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Comment by RestlessMind | Hacker News Reader

Mossad abducted Adolph Eichmann in Argentina and took him to Israel. US Navy Seals raided and killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan. Indian army stormed across the LoC and destroyed terrorist camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Chinese police captured Xiao Jianhua in Hongkong and took him across the border.

When are these actions justified? Only when someone is a killer or a torturer or a terrorist? Or are they okay in case of (allegedly) corrupt billionaires as well? Tough question, imho.

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I don't have a good answer for where the line is, but at least in the cases of bin Laden and Kashmir, normal channels for arrest and extradition wouldn't have worked. I'm less sure about Eichmann, but according to Wikipedia, Argentina had a history of refusing to extradite Nazis.

In this case, China shouldn't have had any trouble getting Hong Kong authorities to arrest and extradite this person, so it doesn't seem like the same thing.

> In this case, China shouldn't have had any trouble getting Hong Kong authorities to arrest and extradite this person, so it doesn't seem like the same thing.

Given the current political situation in Hong Kong, this may not be a valid assumption.

Don't forget Marc Rich, FBI Ten Most Wanted, who US Marshals failed to kidnap in Switzerland several times... over unpaid taxes.

All diplomatic power boils down to the lowest common denominator which is military capability.

A weaker country can claim foul all they want but the military capable country will simply ignore it when it is in their interest and act with force which will see no resistance from a weaker country.

Power justifies as well as corrupt those who wield it.

As I grow older, I seem to be coming to the same conclusion again and again - there is nothing right or wrong, moral or amoral. Power is what matters. Heck, entire notion of "Government" can be boiled down to "entity with monopoly on force" for a given area.

> Indian army stormed across the LoC and destroyed terrorist camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

It is not clear if any border violations occurred in this attack.

These actions might be justified, but they're certainly illegal, and as such worthy of discussion.

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