Reply To: Soldier who killed the "neutralized" terrorist

I think my line “should we be defending this soldier” was too strong. I have an enormous amount of respect for him and all of the soldiers that stand on the line between life and death to defend us from murderous scum. And I do believe that the only neutralized terrorist is a dead one (as you illustrated with your story). My question was, that if his motivation was hatred and justice (which I don’t blame him for… I feel the same way), does that change how halacha views this act of killing? If I could ask DY’s question differently… if Reuven intended to kill Johnny because he hated Johnny, and it just so happens that Reuven killed Johnny while Johnny was trying to kill someone else, saving the life of an innocent victim, did Reuven commit murder if he had no idea that was happening and that was not his motivation? How much does motivation play a role in determining murder?