Threshold of Life

     Just now, I read that Moamer Gadhafi's son, and several of his grandsons have been killed.  The United Nations is pulling out its staff from Libya due to the violence there.
     The Catholic Bishop of Tripoli, Giovanni Martinelli was quoted as appealing "to NATO, the United Nations and the international community to end the bombing of Libya. 'I ask, please, out of respect for the pain due to the loss of a son, a gesture of humanity towards the leader,'"...
     We need to discern how to execute policies of humanitarian aid--policies to preserve the lives from the potent threat of despots.  How do we exact a number to guide a foreign aid policy--humanitarian aid?  How many individuals associated with despots may we execute to justify including arms within the framework of humanitarian aid policies?  Do we want to affirm an eye-for-an-eye, a-tooth-for-a-tooth model of foreign policy in relation to despots?  Do we think that we can extinguish evil--extinguish the prospect of enemies--once and for all by targeting one despot at a time?  Where does it stop?