One of the tactics that the nations (mostly the U.S.) currently fighting international terrorism uses is the assassination of terrorist leaders. This is typically accomplished with unmanned drone missiles.
If a terrorist group or lone terrorist nut were to gun down a political leader in an established nation, most countries would condemn the act as a violation of international law. In light of this, is assassinating terrorist leaders a legitimate tactic in the war against terrorism, or is it a hypocritical violation of international law?