How about killing, say, two hundred thousand civilians in order to stop the killing of millions of your own countrymen against a ruthless enemy? Many people thought it was the right choice but many people still question if it was necessary.
The government’s calculations in a war are very different from the calculations of individuals in non-wars.
Your point is 100% valid in its milieu. I’m not sure it’s valid in what I think is the OP’s milieu.
In movies like Saw or Cube, there is often one person always out for the themselves to the disregard of other people’s safety. Would it be considered self-defense to take them out early know that through their actions you’re life will eventually be in danger, probably from them directly?
I think that Truman considered other options to the bomb in a much more personal way than just the commander in chief. While an entire complex government war machine created the bomb, it was his decision alone on wheter or not to use it in the manner that he did.
The buck stopped with him. He will forever be known as the guy who dropped two atomic bombs on noncombatents in order to save the lives of his people. Thats kind of personal.
Self-defence covers someone attacking you now, definitely not some future, direct or indirect, danger. No pre-emptively taking someone out, at least legally speaking. Moral considerations may lead otherwise, depending on the exact circumstances.
I mean, typically no one will blame you for assassinating Hitler, to take an extreme example…
Before 1939 many people would blame you for assassinating the leader of a powerful country. Especially the German people, it would be an act of war. It was how WW1 started.
Goebbels would have been peeved, for sure.
Some real-life people, too.
I wouldn’t deliberately kill someone, even in self defence.
As long as you get the timing right.
If someone is trying to kill you or your family, it is no longer a matter of numbers. If a gang of 5 criminals with guns were breaking into my home, killing all 5 would be no better or no worse in my estimation than killing a single individual. “Violent criminal lives don’t matter”, is my slogan.