I’m not quite sure why this is such a big deal. Anyone who thinks that Bin Laden didn’t deserve to be shot like a rabid dog hasn’t been paying attention. Now we could argue about whether or not “invading” a foreign country to take out a terrorist is cricket. It never stopped Israel’s Mossad and our Predator attacks kinda made the point to Pakistan a while ago. I reckon Bin Laden’s continued existence represented an imminent threat to U.S. citizens. But it seems that certain members of the U.S. government were raised on Westerns . . .
where the good guy never shoots first. Embarrassingly enough, Rhode Island’s Jim Langevin felt obliged to point out that World Enemy Number one had guns nearby when a SEAL’s bullet entered his T Zone and shut off his lights forevermore. This from nationaljournal.com:
When special operations forces closed in on Osama bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan, they found him in a room with two guns, one of which was an AK-47 assault rifle, two lawmakers and a U.S. government official told National Journal on Wednesday.
The administration has confirmed that bin Laden was not armed when he was shot and killed on Sunday. But being in a room with weapons could bolster the administration’s claim that it was necessary to kill the terrorist leader.
“He was not armed. The administration has confirmed that. But there were weapons in the room,” said Rep.Jim Langevin, D-R.I., who serves on both the House Armed Services and House Intelligence committees.
Holy National of Cowards Batman! The administration needs to bolster the case for killing Bin Laden? Still, the self-wrong-footers have helped tease out details of that fateful day.
The government official confirmed that the weapons were an AK-47 and a pistol. The official said bin Laden was spotted coming out of the room where the guns were located and then ran back into that room . . .
The first objective at the compound involved hostile fire from one of the facilitators living there. So it immediately became a hostile environment,” the official said. “Then you also had threatening moves and actions inside the larger home to include action on all three floors.”
“You had people lunging toward the [military team],” the official added. “You had guns present in the house. Given al-Qaida’s history, you’re concerned about suicide vests [and] bombs. The compound itself could have been rigged to explode.”
Good point. Clean kill. Ish. Close enough, really. But I am amazed that there is anyone who believes that Bin Laden should have been given a chance to surrender.
For the record, I love America. I love our judicial system. But great evil that directly threatens our country and its citizens must be eradicated from this Earth whenever possible, as quickly and completely as possible. God bless America for having the motive, means, opportunity and balls to do it.