>>>One counter-example. Taking out Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito seemed to work. Europe and Japan didn't have a backlash of facists.
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>>They came at the end of long and bloody wars for both sides. Ahmadinejad would be a pre-emptive strike. And the world is different today in so many ways.
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>The long bloody war aspect is irrelevant to the point I was making ...

I think it is relevant because the question is whether taking out an enemy leader will end the problem. I think that it will if the "enemy" population are themselves tired and beaten after a long and costly war. However, in a country where the "enemy" population are not beaten then perhaps the killing of their leader may galvanize them even more.