AOL News: Osama Bin Laden Was Unarmed During Navy SEAL Raid, Says White House (Baaaaarf!)

AOL News ^ | 4/5/11 | MATT APUZZO and ADAM GOLDMAN

[Eleutheria5]

Panetta said that bin Laden made "some threatening moves that were made that clearly represented a clear threat to our guys. And that's the reason they fired."

The SEALs were back in the U.S. at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington for debriefing on the raid, lawmakers said after meeting with Panetta.

The question of how to present bin Laden's death to the world is a difficult balancing act for the White House. President Barack Obama told Americans that justice had been done, but the White House also declared that bin Laden's body was treated respectfully and sent to rest in a somber ceremony at sea.

Panetta underscored on Tuesday that Obama had given permission to kill the terror leader: "The authority here was to kill bin Laden," he said. "And obviously, under the rules of engagement, if he had in fact thrown up his hands, surrendered and didn't appear to be representing any kind of threat, then they were to capture him. But they had full authority to kill him."

For the long-term legacy of the most successful counterterrorism operation in U.S. history, the fact that bin Laden was unarmed is unlikely to matter much to the Americans he declared war against. President George W. Bush famously said he wanted bin Laden "dead or alive," and the CIA's top counterterrorism official once promised to bring bin Laden's head back on a stake.

[Sprite518]

Oh so what now they want to go after the NAVY SEALS that killed OBL? If that happens, then Obama’s numbers will tank.

[conejo99]

I doubt that. I think Obama gave the troops orders to kill him and not take him alive.
Imagine if he was captured. We would have to give him a trial where he could say whatever he wanted. We wouldn't be the audience he cared about, the Muslim world would be.
How many Americans would be captured and held hostage all over the world as their captors demanded OBLs release?

[driftless2]

When videos of OBL surfaced after 9/11 with him gloating about the murders, he signed his execution warrant. To shot or blown up on sight with no warning and no chance to surrender.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Let’s not forget the ambush of Yamamoto! Great shooting!

Some people just need killing.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

The daughter has reportedly told her Pakistani investigators that the US forces captured her father alive but shot him dead in front of family members. “

I can live with that! Carte Blanche for our SEALS!

[HarleyD]

I think Obama gave the troops orders to kill him and not take him alive.

It may be that you're correct but it's not in the nature of a liberal to want to kill. Obama struggled with this decision for 16 hours prior to giving the order-what order we don't know. What's to struggle with???? GITMO should have show all of us that Obama doesn't care if UBL had a platform. He believes that just bring them to trial and everything will be hunky-dory.

The trouble is people are believing Obama was thinking like a conservative-or even a moderate. It is not in his nature.

[gov_bean_ counter]

” I didn’t ask who gave the order, BECAUSE IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH BUSINESS!!!”