Lance Bernard: Silly to wonder whether bin Laden’s death was a war crime

Re “Was the Killing of bin Laden a War Crime” (Opinions, May 17): This article was just about the silliest piece of conspiracy theory tripe I have ever read. If the Pakistanis were holding bin Laden captive, why didn’t they broadcast that to the world and make themselves look like heroes? What could they gain by keeping it secret? If the U.S. knew he was a prisoner, why didn’t we tell everyone and negotiate for his extradition? If he were a prisoner, why would the Pakistanis allow him to have armed guards and allow him to communicate with the world via a messenger? The only conclusion I can reach is the Pakistani ISI was protecting him, per the so-called “official version.” It’s sad that the term “official version” is used as a perjorative to infer falsification.

That same article says our “official version” of his killing was that he was reaching for a gun, but later states he was unarmed when killed (inferring a war crime). Whether or not his killing was justified under the fine points of international law is irrelevant. This man was responsible for the murder of 3,000 American and thousands of others. It’s just unfortunate that we weren’t able to kill him more than once.

This story was originally published May 21, 2015 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Lance Bernard: Silly to wonder whether bin Laden’s death was a war crime."