Of course there were many precedents during the Second World War.
I cannot evaluate the validity of otherwise of Fighter Command ramming the Luftwaffe or Bomber Command prssing on with crippled bombers just to drop their bombs and then crash.
The big difference was we had plenty of replacement aircraft and a reasonably plentiful supply or replacement aircrew.
Now we have neither.
Could we, in all conscience, afford to lose say 15% of our in-theatre forces on the possibility, and only the possibility, of decapitating the AQ leadership?
A_A,
Just read your post and of course it is the other side of the same coin I mentioned. You might also consider Amethyst and Cornwall.
We are in a different world.