Osama's execution illegal and bad policy

I have already stated my opinions on this troublesome issue - the manner of the killing of Osama bin Laden, and the disposal of the "corpse" (without verification of the true identity of the person killed).

Now some others have joined the chorus of disapproval.
Geoffrey Robertson, no less, has come out today to say much of the same, and far more eloquently than I managed.

"Bin Laden's summary execution maketh the man, martyr and myth"
Geoffrey Robertson
May 4, 2011
I urge you to read the full article.


Robertson says:

• "The US resembles the land of the munchkins as it celebrates the death of the wicked witch of the East. The joy is understandable but, to many outsiders, unattractive. It endorses what looks increasingly like a cold-blooded assassination ordered by a president who, as a former law professor, knows the absurdity of his statement that "justice was done".
• "Amoral diplomats and triumphant politicians join in applauding the summary execution of Osama bin Laden because they claim that real justice - arrest, trial and sentence - would have been too difficult in the case of public enemy No. 1. But should it not at least have been attempted?"

Robertson argues:

• "Bin Laden could not have been tried for the attacks on the twin towers at the International Criminal Court, since its jurisdiction only came into existence nine months later. But the United Nations Security Council could have set up an ad hoc tribunal in The Hague, with international judges (including Muslim jurists), to provide a fair trial and a reasoned verdict that would have convinced the Arab street of his guilt.
• "This would have been the best way of demystifying this man, debunking his cause and de-brainwashing his followers. In the dock he would have been reduced in stature - never more to be remembered as the tall, soulful figure on the mountain, but as a hateful and hate-filled old man."

 and follows on with this interesting comment:

• "When the time came to consider the fate of men more steeped in wickedness than bin Laden - the Nazi leaders - the British government wanted them hanged within six hours of capture. The president Harry Truman demurred, citing the conclusion of Justice Robert Jackson that summary execution "would not sit easily on the American conscience or be remembered by our children with pride … the only course is to determine the innocence or guilt of the accused after a hearing as dispassionate as the times will permit and upon a record that will leave our reasons and motives clear".
• "He insisted upon judgment at Nuremberg, which has confounded Holocaust-deniers ever since. Killing bin Laden instead of capturing him was a missed opportunity to prove this charismatic leader was a vicious criminal, who deserved to die in prison, not as a martyr to his inhuman cause."

Thanks to Brigid for pointing me to this article.

There were two links I added in yesterday to two sites, both American and both Christian, which expressed disgust at the way America was celebrating the death.

• http://interruptingthesilence.com/2011/05/02/the-works-of-my-hands-thoughts-on-the-death-of-osama-bin-laden/

And even better is this one:

• Whose Death Does God Cheer?by Jimmy Spencer Jr. Monday, May 2nd, 2011

This story has a long way to run.
Already the Americans have contradicted early reports of cooperation of the Palkistan Government.
And what of the "wife" who was reported to have been present in the room?
She was supposedly used as a shield by the "coward Osama".
Wrong.
She was supposedly killed. Wrong.
If not killed, then was she captured? Where is she now - is she a prisoner of the Americans? If so, where?
She might not even have been a woman.

The longer the Americans take to "get their story straight" the worse this whole debacle looks for them.

And here is a Leunig cartoon which perfectly sums up the situation.
From circulation on Facebook. 
Not sure about Copyright issues - please forgive me, Michael.