OBL was the ostensible leader of the terrorist world. Ghaddafi was a broken, fallen, on-the-run, tin-pot despot who no longer had control of his country let alone power over anyone but his immediate forces. He certainly wasn’t a threat outside Libya. And at the point where he was shot he had become -not a military target but- a prisoner of war. The two circumstances are very much the same, yet it’s only Bin-Laden’s ongoing world-wide menace that can give a rise to his killing as being righteous. Ghaddafi had no such standing at the time.
You can believe what you want. I will believe what I will. I’m glad the man is dead. I’m not happy with America having to condone the outright killing (quite possibly with his own weapon) of a has-been, worn-out schmuck.
I agree with all of the above even in hindsight. We did whatever was necessary to ensure our national survival and to win the war. We became more circumspect and concerned with legal issues when prosecuting the wars in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The big difference is that we didn't feel that our national survival was at stake in these other conflicts. We have the luxury of being able to adhere to international law, worry about collateral damage, and to extend constitutional rights to enemy combatants. The results have been mixed in terms of achieving our objectives and minimizing the loss of US life.
IMO the Nuremberg War trials were a mistake and set terrible precedents. We are transferring national sovereignty to international organizations and institutions ceding our rights under the Constitution.
You can believe what you want. I will believe what I will. I’m glad the man is dead. I’m not happy with America having to condone the outright killing (quite possibly with his own weapon) of a has-been, worn-out schmuck.
It really isn't a matter of us condoning anything. It is a matter for the Libyan people to decide how it wishes to mete out justice to a brutal despot who has inflicted immeasurable harm to the country and its people for over 40 years. I could care less if he was summarily executed by the government's militia any more than I care about how Mussolini was killed. Justice was done in both cases. No Stalinist show trial is necessary to fulfill some misplaced legalistic standard of what constitutes justice.
Qaddafi was a threat to the outside world whether it was in Berlin, above the skies of Scotland, or with his nascent nuclear weapons program. Death at the hands of his own people was fitting and just. The fact that it was quick and sure was better than he deserved and certainly better than most of his victims received.