Let’s be clear here…none of Osama bin Laden’s victims were armed to defend themselves. So this rhetoric about being shot while he was unarmed is a non-starter.
He took none of that into consideration when he killed nearly 3000 people in the United States and countless others around the world. Not one of Osama bin Laden’s victims had a chance to arm and protect themselves in self-defense. They were cowardly murdered by bin Laden’s brainwashed sychophants while bin Laden was holed up in a cave and subsequently a trashy looking “million dollar compound”.
Apparently the tough on terror Republicans (and some Blue “Lap” Dog Dems) are accusing the president of breaking the law by killing bin Laden while he was unarmed. I find it absolutely mind-boggling to see how these people will shed their own values in an effort to make Barack Obama look bad and unelectable. It’s simply absurd.
I am not advocating the murder of ANYONE. I simply feel that killing unarmed, unsuspecting innocent people is cause for justifiable retaliation.
The Week
Pros and cons:
The U.S. was well within its rights: It doesn’t matter that bin Laden was unarmed, or that the SEALS were in the country without Pakistan’s permission, says The Washington Post in an editorial. Bin Laden declared war on the U.S. in 1998, and Congress reciprocated in 2001: Under the international laws of war, al Qaeda’s leader was fair game, regardless of how he reacted to being caught.
“In killing Osama bin Laden, U.S. had the law on its side”
Actually, Obama has some explaining to do: It’s unclear that al Qaeda still qualifies as a group with which America is legitimately at war, says Thomas Darnstädt in Der Speigel, or that bin Laden was an active “combatant.” Even if he was, the legal way to handle “a man who is sought globally for commissioning murder would be to arrest him, put him on trial, and ultimately convict him,” not summarily execute him.
“Was bin Laden’s killing legal?”
It may have been legal… but it wasn’t just: The SEALs weren’t law enforcement officers making an arrest, says Thomas Nachbar at Slate. They were on a military mission, and “by virtually any account of the law of war, Osama bin Laden was a valid military target.” But just because the raid was lawful doesn’t mean that “justice” was done. That’s an important distinction, because “only principles like justice” can defeat the ideology bin Laden represented.
“Is it ‘justice’?”
Let’s just call a spade a spade: “Common sense tells you [bin Laden] was executed,” says filmmaker Michael Moore, as quoted by The Wrap. It would have been better to bring him to trial, like we did with the Nazis at Nuremberg, and then hang him. But we didn’t, so let’s just be frank about what happened. We’re all glad Osama’s dead, and we can handle the truth.
“Michael Moore: ‘Bin Laden was executed’”
Related articles
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- Latest updates: How the raid against Osama bin Laden went down (via This Just In) (thespiritportal.wordpress.com)
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- Al Qaeda confirms death of Osama bin Laden (nj.com)
- Osama bin Laden’s Last Tweet (humpdayreport.wordpress.com)
- Al-qaeda Confirms Death of Osama Bin Laden and Vows Revenge (socyberty.com)
- Al Qaeda vows to avenge Osama bin Laden’s death (longwarjournal.org)
- Al Qaeda confirms death of bin Laden, vows to continue attacks (thestar.com)
- Fidel Castro Accuses The Way Osama Bin Laden Was Assassinated (socyberty.com)
- Bin Laden, War Casualty (duanegraham.wordpress.com)
- The Death Of Osama Bin Laden (injesus.wordpress.com)
