[Demidog]

To answer that we need to look into the nature of the harm done to the citizen, -- there is no single answer.

And yet you go on to equate apples and oranges. It is never ok to retaliate on foreign soil with the taxpayer-funded military for the advantage or protection of a single citizen.

Retaliating on foreign soil with a military action for terrorist acts is debatable regarding its efficacy. But an action which is born from a desire to protect the nation from terrorist acts is not acting merely on the behalf of a private individual.

Going to war because an oil company's property has been confiscated in another country is clearly not based on libertarian values.

Not even close.

[annalex]

If it is OK to punish criminals domestically at taxpayers' expense for the protection of a single citizen, then it is equally OK to retaliate on foreign soil for the same.