"The fact is- Bush went against all the advice of the CIA, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and practically everyone who was expert in the area of military intelligence and geopolitics who advised against his attack on Iraq."
Do you have a link to support that statement, Nat? You were quick to discount Brandon's link from the Heritage Foundation, so I would be interested in knowing the source of the information behind your statement above.
To answer your question, I know that one cannot just shoot someone for behaving in a threatening manner. I also know that people have been shot and sometimes killed when they acted as if they had a gun and were about to use it, and then it was determined that the object underneath their clothing that appeared gun-like was their hand or some other object. I believe that not only police are safe in firing in such situations but that the average citizen is also protected when confronted by a person who appears able to inflict deadly harm and then is shot. Not that an unusual situation actually. There are unarmed people who act as if they have a gun in trying to rob someone, and if they get shot in that situation I don't think the person doing the shooting is going to be convicted of some shade of murder so long as it appears that they had a reasonable expectation that their life or the lives of others were in jeopardy. If you don't believe me, try threatening a person with a make-believe gun and see if you might get shot yourself.
|