“By Christmas Eve 1998, President [Bill] Clinton had authorized the CIA to allow America’s tribal allies [in Afghanistan] to kill bin Laden if they could not capture him, overriding the objections of some that this order violated the assassination ban. Administration lawyers concluded that the assassination ban would not be broken if the United States acted in self-defense under international law against an imminent threat of attack.”
– John Yoo, War By Other Means, Page 59