We may not like to admit this, but there's a very fine line -- or maybe no line at all -- between a Navy SEAL operation in Pakistan and an FBI/ATF raid on a Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.I'm fairly sure OBL wasn't an American citizen entitled to BOR protections and also that Davey Koresh and his homies never admitted to blowing up 3K innocents on a single day. Maybe we could use that as a line. If that's not good enough, we could also use domestic vs. overseas operations as a distinguishing factor.
The dilemma here is that so much of the information the U.S. government has about Osama bin Laden is "classified" -- either in truth or conveniently so. One of the advantages any government has in a case like this is that this can be used to justify a lot of actions (or even inaction) that would never be tolerated in normal circumstances.
The "inaction" I cited is an important point to consider, for it relates to the curious stance of the U.S. towards the Saudis (other than Osama bin Laden) who may have played a role in the 9/11 attacks.