It's been 24 hours, and bin Laden is still dead

"Ambivalent" is the word I had considered submitting on the other thread, and I'm staunchly anti-death penalty.

I just don't know what it changed. You just get numbed to each new development, whether it's a new war starting, or some scumbag like this getting whacked. When does it end? Sorry if that sounds naive, but after awhile, you can't escape the idea that the whole mess is just a self-perpetuating cycle.

 

FWIW:

 

I'm not sure how that relates to the discussion of whether someone can be consistent while support a wartime execution and not the death penalty.

 

Osama Bin Laden would have happily killed all of us, or sent someone to kill all of us.

I don't care if it was an act of war and I don't understand the comparison to serial killers, it's like comparing apples that I'm glad are dead to oranges that I'm glad are dead.

 

He tangled with the SEALS.
Now he sleeps with the fishes.

 

listen, we all have our own moral compass. i've said on a previous post/different thread that i'm anti-death penalty. i should've added, 'as a general premise.' stand trial, found guilty, sentenced to life is fine by me -- as a general rule. call me a hypocrite if it makes you feel better but i trust my judgment and gut to tell me whether it's simply called for or not.

but this a--hole wasn't the norm. like hitler and several other masterminds of mass murder and genocide are. it is not hypocritical at all to live your life with your personal code of ethics but to allow that there can be exceptions.

and OBL is one, just as hitler was. Thirty-six hours later i still sit here with an overwheming sense of satisfaction that this was a righteous kill.

the loved ones of the 3,000 9/11 victims will NEVER have closure. nor will anyone else. i hate when that word is used. nothing changes the unthinkable events or brings the victims back to life.

in a case like this, you take whatever comfort you can whenever you can. so thank you very much, prez obama, you NAVY SEALS, and everyone else who is working tirelessly to protect us and give us whatever moments of satisfaction that can be salvaged.

 

It doesn't.
It points out that that technically, there is no such thing as a state-sponsored execution (i.e. assasination) of a head of state or leader (PLO, Al-Qaiada).
Yes I know war is different. But so is a sniper shooting Kim Jong from 1,000 yards away way, compared to 40 Green Berets storming his palace and shooting him as he tried to escape or fight back.

 

OBL is not even in Hitler's weight class.

It doesn't make me feel better to call you a hypocrite. I respect your (and Dick's) stance on the death penalty (though I don't agree with it), but I really don't see how one "execution" (Dick's word) is OK, but others are not.

It's OK because 3,000 died as opposed to just 40 or so at the hands of Gary Ridgeway? Or 20 by JW Gacy?
Those families don't get closure because of an execution either... But I thank the state for the same reason you thank the SEALs... for ridding us of another piece of shit excuse for a human being.

I am a lot of things. I like to consistent is one of them.

 

OK, if it were up to you, what would you have done?

 

Evil has said this he was for killing Osama, but he's erroneously calling out people who are anti-death penalty as being hypocrites for being okay with Osama's death. Big Mac answered his lack of logic in full on the previous page.

 

Considering the steps taken that helped kill Bin Laden, has anyone's stance on Gitmo changed?

 

Not at all. If anything, I think this shows that careful counterterrorism work is much more effective in the "War on Terror" than invading two nations (neither of which contained bin Laden), rounding up hundreds of people (many of whom did nothing) and stashing them in some godforsaken tropical location, and torturing people in secret prisons around the world. Yes, we got info from someone at Gitmo -- but could we have gotten the same information though other means?

If Osama bin Laden was the reason for all this for being, then we don't need to be in Iraq and Afghanistan anymore, we don't need to torture, we don't need Gitmo. What we need are effective counterterrorism strategies, with the military pulled in as needed. Fareed Zarkaria made a great point about how the death of bin Laden should also be the death knell for nation-building as a way to fight terrorism:

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/02/vindication-of-the-u-s-military-and-of-counterterrorism-over-nation-building/