Shoot to Kill

In an article set to appear in this month's The New Yorker magazine, Nicholas Schmidle tells the story of the operation this past May to get Osama bin Laden. While it is next too impossible to discern how much of the story is propaganda and how much of it is a first-person account, one aspect of the article clearly contradicts the administration's version of events.

The Americans hurried toward the bedroom door. The first SEAL pushed it open. Two of bin Laden’s wives had placed themselves in front of him. Amal al-Fatah, bin Laden’s fifth wife, was screaming in Arabic. She motioned as if she were going to charge; the SEAL lowered his sights and shot her once, in the calf. Fearing that one or both women were wearing suicide jackets, he stepped forward, wrapped them in a bear hug, and drove them aside. He would almost certainly have been killed had they blown themselves up, but by blanketing them he would have absorbed some of the blast and potentially saved the two SEALs behind him. In the end, neither woman was wearing an explosive vest.

A second SEAL stepped into the room and trained the infrared laser of his M4 on bin Laden’s chest. The Al Qaeda chief, who was wearing a tan shalwar kameez and a prayer cap on his head, froze; he was unarmed. “There was never any question of detaining or capturing him — it wasn’t a split-second decision. No one wanted detainees,” the special-operations officer told me. (The Administration maintains that had bin Laden immediately surrendered he could have been taken alive.) Nine years, seven months, and twenty days after September 11th, an American was a trigger pull from ending bin Laden’s life. The first round, a 5.56-mm. bullet, struck bin Laden in the chest. As he fell backward, the SEAL fired a second round into his head, just above his left eye. On his radio, he reported, “For God and country — Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo.” After a pause, he added, “Geronimo E.K.I.A.” — “enemy killed in action.” (emphasis added)

If this account is true, then it means that the president ordered the SEALs to be the judge, jury and executioners.

US political leaders like to brag that one of the things that differentiates the US from so many other nations is that we observe the system of laws. We aren't wild west cowboys who settle scores with our six-shooters; we bring alleged criminals to court. While this is a vast fairy tale, it plays very well in speeches aimed at domestic and foreign audiences alike.

Again, IF this account is accurate, it should dispel the notion of American exceptionalism. It should show -- once and for all -- that our leaders follow the law only when it serves a particular political purpose. When it doesn't serve such a purpose, the law books are tossed to the side.

I realize many Americans -- heck, maybe the majority -- will read this article and beam with pride. My reaction is just the opposite; I am filled with shame. I am ashamed that we do not hold to a higher ideal. I am ashamed that we would knowingly gun down an unarmed man, regardless of his alleged crimes. I am ashamed that, under the auspices of our president, the American people are murderers. And I am ashamed that our actions indicate we are no better than the individuals we hunt down and assassinate.