Stardate 20010928.1136 (On Screen): Iain raises an interesting question: If we
did manage to capture bin Laden, what would we do with him? Put him on trial and condemn him to life imprisonment? I think that's what a lot of people would like -- but then we'd face having Americans all over the world being taken hostage on a continuing basis as long as bin Laden and his supporters still live, as his supporters try to wangle a trade. How many American civilians per year are we willing to sacrifice for the privilege of holding bin Laden in our maximum security prison?
Execute him? A lot of people in the US oppose capital punishment, but how else to remove the threat of kidnapping from Americans operating around the world? Actually, the best answer would be for our forces to have "kill, not capture" orders; best to take him out as early and as cleanly as possible and avoid the whole issue. (Given that this is 
a war and not a criminal investigation, such orders would be completely justified: you don't have to prove guilt to kill an enemy in war; the fact that he's an enemy is sufficient.) It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to learn that our special forces operating in Afghanistan indeed have exactly those orders, especially considering how difficult and dangerous it would be for them to try to take him alive and then to try to extract him. Capturing someone unharmed who is surrounded by dedicated bodyguards is extremely difficult and dangerous because you have to shoot it out and that means you have to expose yourself; it's much easier (and less risky for our people) to kill them all, because you can use area effect weapons like hand grenades. I am not willing to sacrifice the lives of some of our best soldiers just to hold a trial. (discuss)
