Did we kill Bin Laden right?

What a funny question, being asked recently by certain hilly-billy newspapers (Yes, I’m kidding, I’m not THAT racist). Was killing Osama Bin Laden legal? Well, let’s get into it. Bush requested Bin Laden “dead or alive.” That includes the possibility of death. In essence, a judgment upon Bin Laden had already been made; his sentence had already been decreed; capture or death.

Or you could be smart, and just don’t ask the question. What a Ridiculous idea. If we are here to ask stupid questions, let’s include this: Is the presence of undercover U.S. agents in Iran, Pakistan, India, Russia, and China legal? Of course it isn’t the only reason the United States hasn’t hung itself is because those are covert operations. The killing of Bin Laden was similarly a covert operation. The Pakistanis didn’t know about it; in fact, informing the Pakistani government ahead of time might even have caused the mission to fail as information would flow through to an Al-Qaeda mole somewhere.

Did the U.S. act in it’s citizen’s interest? Did the killing of Bin Laden aid our common defense? Yes, most definitely. The very image of the US dispatching a symbol of Jihad is discouraging to potential terrorists. There are those who claim Bin Laden was unarmed – all the better! That means he didn’t die a warrior, but a coward. One of the other occupants in the building used Bin Laden’s wife as a shield. How does that look for all our Islamic fundamentalists who believe in the glorious death?

When we are engage in competition, you win by viciously and opportunistically seeking every advantage over the enemy. But then to say “Oh, I cheated, I shouldn’t really have won” after you have won, fair and square, both competitors trying their hardest to terminate the other, is a sign of arrogance. You think the enemy so weak that you must create binds on yourself in order to level the playing field a little. You think that You’re invincible. Arrogance is all it is. I’d thought we’d learn some humility during the 9/11 attacks, but apparently we’ve forgotten the villainy of our enemies enough that once again, we tie our hands behind our backs. Bin Laden is an enemy. If we do not kill him, he is bound to kill us. To allow any possibility of that happening is worse than underestimating an enemy; it is disrespecting him.

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