How the US’s cavalierness with the Geneva Convention hurts the war on terror

Via Gabor Rona, International Legal Director for Human Rights First, writing The Jurist: Germany and the United States see eye to eye on a lot. And so, German leader Angela Merkel got a 19 gun salute and what amounts to a state dinner last week (it is not called a state dinner because she is [...]

OBL’s 5th wife in Pakistani hospital; US and Pakistan spar over custody

This contradicts previous reports that the woman with bin Laden was not his wife, and that she died in the raid. Via the Telegraph: Amal Ahmed al-Sadah, who was shot in the leg during the raid, is being treated at the military hospital in Rawalpindi, according to reports on the Arabic news network Al-Arabiya. It [...]

Two (non-Islamic) religious leaders on the moral questions of OBL’s killing

Tenzin Gyatso, aka the 14th Dalai Lama, speaking on ”Ethics, Human Values and Society,” strongly implied the assassination was justified: As the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the 14th Dalai Lama says he practices compassion to such an extent that he tries to avoid swatting mosquitoes “when my mood is good and there is no danger of malaria,” sometimes [...]

CIA director: White House will release bin Laden death photos

Via Vanity Fair’s Juli Weiner: After much initial internal debate—or the appearance of much initial internal debate—it looks as if the White House will release a postmortem photo of Osama bin Laden. As C.I.A. director Leon Panetta told NBC’s Brian Williams yesterday evening, “[T]he government obviously has been talking about how best to do this, [...]

“Deather” conspiracy theory claims bin Laden not dead, or was never alive to begin with, or something

Via Brian Smith and Byron Tau in Politico: [W]hile [a] watery grave may help diminish bin Laden’s status as a martyr to his followers, it was already fueling conspiracy theories; as the administration resisted releasing even photographs of the slain terrorist leader on Monday, a predictable haze of myth and rumor had already, inevitably, begun to [...]

“…he was a very good guy”

Al Jazeera TV on the Afghans who mourn Osama.

WH press secretary confirms OBL was unarmed

Via NY Times via Jerry Coyne (from here on in, whenever discussing NY Times stories, I’ll link to non-NY Timse blogs as often as possible so as not to burn through your 20 free monthly stories): Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, read the narrative in an attempt to correct statements by administration officials who [...]

Computers from OBL compound may contain “mother lode of intelligence”

This development could prove more significant to long-run counterterrorism efforts than the bastard’s actual death (which could turn out to be disasterous). Via Politico’s Mike Allen: The assault force of Navy SEALs snatched a trove of computer drives and disks during their weekend raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, yielding what a U.S. official called “the [...]

White House counterterrorism adviser: “Inconceivable” OBL had no Pakistani aid

Via The Hill: President Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser called it “inconceivable” that Pakistan was not providing a “support system” for Osama bin Laden, who was killed Sunday in a raid in a mansion north of the capital city of Islamabad. “We are pursuing all leads on this issue,” Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan said [...]

Osama bin Laden used wife as human shield

Via Elizabeth Flock of the Washington Post: Osama bin Laden used one of his wives as a human shield during the U.S. raid, chief counterterrorism adviser to President Barack Obama John Brennan said Monday. She was killed during the operation. One of bin Laden’s sons was also killed, and Pakistani forces arrested four of bin [...]