Okay, before someone flames me, let me explain. If it can be proven (and sounds like it already can) that Bin Laden is responsible for the tragedy on Sept 11th, and if our military actually gets him within gunshot, or even better are able to capture him, what do we do with him? Outright kill him? Put him on trial for murder? Or better yet, trial him and give him the death sentence/life in prison? The root of my questioning is the potential backlash from more of the so-called followers (read "zombies") of Bin Laden both domestically and internationally. Some that I've discussed this issue with seem to believe that you cannot outright kill him because then he becomes a martyr, and all hell breaks loose against America. Well, imho if we bring him here (which I would think might be logical since the crimes occured on our soil) would have the same exact effect. Talk about damned if you do, damned if you don't. Remember, Bin Laden's reasons were to avenge the US-Israel alliance, US presence/influence in the Middle East, and Israel's existence, period. For the record, I'm with the White House (for once) on how they are handling the matter. It will be interesting to find out what will be done when or if they actually find Bin Laden.
One thing is for CERTAIN: you can not keep this guy locked up in jail here. This will just cause too many attempts to bust his crazy ass out. I don't think we can legally just outright shoot Bin Laden (or can we?). If this is true, then bring him to trial, QUICKLY sentence him to death, IMO.
BlastOff, He will not be taken alive. He will be neutralized, not captured, when we find out where he is. Besides, he would never surrender peacefully anyway, so the question is irrelevant.
Interesting questions. I never understood the people who were afraid of bin Laden dying because he would become a "martyr". What do they think the guy is now!? How much more can they worship the guy then committing suicide by crashing planes into buildings? And if they arrest him you'll have every nut trying to free him or blackmail the U.S. into freeing him. And so what if those nuts come after the U.S., they already are. And they'll be following bin Laden soon enough anyway. What are they going to do if the U.S. kill him, hijack a plane and fly it into a building? They're doing that with him alive. I'm guessing the U.S. will "accidently" kill Osama bin Laden, and when all of those freaks stick their heads out of the ground in outrage they'll be following him. It's the world vs bin Laden pretty much.
I wouldn't be surprised if they capture him that he's pronounced "missing" and in some hole somewhere being tortured for everything he knows. Once he's in US custody and everyone knows it, you have to put him on trial and that's definitely not a good idea.
As we all know the president signs an executive order saying that he will not order or allow one of his agencies to assassinate another foreign leader (not that the CIA has always followed that) but I did here someone say that O.B.L. is being considered a general and not a foreign leader. So since we are at war there is not anything wrong with killing a general.
Ideally, if he were taken alive, (I've heard that it would be impossible and he has ordered his comrades to shoot him if capture is imminent) then ideally I would want him to be tried in an international court. Show the rest of his boys that it isn't just America that thinks this is wrong. However, I think the next best thing would be to have the Northern Alliance kill him, or even one of his buddies or former buddies. There are many in these camps who change sides trying to determine who will win out. Soon it will be pretty damned obvious that the Taliban as a government are dead, and those tribal leaders and warlords who come to aid the coalition in destroying them may get a stake in the new government. There is going to be a great deal of treachery in there, already has been. Having him eliminated by another muslim would take some wind out of the collective jihad sails. Of course the Taliban's sect would see these other guys as infidels just like the rest, but worldwide islam wouldn't be as able to rally around his martyrdom. In fact, I'll bet this is just how it gets done. Very nice and tidy. The political side of this battle is even more emphasized than the military aspect. And there are plenty of muslims that want to kill the f*cker. Timing- why would putting him on trial be a bad idea?
I don't think he will live. At first sight he will be killed in my opinion. I'm almost positive. A world trial for War Crimes is the only trial that would be held, but I don't think it will come to that. The guy will be shot on sight by whomever sees him first.
if we can find him (difficult to do because no one in his posse, so to speak, is not likely to turn on him and divulge his location), a special, covert d-force unit will be sent in. they'll wipe out him and his army, and nothing will ever be said about it officially. the government will then claim they're looking for him, but have lost him, that they were close, but then he got away, etc., never once owing up to what happened. they'll allow him to simply, "mysertiously" disappear.
What if he is never found because he is blown to bits with no dna proof of what happened. There would be Hitler type rumors for years. There might not be a nice closure to the Bin Laden saga. Surprisingly a Time Magazine editor was saying on the tube that they might not ever find him. (I don't know why she would say that.)
I believe the assasination decree only applies to heads of state, not private citizens. As for why a trial would be a bad idea, remember OJ? Now just imagine that x 100,000. Add on the fact that terrorists will try to bust him out of prison, assasinate judges, blow up courthouses, intimidate/kill jurors, etc. Then there's the added issue of the propaganda that bin Laden will be allowed to spew while in custody. It would be the biggest circus on Earth.
Oh there'll be bin Laden closure. If he is killed and we don't know, we'll find out. bin Laden has to much of an ego not to be seen, you see how he always have to give a taped appearance, or cameras filming him at a terrorist convention. If he doesn't show up we'll know he is dead, that's if he isn't dead now. As for the assassination decree, I don't know if it applies to bin Laden but it could be adjusted to apply to him. I heard that high ranking military officials plan on labeling Saddam Hussein a "war criminal", meaning he would be considered a "soldier" in any war against Iraq.
American law says you can't assasinate a head of state. Bin Laden is not a head of state. We've declared war on terrorists, he's a terrorist. We are at war with him, it is very "legal" to kill him.
Bin Laden wants to be a Martyr. He wants to be killed in battle. I would love to capture him but he won't let it happen, his goal is to die in this effort.