I see your point. Drone strikes and bombing are legitimate because we are at war and killing the enemy is what you do in war. I’m OK with that. But that is not what we’re talking about here.
But if the enemy is trying to surrender, or it would be just as easy to capture him as to kill him, then a soldier must capture him, right? Even in battle, you’re not permitted to kill people just because they need killin’.
A soldier can kill the enemy anytime until he is actually captured. Even with hand up and acting like they are surrendering is not good enough. WWII enemies sometimes acted like they were surrendering but instead were luring soldiers in to be ambushed. OBL was not murdered.
“But if the enemy is trying to surrender, or it would be just as easy to capture him as to kill him, then a soldier must capture him, right?”
No, no, no. You are wrong, or at least I hope you are.
Just because it would be just as easy to capture an enemy as to kill him, you do not have to capture him. You can kill him. My gosh, would you really want soldiers to have to decide “whether it would be just as easy to capture an enemy as it would be to kill him”? Put yourself in the soldier’s shoes for a moment.