It’s not like capturing Bin Laden or even a hundred of his cohorts is going to solve the problem of terrorism. I think the US is right on the money when they say that this is going to have to be a long-term, continuous campaign against terrorism, and that we should not be so naive as to not consider some wetworks operations as well.
I really hope he is captured, and tried as a war criminal. I hope it’s done by an international court, so it can be seen as an impartial, unbiased process. This is a war crime, and justice must be seen to be done. It was the right thing to do in the Nuremberg War Crimes trial and it’s the right thing to do now.
Presuming he is guilty, I wouldn’t even want him sentenced to death. I’d like him sentenced to life imprisonment, so he can spend the rest of his life as a miserable caged rat, becoming as pathetic a spectre as Rudolph Hess in Spandau.
It just seems to me that dealing with this atrocity with dignity, in a just and fair way, is the only way to show those responsible why they are so wrong.
It’s not the public execution that makes them evil, it’s executing people for imagined crimes.
If you are going to have the will to execute someone, you should not be worried about hiding it in some deep dark room. I don’t think anyone is going to claim that Osama doesn’t deserve death.
Your comparision of us to the Taliban is laughable.
I honestly think that I and a company of my peers could weigh the evidence objectively and come to a rational decision on his guilt or innocence shortly before we sentence him to death. A special request will be made that he not be placed in solitary, butt instead enjoy “lengthy” pursuits of happiness (cavity searches) with his fellow inmates.
If he is the mastermind behind this, then the minute we take him into custody his entire organization will mobilize. They will take more hostages to be exchanged for the release of Bin Laden. Expect further terrorist acts to be commited while he is in custody.
I believe that there have been instances of this happening in the past with Israel.
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*Originally posted by Freedom *
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I’m not comparing us to the Taliban. I’m comparing YOU to the Taliban. Public execution is savage. If we change our routine in any major way because of him, we literally hand him victory.
People need to understand the point of terrorism: to scare us into destroying ourselves.
archmicael: I think your right about what will happen if we were to ever try him, and I don’t know how we can prevent that, but one thing that is certain is that we can NOT change the way things are done in America becuase of him, or any terrorists.
I doubt Osame (Usame, Osama, whatever) could get a fair trial in the US and I am not sure that even the Hague court would be considered anything more than an American puppet by the fundamentalist Muslims. Additionally, any execution or imprisonment in the West would merely turn OSB into an even stronger rally point for those who believe he holds the keys to heaven.
Instead, should we decide to actually capture OSB rather than merely kill him in the field, we should take a page from Clancy The Sum of All Fears and let a friendly and respected Arab nation (ie one that agrees on what the outcome of the trial should be) try OBL and his followers in one of the Arab courts according to Islamic law and then behead OBL and his followers publicly. Not pretty, but effective.
By convicting OBL in accordance with Islamic law and tradition, we defuse the idea that OBL and his group are martyrs to the cause. Rejection of OBL in this manner, by Muslim clerics, would be a far greater deterrent to those who believe OBL is the true path, than any other actions the World could take.
“Could he get a lawyer to represent him?”
Oh yeah. Barry Scheck. Who would argue that the scientific evidence that the WTC fell down because of the planes was inconclusive and/or contaminated by all the firemen and policemen who either were killed on the scene, or who combed through the wreckage looking for survivors.