"Cold Blood"

One of the earliest "facts" revealed about the killing of Bin Laden (on that Sunday night, it was revealed) was that Bin Laden did not have a weapon in his hands when he was shot.

The first thought that immediately came to my mind was, "Twenty five of the world's best soldiers, each more deadly than Rambo, each better programmed than The Terminator, performing the most important covert military mission in world history against one of the most valuable military targets in world history, and they are 'forced to kill' their unarmed target?"

They couldn't just taser him?

Don't get me wrong: I'm perfectly happy that Bin Laden is dead. Rotting on the bottom of the Arabian Sea is a thousand times preferable to having him alive, drawing attention and infamy. But I don't doubt it for a minute: SEAL Team 6 set off to execute Bin Laden, and that is exactly what they did. Whether the White House elected to execute him with a cruise missile or a shotgun blast or a knife to the throat, they should have just said that their intention was his death right from the beginning and been done with it.

The difference between the execution of a dangerous criminal and the murder of an unarmed man is one of probity: Demonstrating moral clarity and certainty in the action is what ultimately makes it right... as compared to hiding behind half truths, evasions, and suppositions, which is nothing but the sign of a guilty conscience.