Quote:
Originally Posted by Pindar
I have made no case for arbitrary killing.

The state does have a right to kill. The military is a simple example. The police would be another.

State killing is state killing. Whether this applies to an external threat or an internal one: it is the same.

I have never argued the state can kill regardless of circumstance.

Quote Originally Posted by Xiahou
Do these statements seem inconsistent to anyone else?

State killing is state killing? Enemy soldiers, criminals, POWs, old people, babies? All equal and all good and moral so long as the state does it.
"I have never argued the state can kill regardless of circumstance."

No inconsistency that I can see!
The state has the right to kill, as do individuals based on the circumstances.

Some killing is not morally wrong, and some killing is.