Utter nonsense

Yesterday I read a post in my Tweeter feed that made me do a double take, because I had to verify whether it was from the satirical site The Onion or from the news site Breaking News.

It said:

Breaking News (@BreakingNews)
5/10/11 1:30 PM
Sons of bin Laden accuse US of violating legal principles by killing an unarmed man, in statement to nytimes nyti.ms/m5CIOR

And this is the article’s opening paragraph:

The adult sons of Osama bin Laden have lashed out at President Obama in their first public reaction to their father’s death, accusing the United States of violating its basic legal principles by killing an unarmed man, shooting his family members and disposing of his body in the sea.

I didn’t even bother reading the rest because in my view that accusation is utter nonsense.

Osama bin Laden was a terrorist who, by his own admission, plotted and carried out the killing of thousands, which included not only unarmed men, but women and children as well.  Furthermore, the vast majority of his victims and targets were all innocent, regardless of whether they were armed or not.

In my view, when you become a terrorist, you give up any right to legal principles and legal protections.  You’re on your own and, if they catch you, you deserve to be unceremoniously killed.

End of story.