I agree with Sam Vatkin that it would have been better to take bin Laden alive. The yanks could then stick him in a dungeon somewhere and "waterboard" him to their hearts content, to squeeze vital information out of him which may ahve saved the lives of thousands of potential victims.

But then thousands of people like Sam Vatkin would have crawled out from under their rocks to express their sympathy for bin Laden's plight, and demand that he receive every right that bin Laden intended to deny everybody else.

I tend to agree...but then I'm one of the few who rejected the official reality distortion field that the media propaganda has cast.
Yes he was a CIA creation (School of America is *still* pumping out official terrorists!). Yes, he was killed so that nothing like due process could be undertaken. Due process is not just good for him...it is a necessary part of civilisation. Ignoring the law to commit murder in the name of mob rule is very USA (particularly the south).
I'm sure the CIA had no intentions of letting him speak no matter what the value of his intelligence, simply because any amount of truth would make the US look very bad indeed. (Bay of Pigs invasion is still classified! the official history *cannot* be ruined by mere truth).
The CIA is an out-of-control world power that has very tenuous links to any democratic process. To call them a criminal organisation is not a stretch or a theory...it is just plain true.

Yes it is somtimes difficult to swallow what is served up as news by governments through the mainstream media.

As citizens we should abhor terrorists of all shapes and sizes whether they be individuals or governments.

In general, governments cannot continue to commit atrocities or be revealed as liars and then innocently claim conspiracy theories when they have been caught out. Conspiracy theories are only such until they are proven but we still should keep some perspective.

None of us here would know what the truth is about Osama bin Laden's capture and death, but what we do know from experience is what is made public is not always an honest account.

Let's see what history might teach us in another 50 years when the incumbent government won't be culpable for revealing what really happened. If they ever do - we are still waiting on the truth about the Kennedy assasinations and in Australia AWB.

Sam, you base your case on why BL was not taken alive and thus your great conspiracy is given breath.

There will be many more conspiracy theories, documentaries, and yes, there will be the inevitable books and movies. It called “entertainment”.

Sure the Navy Seals could have used nerve gas, non lethal riot or taser guns, they could indeed have ignored the possibility that the compound was wired to blow, that delay might allow “bolt holes” to be accessed, that a protracted conflict could have put soldiers at increased risk, not to mention more civilians emerging to watch the “fireworks”, thus increasing risk to locals or finally, that BL would have been happy to be captured.

What is really disturbing is your clear desire to see the USA punished for topping this madman and your cavalier attitude to further loss of life. Sorry for your loss. Get over it

I actually think it's a message to reinforce to the world that America is at war with terrorism and not a world authority.

If you capture Bin Laden and put him in a western or UN court, what does that tell people from an opposing Shariah society?
"We are imperialists and we will subject you to OUR ways- this man has wronged us so we will put him in a Western-style court"
That would NOT go down well when most of the terrorists believe that imperial colonialism is what we are up to (and the main reason they took up arms).

Shooting him in the head would most likely elicit a much less emotional response "America and Bin Laden became locked in a war, after 10 years America won and our shiek/leader/whatever is a martyr" would resonate.

Maybe its time terrorists were told its time to disengage.
I think killing Bin Laden was the only way to go. Otherwise the world would have had to suffer drawn out court hearings probably costing billions. Bin Laden has suffered the worst possible buriel.