You just said that it was a kill order regardless of his actions. I'm not saying the SEALs should have compromised their safety during the raid, but if it was at all possible I wanted him taken alive and tried in a court of law. That's the difference between us and them Yurt. Or at least it should be. In America everyone should be equal in the eyes of the law.
I have a couple of things here. First, I reject this idea that some people have, that our Constitution and Constitutional rights apply to people who are not US citizens and/or are not on US soil. I think even the simple-minded can understand, we can't enforce our Constitution abroad, we have no jurisdiction or authority to do so. If we could do that, there are a great number of people in the world we could drag into US court and try for civil and human rights abuses. There are a great many people who would make the argument that they deserve Constitutional rights to free speech and freedom of religion, and to not be discriminated against based on gender or race... Billions of people worldwide. We can't accommodate them all, so why would selected individuals qualify? Is there something in the Constitution which tells us that some people are more deserving of Constitutional rights than others? If so, please point it out to me, I haven't found it. Why should we afford Osama Bin Laden a Constitutional right, while denying the billions of people worldwide who would risk death to be protected by the Constitution?
And secondly... let's talk about your short-sighted idea of trying OBL in a US court. Have you really thought about this? The prosecution has to prove its case against OBL, and there are a number of technical and legal problems there. Because of the nature of this case, much of the evidence is classified, and can't be released on grounds of national security. Many of the witnesses and people who could provide testimony for the prosecution, are dead. Many of the rest, are not going to be compelled to testify honestly, because they are not US citizens, and we have no jurisdiction to compel them to testify. Given the nature of radical Islamofascists, using 5th century technologies of communication, there isn't a lot of 'paper' evidence. He made some speeches... but speech is not a crime. He did not pilot those planes on 9/11... can you directly connect that to him, with the evidence available? I think it might be more difficult than you want to believe, to try and convict him in a US courtroom. How would you feel if he were acquitted?
The Administration took several days to get their story straight about what happened, and I am still not completely clear on it. First he was armed, there was a gunfight... 40 minutes... then there wasn't a gunfight... no security at the compound.. and OBL wasn't armed. Here's what I think.... the order from Obama was, kill him, or don't come home! I don't think they ever intended on taking him alive, the last thing in the world Obama needed, was to bring Osama Bin Laden to the US for trial! Can you even imagine the ramifications of such a trial? Where ya gonna have it, NYC?
