbollah and Hamas?
        
           | maweki wrote:
           | Though you don't see Iran going around killing the people
           | responsible for Israel's nuclear arsenal.
        
             | ceejayoz wrote:
             | I can't imagine it's for lack of trying.
        
               | benbenbenjerry wrote:
               | Trying to assassinate non-existing nuclear scientists?
               | Yeah that's hard to imagine. Israel already has access to
               | pretty advanced nuclear technology it is not actively
               | trying to develop one like Iran is.
        
               | ceejayoz wrote:
               | You think Israel has zero nuclear scientists? An arsenal
               | requires maintenance, even if you aren't actively making
               | new warheads.
        
               | maweki wrote:
               | I rather not discuss the whole conflict. The fact is
               | though, that modern Iran has little to no history of
               | military intervention* and at least no history to suggest
               | that any (if any really exists) ambition towards
               | acquiring nuclear weapons is anything more than sabre-
               | rattling.
               | 
               | * Wikipedia comes up with the odd missile-strike against
               | the islamic state.
               | 
               | Edit: There's a difference between financing
               | terrorism/freedom fighters, which about every country in
               | the region (and basically everybody else) does, and
               | preparing a pre-emptive nuclear strike.
        
               | flyinglizard wrote:
               | You can't be serious. Iran is one of the most militarily
               | active players in the Middle East. They usually don't do
               | this through the Iranian military itself (other than
               | wanting to send a message like the attack on Saudi Abaqiq
               | facilities with cruise missiles in 2019 [0]). They use
               | proxies, which receive funding, weapons, training and
               | orders from Iran. Hezbollah, Houthis, Hamas, Islamic
               | Jihad, various Iraqi and Syrian militas are all
               | extensions of Iran itself and perform daily attacks.
               | 
               | [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abqaiq%E2%80%93Khurais_
               | attack
        
               | greenpeacemaker wrote:
               | Attribution is difficult if you're behind a VPN
        
           | LewisVerstappen wrote:
           | How many Israeli scientists have Iran assassinated?
        
             | benbenbenjerry wrote:
             | None because Israel is not actively attempting to advance
             | its nuclear technology capabilities. Because it already has
             | access to advanced nuclear technology.
        
               | pope_meat wrote:
               | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_and_Israe
               | l
        
               | neartheplain wrote:
               | "...because Israel is not actively attempting to advance
               | its nuclear technology capabilities."
               | 
               | Says who?
               | 
               | >Retired in the 1990s, the Jericho-1, like its
               | successors, was intended for nuclear delivery.
               | 
               | >From the mid-1970s to the late 1980s, Israel developed a
               | longer-range version by extending the Jericho's length to
               | 15m and increasing the diameter to 1.35m. Designated the
               | Jericho-2, this system has an estimated range of
               | 1,500-3,500km, with the same 1,000kg payload.
               | 
               | >According to several analysts, Israel also has an
               | intermediate-range missile, possibly called the
               | Jericho-3. Reports of testing - in 2008, 2011, 2013, 2019
               | and (possibly) 2020 - related to a longer-range system
               | support this assessment, but it has not been verified.
               | 
               | https://www.iiss.org/blogs/analysis/2021/08/israel-
               | ballistic...
        
           | colpabar wrote:
           | This question is out of pure curiosity: can you give me some
           | examples of this "low level war" being fought? Specifically,
           | what has Iran done that's along the same lines as murdering a
           | nuclear scientist?
        
             | pengaru wrote:
             | Pure curiosity yet incapable of the simplest of simple
             | searches
             | 
             | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Israel_relations
        
             | neartheplain wrote:
             | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah#Conflict_with_Israe
             | l
        
             | NovemberWhiskey wrote:
             | Ongoing sponsorship of Hamas, Hezbollah and so on?
        
             | zdragnar wrote:
             | Iran openly finances Hezbollah and Hamas, who fire rockets
             | and missiles indiscriminately into civilian areas of
             | Israel. The Hamas charter in particular includes language
             | calling for either the destruction or dissolution of the
             | state of Israel itself.
             | 
             | That isn't to excuse anyone, but yes, Iran and Israel have
             | effectively been at war for decades.
        
             | imachine1980_ wrote:
             | The conflict involves threats and hostility by Iran's
             | leaders against Israel, and their declared objective to
             | dissolve the Jewish state, Israel and Iran doesn't share
             | frontiers but Iran finance support is key for terrorist
             | groups like Hezbollah
        
             | flyinglizard wrote:
             | Bombing of the AMIA is one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A
             | MIA_bombing#:~:text=The%20AMI....
             | 
             | Burgas bus bombing is another:
             | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Burgas_bus_bombing
             | 
             | Arms, money and support for Hamas, Hezbollah and the
             | Islamic Jihad is another one (Hezbollah is practically an
             | IRGC unit). Arming various militias in Iraq, Yemen and
             | Syria against Israel and its allies.
        
         | sgregnt wrote:
         | This is a leak like hundred of other leaks.
         | 
         | But, it seems like you are trying to push a certain agenda and
         | paint the info in a certain way.
         | 
         | Here's another way to frame the same info: At least someone
         | tries to prevent a war and prevent bad actors from obtaining
         | nuclear weapons.
        
           | ianleeclark wrote:
           | > Here's another way to frame the same info: At least someone
           | tries to prevent a war and prevent bad actors from obtaining
           | nuclear weapons.
           | 
           | We used to have inspectors to do such a thing. Now we're just
           | left with an incredibly convenient Schrodingers nuke to keep
           | those not yet fatigued in a constant state of fear.
        
             | flyinglizard wrote:
             | Have inspectors prevented the Syrian nuclear program (which
             | Israel bombed in 2007), the Iraqi nuclear program
             | (likewise, 1981), the North Korean one or the Pakistani
             | one? Heck, not even the South African one which they
             | willingly dismantled.
             | 
             | Nukes are too serious to leave to the supervision of a
             | political mission of scientists.
        
               | ianleeclark wrote:
               | You're missing the Israeli nuclear program, as well.
               | 
               | > Nukes are too serious to leave to the supervision of a
               | political mission of scientists.
               | 
               | I don't care if a country has nukes. I'm much more afraid
               | of what will happen to countries without them: you listed
               | Iraq and we can see the hundreds of thousands of dead
               | civilians.
        
             | sgregnt wrote:
             | Two things ...
             | 
             | First, we used not to blaim anyone without a due
             | process....before you take a stand and blaime Israel,
             | instead maybe you should argue to send inspectors to
             | examine if the article is true, maybe it is not Israel or
             | this never happened, did you follow a due process before
             | publically assigning guilt?
             | 
             | Second, who are "we", in your srnyense? The West, China?
             | Iran, Hizbollah, Americans? UN?
             | 
             | I recall no inspectors during Cuban crisis, hmm... why
             | threaten world with nuclear war, instead there could be
             | annual inspections!
        
               | ianleeclark wrote:
               | > First, we used not to blaim anyone without a due
               | process
               | 
               | Were not blaming "anyone", were blaming a state based on
               | the reporting of NYT and corroborated by Jerusalem Post.
               | Who else do you want, Judge Judy?
               | 
               | > Second, who are "we", in your srnyense?
               | 
               | Signatories of the JCPOA. So most of what could be called
               | "the west," if you believe in such things.
               | 
               | > I recall no inspectors during Cuban crisis
               | 
               | The JCPOA was signed several decades later and between a
               | different set of countries. Not really sure what you're
               | trying to say here, but maybe check out https://en.m.wiki
               | pedia.org/wiki/Joint_Comprehensive_Plan_of_... first
        
         | yyyk wrote:
         | It's more disturbing to read complaints about a strike against
         | a brigadier general, where two countries are at war with each
         | other, a mere few days after we learnt the US droned 10
         | civilians in Kabul as a 'retaliation' for an IS strike. We at
         | HN should look inwards on this one.
        
           | coder583 wrote:
           | Apparently you can just throw around words like "terrorist"
           | against the enemies of US and the genocidal state of
           | "Israel", and then killing innocent civilians is now
           | justified. Who are the real terrorists?
           | 
           | It's just the same old story, a group of humans justifying
           | murder for their own self-interest, and their brains coming
           | up with the most bizarre nonsense to try and rationalize it.
           | Some of the people even consider themselves "rationalists".
           | 
           | The same justifications could be used to justify stuff like
           | the holocaust, but who cares about logical consistency?
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | koheripbal wrote:
         | There is no world court or legal structure. The word "illegal"
         | has no meaning in international affairs.
        
           | 29athrowaway wrote:
           | UN's International Court of Justice (ICJ)
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Court_of_Justice
        
           | readonthegoapp wrote:
           | The court that prosecuted the Nazis (and others) would like a
           | word.
        
           | kkoncevicius wrote:
           | This action was performed in a specific country - Iran. I am
           | sure it was illegal there. Isn't that enough?
        
             | m-p-3 wrote:
             | A legal system only has influence within its borders though
             | (other than extradition treaties). And since the drone
             | can't be prosecuted and the operators are outside of the
             | borders, what can you do but give them bad press?
        
               | true_religion wrote:
               | A lot of times when people say illegal, they really want
               | to say immoral but that word sounds too out of place in
               | common language.
               | 
               | Is it okay to assassinate scientists? How about tech CEOs
               | and software engineers?
               | 
               | To me, the most troubling thing is that Iran seems to do
               | nothing in response.
        
             | tomp wrote:
             | If Iran could (i.e. had the technological capabilities to)
             | meaningfully retaliate against Israel (without suffering
             | too much consequences), they very likely would.
        
             | bawolff wrote:
             | Were you under the impression that groups like Mossad, CIA,
             | etc were law abiding groups? Their entire mission is to do
             | illegal shit to forward their countries' national interest.
        
               | kkoncevicius wrote:
               | So if these are not "law abiding" groups, then by
               | definition part of what they do is illegal. Which is the
               | word I used in my comment.
               | 
               | I don't understand these replies.
        
               | bawolff wrote:
               | I'm a different person than the one who said nothing is
               | illegal. I think nothing is illegal in international
               | relations is a cop-out answer (and not technically true.
               | I dont know about this particular act, but there are
               | plenty of illegal things under int law). Technically yes
               | - its unlikely to be resolved by a court. However i think
               | most people agree that in general assainations are at
               | least morally repugant (although im sure some people
               | think its justified sometimes).
               | 
               | Anyways, lots of countries (Iran included) fund these
               | type of spy groups. They do bad shit. That is their
               | function. I imagine their masters think the ends justify
               | means. Regardless, complaining that spy agencies are
               | unethical is like complaining the mafia is unethical. Its
               | just something that basically goes without saying.
        
               | kkoncevicius wrote:
               | I agree with everything you wrote here, but we talk past
               | each other. The article was disturbing and it left an
               | impression on me. There aren't many articles bragging
               | about assassinations; CIA doesn't do that and if it did
               | there would be domestic opposition. Yet the tone of this
               | article makes it clear that they are not worried about
               | that. That's why I wrote the original comment. It's not
               | about "complaining that spy agencies are unethical". Deep
               | down I just don't like what it represents and I don't
               | think any post-hoc rationalisation will change that.
        
             | [deleted]
        
             | flyinglizard wrote:
             | There are many things which are illegal in Iran yet
             | practiced widely, like consuming alcohol or being attracted
             | to your own gender. I wouldn't use the Iranian book of laws
             | as a moral compass myself, but to each their own.
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | benbenbenjerry wrote:
               | How bizarre for you to sidestep the issue and go after
               | issues with the laws of Iran! In what country is it legal
               | to assassinate a scientist?
        
               | FridayoLeary wrote:
               | He's a nuclear scientist. Working on a nuclear bomb. For
               | Iran. Wich is run by radical extremists. He's essentially
               | a terrorist. Albeit one who goes around in a white lab
               | coat as opposed to a machine gun and who has never harmed
               | a fly but is more dangerous than the entire taliban put
               | together.
        
               | coder583 wrote:
               | and mossad/israel isn't a terorrist state? Are you
               | serious?
        
               | flyinglizard wrote:
               | GP asked if the fact it's illegal in _Iran_ is not
               | enough, and I say the Iranian code of law has no
               | implications on what I think is moral or not.
               | 
               | Personally I think that it is not outside any moral
               | boundaries to assassinate a scientist which is working on
               | WMDs. In fact, I'll claim the opposite: if you are a
               | leader of a country which you know is potentially
               | targeted by WMDs and you have the strategic and tactical
               | opportunity to assassinate the people working on that
               | program, then you should.
               | 
               | Going back to laws, being a scientist doesn't give you
               | any kind of immunity to any law. It shouldn't grant you
               | immunity here. Once you work on military programs, it's
               | all fair game.
        
               | pinewurst wrote:
               | We considered shooting Werner Heisenberg during WW2 if
               | there was convincing evidence he was moving a Nazi atomic
               | weapons program along. Certainly that would have been
               | against German or Swiss (this was during a visit to
               | Switzerland) law.
        
               | refenestrator wrote:
               | A key factor there is the word 'war'.
        
               | true_religion wrote:
               | Did Iran and Israel ever sign a peace treaty? In 2020,
               | the UAE normalized relations with Israel, and many
               | countries took the opportunity to remind everyone that
               | even if we are all dying of COVID, they would prefer that
               | Israel go first.
        
             | sgregnt wrote:
             | In many countries authoruzed military operation on foreign
             | territory against what is perceived as existential thread
             | to its existence is legal. So it is legal by Israeli law,
             | isn't this enough?
        
           | zozbot234 wrote:
           | Law is quite compatible with a state of anarchy and a lack of
           | centralized authority, particularly customary law. Many
           | people would include customary law as a kind of 'legal
           | structure'.
        
         | 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
         | Pretty badass. Does it prevent more nuclear weapons? Yes? Win
         | in my book.
        
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