Did Osama Bin Laden deserve a trial?

I stumbled upon THIS article today on MSN and it made me wonder.. Did Osama Bin Laden deserve a trial?

Michael Moore makes a good statement:

"My point is that the way we show the world that we're different is that we give even the most heinous person their day in court," Moore said.

Where Elisabeth Hasselbeck states:

"You're telling me Osama bin Laden deserves a trial?" an increasingly angry Hasselbeck asked. "Where? In New York City? Absolutely not! How dare ... and why, because Casey Anthony's trial went so well?

Personally, I know that had I been a member of SEAL Team Six and was the first one in the room, I would have shot him too. The thing we don't always realize as civilians is that in combat, adrenaline is surging like never before, when you actually see and acquire your target a whole new burst is let through your bloodstream. Im sure whether we like to admit it or not, the majority of us would have shot him on the spot as well.

Anyways, I thought this might bring up some good discussion. Have at it.

edit: I just wanted to reiterate and make clear that I DO believe that he deserved a trial, however I can see under the circumstances and the sheer pressure of the mission how he was shot.

Of course he did

If you believe in law then there is no choice. His assasination if you believe the hype shows those in power only believe in law when it suits.

Still its pretty hard to put a guy on trial when he has just spent a good few years in a freezer.

A trail? Not sure what to say to that one. A trial on the other hand, I think he made his intentions pretty clear throughout the years so in my opinion nope no trial.

reply to post by ka119


Absolutely.

We went to war on moral grounds, and therefore we should have taken the higher moral ground at every juncture. Battlefield deaths are one thing, but captured people deserve every right our Constitution affords citizens. After all our Declaration of Independence states, "we hold these rights to be self-evident....inalienable" etc., etc.

We cannot "liberate" a country, and then not treat the people the same way their own dictator was treating them. We have to take the highest possible moral ground at every juncture.

And this sentiment is coming from a Ron Paul / Tea Party / Ultra-Conservative / Registered Republican.

yes he deserved a Trial.

As much as anything we all deserved to see the evidence against him rather than just being told 'he's guilty', no trial= no need to produce evidence.

What happened to innocent until PROVEN guilty? Im not saying he was innocent BUT in the eyes of the law he was until it was proven in a court that he was guilty.

The question is redundant, after 9-11 the bloke was already tried and found guilty by the US and it's friends, including my own country. In my own opinion does anyone deserve to die if they have taken someone's life, then yes if the evidence supports it......in OBL's case I would find that hard to believe.

Wolfie

Either Bin laden died about 10 years ago, he doesnt exist, or he does and he is CIA.. The story the MSM told us doesnt add up at all.. Then again didnt members of the seal 6 die?? Maybe they knew something we didnt, and thats why that chopper go shot down..

if you want to adhere to the law then the law is all that matters and for such a high profile target i'd imagine turning him out would bring much kudos and then you can take the person through due legal process and jobs done BUT if he's [ insert conspiracty here ] so he cant be tried then a swift death and booting off a carrier is the best choice

Every human being regardless of his/her actions deserves to be judged publicly and given a chance to either go down in history as a scumbag or try to save face by pleading guilty.

But the US is ...desperate..for lack of better word.

They took down an entire country and killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused massive influx of immigrants and have allowed Iran to gain control in a country that held itself free of such control until then.

You think they'll care about 1 mans justice?

Yes.

Every man deserves a trial.

I will be judged by my words, but I will not hesitate to say that I wanted that man tried for his crimes.

Many will follow the celebrity's example (for reasons both tragic and misguided) and disagree.

Some will attempt to characterize the principle I am trying to espouse here, but frankly, a trial would have rendered any hint of the illegitimacy of our actions moot.

But let's be realistic. No one in power wanted a trial. Not one of them.

As for 'deserving' a trial. I don't know what to say, Isn't that what justice means? Doesn't anyone, accused of a crime, deserve a trial? Or is the accusation enough? Would it be enough for you or me?

Or are we, as Orwell described., ... "more equal than others?"

Originally posted by SevenOhhTwo
Either Bin laden died about 10 years ago, he doesnt exist, or he does and he is CIA.. The story the MSM told us doesnt add up at all.. Then again didnt members of the seal 6 die?? Maybe they knew something we didnt, and thats why that chopper go shot down..

edit on 15-9-2011 by SevenOhhTwo because: (no reason given)

Man......talk about speculating.

I imagine that the members of Seal Team Six know ALOT of stuff we dont. A Seal Team has something like 80-100 members so there is not a great chance that the ones who died recently are the ones who were in on the Osama raid.

The Law demands Justice, Justice is done in Courts.
Criminals get brought to trial.
Then it is up to the courts to prove guilt.

NO MATTER WHO IT IS.

He did, anyone accused of a crime does... but he would have named and taken down far too many people..


So shot and dumped in the sea was the only way.

I think when they eventually catch him,give him a trial to prove he did it .

reply to post by ka119
I have to say yes.

Others have already made good points here, but I never saw any evidence on this matter. He was merely convicted in the court of public opinion, and all too quickly - even before any of the (questionable) supposed evidence of the hijackers came to light.

What I saw instead was him initially denying any involvement. I saw the FBI admitting they had no sufficient evidence to accuse him of the crime, so they did not list it among those they were pursuing him for. I saw a string of videos released by CIA-related groups with various actors - not even well-informed or prepared ones - trying to implicate him for this crime.

And now we have a precedent where our 'leadership' can assassinate anyone they deem a threat with no justification or notice given to the public.

Of course he deserved a trial. We've tried 'terrorists' before, and found them guilty. We presented our cases. To say he didn't deserve a trial is to say no one does, if a crime is heinous and certain people or groups loudly claim someone is guilty. Law no longer rules in a world without trial or habeas corpus. And when law is thrown out, you have anarchy. Justice is supposed to be blind, but she has removed her blinders and apparently been brought over to the dark side in a good many instances in this world anymore.

According to the FBI wanted page:

Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world.

Hmmm... It looks like they called him a suspect. Suspects aren't usually shot on sight, are they?

Michael Moore is a moron.

Think about this. How many people wanted the Gitmo detainees declared Prisoner's of War? If the Gitmo detainees are POW's, that makes Bin Laden an enemy combatant. No trial required. Simple enough.

When your involved in the things he was involved with a trial would be the last thing on your mind me thinks. People like him live an entirely different lifestyle than 99% of the rest of us, there is no honor among these people they themselves think that they are above the law. So why would we use the letter of the law to deal with them? If he was actually killed recently the way they said he was then this is one of the few things I will give a to the current administration over. Besides why waste even more taxpayer dollars only to find him guilty and kill him anyway? To drag it out thats all. And since when do we really play by the rules in this country anymore anyway? There are a lot more close to home troubles that need to be delt with regarding laws being bent and broken before I personally would lose sleep over a scumbag like that getting denied due process. Now if it was someone else that wasn't a known and documented lunatic and killer then I would think differently. But I do see how some feel that think different than I do, but then thats why people disagree.

tho it is my opinion that the osama bin laden identity is a fictional construct, used for war hysteria purposes - yes, of course he should have been tried, not illegally murdered - on the off chance that he actually exists.

here is an article on cracked.com that makes a perfectly good case that bin laden is a fictional construct.
osama bin laden