[Haiku Guy]

So, if a 5’2” woman who is in custody can steal a rifle and kill American servicemen, does that mean we should just line up every terrorist we have in custody against a wall and get it over with?

My problem is that, according to Leon Pannetta, this was a “Kill Mission”. The predetermined outcome was that Osama bin Laden would die.

Ask Vicki Weaver or David Kouresh what they think about US Government Kill Missions. Oh, wait a minute... you can’t... because they’re dead!

I have no problem with the military targeting leaders, or even common soldiers, anytime and anywhere. If we had pulverized this entire compound with 20,000 pounds of JDAMs, I would have had no problem with that.

But when somebody is rousted out of bed and is standing there with his hands in the air trying to surrender, you can’t just shoot him in the head, no matter who he is.

Is that the way this went down? I have no idea. In at least a few of the 72 versions were getting from the White House, he was shot while trying to surrender. But who knows?

But, according to Pannetta, that would not matter. Osama bin Laden was to be killed on sight, no matter what. It was a Kill Mission, and allowing him to surrender was not an option.

And, finally, I agree completely with Polybius’ point that the less said about this sort of thing the better. If I had my druthers, we would not even have annouced bin Laden was dead, and let the terrorists figure it out on their own.

[caww]

I agree you have problems....but it doesn’t matter how this man who attacked American, unarmed children and adults on 9/11 without provocation dies...as long as he’s gone to prevent him from doing it again.

It just doesn’t matter how he went down..

[The Pack Knight]

Whatever you think about the respective killings of Vicki Weaver, David Koresh, and Osama bin Laden, I think it’s fair to say that different rules apply to killing foreign combatants in the course a foreign war than to killing U.S. citizens in a domestic law enforcement action.

[Polybius]

You never know if trying to talk a 6 foot, 5 inch fanatic into surrendering or wrestling with a 6 foot, 5 inch fanatic is going to provide the needed distraction or the needed 2.3 seconds for an armed bodyguard to burst into the room and kill one or several of the SEAL Team. .... Not even another enemy bursting into the room or a 6 foot 5 inch man is required for such a thing to happen. .... If that cute little woman can pull that off, you want to give a 6 foot 5 inch man a fighting chance in his own, pitch dark room?

"There he is, to your left! POP. POP. POP."

That's the way it went down. .... Polybius

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So, if a 5’2” woman who is in custody can steal a rifle and kill American servicemen, does that mean we should just line up every terrorist we have in custody against a wall and get it over with? ..... Haiku Guy

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Do you always come up with ridiculously absurd Strawman arguments that have absolutely no relationship whatsoever with the original situation?

The death of 3,000 innocent civilians should be considered an "Inconvenience"?

The split second decisions made by a SEAL Team when they burst into a room in a raid are equivalent to "lining up terrorists against a wall"?

Have you absolutely no sense of reality? Have you absolutely no sense of time and space? Have you never even played baseball where, in a split second, you must decide whether to swing at a pitch or not? Has your life been so totally sheltered that you have never had to make a single split second decision of any consequence in your entire life?

Let's illustrate my stated scenario and your Strawman scenario with an historical example:

It was April 29,1945 and the German concentration camp at Dachau was being liberated. Let us assume that, while securing the camp, a group of G.I.'s kicked in a door in a building, stormed a room, saw motion and a German uniform behind them and (POP. POP. POP.) there was a dead German that happened to have been an unarmed file clerk.

War sh#t happens. C'est la guerre. It's called "Fog of War".

That is what happens when you burst into a room or a child runs right in front of your car and, in a split second, you must make recognition, evaluation and muscular movements that will have life and death consequences.

That is what I am talking about.

Here is your Strawman scenrio that actually happened on April 29,1945. After the Dachau camp was secured, without any split second decisions to be made, the German guards were lined up against the wall and shot.

The Dachau massacre

Do you see the difference between those two situations?

Being able to evaluate the two totally different situations is not Rocket Science.

[Thunder90]

Do you really want to see the spectacle of holding a Bin Ladin trial in Manhattan? That’s what Holder and Obama wanted. Now, Obama wanted Osama captured. Ponetta and Petraeus likely were the ones who give the kill order.