Response to Amy (Murder)

This is a response to Amy Rosvally's blog.  She asked, "If a government official were to kill someone during a torture session, would it be considered murder?".  My answer is yes.  I am disregarding what the law states in my answer because the law is not always right and I believe the law ought to be challenged at times.  

All intentional killing is immoral.  This includes killing during torture, war, the death penalty or abortion.  Our laws make exceptions for a handful of situations, which just makes the issue more unclear.  You can't individually judge specific situations when it comes to killing another person- you either allow it or you don't.  

I stated that all intentional killing is immoral, but how can we determine what is intentional and what is unintentional?  This also makes the issue very unclear when it should be black and white.  If a drunk driver kills someone in a car accident, they weren't intending to kill anyone, but many people treat this situation as if it were just as bad as intended murder, because the drunk driver was irresponsible.  So, our society demands that people take precaution against accidentally killing people.  

Our laws regarding murder are flawed because we allow too much leeway.  Plenty of people literally get away with murder due to supposed lack of intent, self defense, or insanity.  I'm not arguing that these are never legitimate justifications, but I feel that they are overused.  Also, our society doesn't view some intentional killing as murder, such as killing during war.  I think people need to start looking at these situations objectively to determine whether or not it is moral to kill innocent people simply because we are at war with their country.

Question:  Is killing an animal murder?