"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body."
-President Obama
The intention of the mission, as per Reuters, was to kill Osama Bin Laden. This was not a mission to capture a man and bring him to trial. This was not an operation designed to draw justice from the waters. This was an overt political assassination in the midst of a sovereign nation performed under the full auspices of Presidential authority. Bin Laden was killed by US soldiers, not in a firefight nor by cross fire, but by an execution with the collective leadership of this administration observing and directing and approving.
No plausible deniability was planned or asked for by this administration, which is taking full credit for the successful orchestration of the assassination. Hiding no longer behind the intelligence agencies as geopolitik dirty work is handled brings a blast of openness, not often seen by political entities. Admirable in the utmost Mr. President.
Less admirable is the following fact: With the full knowledge and consent of the chief of state, the United States is now operating in overt political assassination against foreign citizens with no regard for justice or due process of law.
The old saw states 'One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter'. The fact is there has been nothing noble nor liberty seeking in the actions of Bin Laden and his ideals. But the term 'terrorist' is amorphous, easy to apply to those who stand in disagreement with the nation-states of this world. The contemporary ramifications of this may be a surprise to most Americans. It is seldom that a Ron Paul supporter, pro-life activists or flag-waving-gold-owning Americans are considered as a 'terrorist' by normal people. The seeds of a dark future are being sown, I pray we do not water them further.
The future holds few certainties. History does show a handful of certainties. Governments will continue to try and increase their share of control. Government will be run by men, of whom power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. To hand the keys of life and death over the opposition to a man, any man, is a problem. The American system is designed with the checks of the law and the balances of the legislature to limit and mitigate the power of the executive. These instruments of restraint have been demonstrated yet again as powerless. Without a hair of congressional approval for war in Pakistan. Without even a pretense of justice through the use of a moral legal structure the United States has practiced open assassination.
If we believe what we have been told, Bin Laden is sleeping in Davy Jones Locker. I hope he is the last of such corpses to sent to the depths at the hands of an American assassination team.
As the echoes of America's jubilee fade away we are left with more powerful tools of tyranny.
In the hands of the future who can say where they will be directed?
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3 comments:
i hope osama is just the beginning. he needs friends to join him.
Yep. We couldn't have the clan of those assassinated by American hitmen becoming lonely.
I'm all for due process and fair trials, but I also don't think it's unreasonable to kill the current leader of a group that is actively at war with us.
In a war, should soldiers pause in the middle of battle and attempt to capture every single enemy combatant in order to grant them a fair trial? Of course not.
Bin Laden was not a random guy who committed one crime on his own; he was the leader of a major terrorist group that was (and is) actively battling the U.S.
We don't know all the specifics of the operation; perhaps capturing him rather than killing him would endanger American troops' lives. After all, Special Forces are trained to shoot to kill lightning-fast; if they hesitate, they die. The fact that they made it out with no American lives lost is practically a miracle.
Would it have been worth capturing Osama if it meant sacrificing one or two Navy SEALs to do it?
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