Bin Laden's execution

Bob Choi

9 May 2011

Bin Laden's death brought cheers from many people. I am no exception. After all, he deserved to die... many times over... for what he did. But I have reservations on how his death came about.

The latest news is that he was not killed in action, but was captured and promptly executed. Now we can look at this from different perspectives. I'd just list out two. We can look at him as a murderer (actually a mass murderer). In that case, he should be brought to trial at the US courts. Or, we can look at him as the leader of a terrorist "state" that's waging war against the US. In that case, he's a prisoner of war and should be dealt with according to the Geneva Convention which has clearly laid out proper ways to treat POW as well as war criminals. We just don't shoot POWs or captured war criminals in the head!

We all know he was executed for pragmatic reasons. Putting him on trial will be extremely dangerous for everyone concerned. One can't imagine what his followers will do in order to rescue him if he's still kept alive. Shooting him in the head is probably the safest option.

In the final analysis, Bin Laden has not only killed thousands of innocent people. By his execution (without a proper trial), he has brought us to a level that we would have despised....