Whining About Osama bin Laden's Death

I wondered how long it would take some on the left to start crying about Osama bin Laden being killed. Answer: not long.

it’s still not right. We are supposed to bring people to justice through the courts, not through vigilante justice. If bin Laden had resisted in a way that endangered his captors, that would have justified killing him. But if he didn’t, this is simply officially sanctioned murder.

Osama bin Laden was not a criminal. He was a terrorist enemy of the U.S. I know this is obvious to people whose minds aren't poisoned by left-wing ideology, but the reason his killing was justified is because he was engaged in warfare against the U.S. His killing would have been justified if he were sleeping peacefully and a member of the SEAL team snuck up and slit his throat. War is in fact "officially sanctioned murder." In war you don't give enemies a fair fight, and you don't arrest them -- unless you need to capture a prisoner for interrogation purposes. You use every advantage to kill the enemy. If an enemy allows himself to be caught unarmed, or at some other disadvantage, that's just too bad for him.

Under our system, criminals—even horrible ones like bin Laden—are supposed to get a trial. I know it doesn’t always work out that way when war is involved, but it should.

No, it shouldn't. Bin Laden wasn't a common criminal, and is not "under our system" in any way. He was a foreign enemy whose killing was completely justified. No trial was necessary or desirable.

Quote of the Day on bin Laden's Burial

From All That Is Necessary,

Maybe we should have treated Bin Laden's body the same way the muslims in the hellhole Middle East treat the bodies of those they kill. We would have brought the body back to the USA, dragged it through the streets, burned it, hung it from the Brooklyn Bridge and then jumped around like a bunch of monkeys on crack while they beat the body with sticks. Instead we give the architect of the murder of 3,000 people and the destruction of the World Trade Center a dignified burial at sea. If it's good enough for our sailors, it is good enough for that piece of crap, Bin Laden.

That pretty muchs sums it up.

Osama bin Laden's Burial at Sea

I have no problem with the administration's decision to bury Osama bin Laden at sea. There were pluses and minuses to whatever method they chose. But the usual pandering to Islam is ridiculous. Here's Counterterrorism Advisor John Brennan.

Because Islamic law mandates burial within 24 hours of death, there was no time for the US to ask other countries, counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said, according to the New York Times.

At a press conference Monday, Mr. Brennan assured reporters that his burial had been conducted "in accordance with the Islamic requirements."

In the previous post I pointed out that Obama has continued many of the positive policies of the Bush administration with regard to fighting Al Qaeda. But he's also continued some bad ones. One of the worst is the idea that we need to bend over backward to appease Muslims -- and not just any Muslims, but those essentially hostile to America. The last thing the U.S. should be worried about in deciding what to do with the body of an enemy like bin Laden is whether or not his burial conforms to "Islamic requirements." President Bush, and now Obama, have taken great pains to separate Al Qaeda from Islam. They've repeatedly made the case that he doesn't represent Muslims at all, and that our war against his organization is not a war on Islam. But as soon as he's dead, now he's back to being a Muslim and we have to give him a proper Muslim burial.

Trying to appease hostile Muslim opinion is useless and counterproductive. All it does is demonstrate weakness. Any Muslim who cares seriously about the disposal of a piece of garbage like Osama bin Laden is highly unlikely to be well-disposed toward the U.S. anyway. As I've argued on many occasions, it is good that such people are offended by our policies. If they aren't, we are doing something wrong. No matter how much we bow and scrape in an effort to appease them, it won't do any good. They'll still hate us. We should stop worrying about offending them. They are offended by our very existence.

Credit Where It Is Due

I've been a harsh critic of President Obama. Anyone reading this blog for any length of time knows that I think he's a weak leader, clueless on foreign policy, and a big government liberal Democrat here at home. But one area where I haven't had much criticism of the president is in his handling of the war against Al Qaeda and its affiliates. In fact, I've noted before that attacks on Obama as soft on terrorism are ridiculous and don't match the evidence.

Although the president has given lip service to the ideas of terrorist rights supporters, and has made some cosmetic changes to our policies, for the most part he has continued the post-9/11 war on terror measures of the Bush administration. Unlike other foreign policy actions, such as Libya, where he foolishly tied the U.S. to a UN resolution, he has not crippled U.S. war efforts against Al Qaeda. He has ignored bleating about international law when it conflicted with American interests regarding targeting terrorists. He even expanded the drone assassination program, despite opposition from his own political base. The killing of Osama bin Laden is a prime example of how the president has taken a hard-edged approach to dealing with foreign terrorists -- as long as they are at large.

Obama ordered a U.S. kill team into Pakistan, violating Pakistani sovereignty. There was no order to capture bin Laden, and bring him back for trial as if he were a criminal. Instead the president ordered his execution without any legal niceties, treating him as the enemy he was. This action was exactly the type of response to terrorist enemies that is in America's interest. It sends a clear message to other terrorist leaders, and those who harbor them. We aren't going to try to arrest you. And the borders of the place you are hiding aren't going to protect you. We are going to kill you, even if it takes ten years to find you. Regardless of what you think of President Obama, he deserves credit for taking decisive action to eliminate one of the greatest enemies of the U.S.

I might also note that this operation was carried out in secret. There were no leaks to compromise it. The administration deserves significant credit for that alone. There has been far too little secrecy lately, and secrecy is critical to effective covert action.

I'm Ending the HOT5 Daily

I've been thinking about it, and I've decided to stop doing the HOT5 Daily. When I started this blog, my main intent with the HOT5 was to give myself something to post every day. By reading through numerous blog posts, and selecting a HOT5, it also usually inspired me to post something original myself. This worked well for a long time.

But now I have less time to post than I used to. Doing the HOT5 requires a considerable amount of time. Instead of inspiring me to post, lately it has taken the place of posting. There are too many days when I just post a HOT5 and nothing else, if I even manage to do that much. Since my posting time is limited, I want to focus on doing original posts, rather than spending my time selecting good links. I will still feature some blog posts that I think are worth noting, but do them as individual posts, instead of the HOT5 feature.

No HOT5 Today

It will return tomorrow.

Bin Laden Finally Eliminated

I was watching the Phillies - Mets game, still in progress as I write this, when the announcement came. Bin Laden, aside from being a murderous enemy, was a tough survivor. The Soviet Union couldn't manage to kill him, and we've been after him for at least ten years. As many suspected he was hiding out in Pakistan. It's great to see the U.S. pull off an effective covert operation, kill our most wanted terrorist enemy, and sustain no casualties in the process.

Covert teams assigned to kill enemy leaders should be one of our main weapons in this asymmetric war against radical Islamic non-state terrorists. It's unclear exactly who comprised this particular team, but based on first reports it appears to have been a CIA/military collaboration.
The death of Bin Laden should send a message to other enemies that if we can find and kill him, we can kill them too.