Decided to move off of this because there hasn't really been any evidence in the books if the Council has or hasn't directed Eb to do attacks or if he acts completely on his own. I personally believe he is directed to attack some things, but to the Council they want deniability, so the Council will deny any knowledge if he's found out to be the attacker.
I doubt the Council directed him to attack the guys who went after his wife, or after Lord Raith.
Point is, the only person who really decides who Ebenezer hits are Ebenezer, and not in a, "Here's your target, it's your call to make the shot" way, but a, "You can pick and choose your targets entirely without us being part of the process."
I guess I'm more loose with the definition. I see a war zone as any place that there is conflict, but not necessarily a declared war. Examples include the United States bombing Syria even though war has not actually been declared. Or a better example would be the Cold War in which the CIA was conducting secret missions that included assassinating people. Or a proxy war in which the United States assisted Afghanistan in killing Russians, or when the Russians were helping kill Americans in Vietnam. War had not been declared in these situations between the U.S. and Russia but deaths resulted in these proxy wars, and undeclared wars.
The cold war wasn't a "war zone," and yes, you're being so loose with the definition that it's just not the right term anymore. Point is, a sniper is sent somewhere. The Blackstaff has total autonomy.
War need not be declared for action to be taken. Also we have very little info on when the Blackstaff has taken action. It's just speculation. Countries take military action all the time without actually declaring war. The United States strikes in Syria have been done without war being declared by either side.
The Blackstaff isn't a military force. It's an assassin, one that has total discretion to pick and choose its targets and methods without any apparent input or restraint from its supposed governing body.
It's less James Bond, and more The Punisher.
You have used Eb's own words to describe the Blackstaff. So will I. He stated the attack was in response to the attack on Archangel, and the death of Simon, a senior Council member. His response was exactly what the Blackstaff was created for. He struck a target that the White Council could not attack without massive casualties. The Council would have had to resort to guns, and swords to avoid killing innocents with magic. Ortega was using the Council's laws against them by surrounding himself with mortals that the White Council could not attack with magic.
If it was really in response to Simon, I think it would've happened a lot sooner. Instead it happens literally the week after Ortega tries to kill Harry. I kiiiiiiinda doubt that was a coincidence.
Incidentally, if you're going to use his words...
"He killed Simon. My friend.
Then he came here and tried to kill you, Hoss. And he was coming back here to finis the job as soon as he recovered. So I hit Casaverde."
His directly stated reasoning was that he hit Casaverde because Ortega was planning to come back and kill Harry. Yes, he's mad about Simon, but the direct reason is Harry. A personal vendetta.
Eb's attack was exactly what his position was designed for. To attack an enemy of the White Council using it's laws against it. My opinion is it was an attack by the White Council in response to the attack on Archangel.
Ebenezer himself says it was because Ortega planned to attack Harry.
He doesn't need to be the Blackstaff to have done the three attacks. Killing non humans is perfectly fine with the White Council. His failed attempts on Raith actually are evidence he didn't use the Blackstaff. He attempted magic that slipped off of Raith. Raith is however vulnerable to bodily attacks like bullets. Eb could have used something similar to what he used on Ortega but did not, that's evidence that he wasn't using his position as the Blackstaff and was working within the laws of magic as a normal wizard.
That's not evidence at all. We don't know the mechanism of the satellite spell; it could have been like the Moloccio, which was linked to a specific person, and thus the link would slip off of Raith. Or he didn't have a handy satellite and tried something more direct.
But you're right that we don't know he was doing it as the Blackstaff, so I'll drop that point.
As for the others, they're acknowledged by Ebenezer himself as being done with the Blackstaff.
I actually think this is wrong. I thought it was right earlier but upon reflection of his conversation with Harry I think he's much more like a CIA agent and that his being above the laws of magic is actually his get out of jail free card. It's similar to someone taking orders to conduct a mission, but then later on when there is new leadership they want to prosecute the person for that mission. The Blackstaff protects the person who's conducting those missions. I think the 2 confirmed attacks that were performed in the books both could have actually been ordered by the White Council. I have to reread the quote but cannot find the book right now.
"could have actually been" is not evidence. We know three times that Ebenezer used the Blackstaff and for what.
1. He killed the people who went after his wife (and thousands of others who happened to be nearby; I think it was the volcano he made erupt).
2. He killed the people who went after Harry
3. He killed 200 mercenaries working for the people who were trying to kill Maggie.
The first is obviously personal. The second he admits was completely personal. The third is something that the Merlin had specifically told Harry he didn't want done.
We don't know what the other hits were, but of the ones we have, none seem to have been ordered by the White Council.
And even if they did give orders, Ebenezer self-admittedly has full autonomy to ignore them.