Shoot to kill missions - what's the legal status of that?
This is likely going to be debated over the next little while, but I think it's not as contentious an issue as some are making it out to be. Osama Bin Laden was the head of a political organization that declared war on the United States. I'm sure the US are going to say that because they were at war, killing him was perfectly legal. What seems less legal to me is the fact his death involved a US armed strike in Pakistani territory. I could be wrong about this though - they just aren't at war with Pakistan.
I actually don't think they intended to kill him as a top priority, i.e. that this was a shoot-to-kill mission. They could've done so much more with him alive, not least destroy his dignity by parading him around in front of TV cameras like they did with Sadaam. I reckon they just figured, after they found him dead, it'd go over better by just saying it was a shoot-to-kill mission. Mission accomplished.
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