Let say we have the "moral right" to execute terrorists where ever we find them. Is such a right reserved only to the US? Can India exercise that right against extreme Kashmiri in Pakistan? Can China go into Uzbekistan, Pakistan and other countries in their southwest where extreme elements are fomenting discordance in Southwest China? Can Spain go into the French Pirennees and eliminate Basque terrorists and the list goes on. I think that what we did lowers the hurdle for other nations ways of handling terrorism, and going from "handling terrorists" to handling opposition is just a another step on the slippery slope.
We have non lethal technology to handle situations like that, I think we should lean on the side of non lethal solutions when possible. Sharon excursions into centers of terror and arresting the perpetrators of terror is a better solution than "targeted killing" without trial. Yemen has apprehended and tried El Quaeda members before. Even Iran has extradited El Quaeda members recently.