Aside from the intrinsic moral problems (which should be less severe than starting a war) and risks (getting caught, especially if you fail), and setting a poor precedent, assassination isn't particularly useful unless the person you'd be assassinating is actually the problem. Usually they aren't.

While this would make a very interesting topic at a LW meetup, I think this post should be deleted from LW. Not everyone who goes to this website is stable, and many of us are vastly more willing to take ideas seriously than the average human is.

I have to admit to wondering this myself.