Only "primitive" people would assume that "decent" people necessarily eschew assassination, regardless of the despot's international role.

Or you know deontologists and some virtue ethicists.

As I think about it, I can't dismiss that this aspect might have been what offended Wittgenstein, who does not appear to have been completely honest; to my ear, he sounds personally offended. What offended him, we might guess, is that Malcolm was insinuating that Wittgenstein's approval of such an endeavor was indecent. (A point on which Wittgenstein was, I think, sensitive and which would offend most people when directed toward them.)

Seems plausible actually.