President Obama has decided not to release photos of Osama bin Laden’s body. Given the accounts of his death, that seems wise, as gory pictures could create resentment. Some Americans will be skeptical that bin Laden is dead, but some would be in any case, as the birther nonsense demonstrates.
It would have been better to have brought bin Laden back alive, but that doesn’t appear to have been the mission. Is assassination legal? Few seem to care. Even if justified here, are we on a path from which there is no exit? Very possibly; apparently not even assassination of American citizens is ruled out.40
Some insist on giving Bush the credit. That is odd, given that Bush conspicuously failed to find bin Laden, but no odder than much of the pro-Bush, anti-Obama line.
The public appearances of the presidents make a stark contrast. Obama’s announcement of bin Laden’s death was a calm statement, not flight-deck theatrics. When he visited ground zero this week, there was no speech, no bull-horn posing.
We should be leaving Afghanistan. It will be interesting to see whether the present euphoria leads that way or whether we simply will be encouraged in our delusion that we can do anything we set our minds to.
_______________________40. http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/02/04/assassinations ;
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/world/middleeast/08killing.html?adxnnl=1&ref=statesecretsprivilege&adxnnlx=1304712955-CymGfGNZyUqIkVVsNxUmGw
