"It was a lie that I had described people as 'expendable'"
You have indicated that it would be acceptible to drop a bomb on "only twenty" non combatants in order to carry out an assassination in the case of the targer fleeing.
You are refusing to confirm or deny that statemant therefore you are saying that those non combatanyts are expendible
Easy solution - confirm or deny what you have already said - you can't have it both ways.
Jim Carroll