Oh, I understand wanting this guy dead. I understand authorizing lethal force. Obviously this was a hazardous situation.
But an authorization to use lethal force and an order to kill somebody are two different things. Even Panetta, when he was doing his best Dirty Harry impression talking about how this was a “Kill Mission” said that if bin Laden had been standing there helpless in his underwear, the SEALs would have captured him.
Now we find out he was standing there helpless in his underwear.
Hey, I think the Obama Admin has accomplished the impossible - screwed up the aftermath of a successful raid to kill bin Laden. But I don’t see this as any kind of indication that they now have the unbridled power to cap anyone, anywhere. bin Laden was a long-standing authorized target of lethal force.
I am totally OK with that.
(ie, OBL as the target of a straight-up kill mission — an assasination, just like Yamamoto.)
You’re not?
He could have been naked and breastfeeding for all I care. He was a dead man walking since 9/11. My only regret is that it was too quick of a death for that dirt dog. I wished that he had been gut-shot and left to rot as his own s**t ate him alive.
Actually all this confirms is that AFTER he was shot and WHEN the picture was taken, he was LYING there dead in his underwear. Since the picture wasn't taken while he was being shot, we don't really have proof about his level of dress or undress, nor the proximity of weapons to where he was standing, sitting, lying, or kneeling and bobbing or however else he might have been positioned.