Thursday, January 15, 2009

Obama: We Don't Have to Kill Osama bin Laden

I'm waiting for the Left to howl and scream about Obama's statement that we don't have to kill Osama bin Laden.

"My preference obviously would be to capture or kill him," he said. "But if we have so tightened the noose that he's in a cave somewhere and can't even communicate with his operatives then we will meet our goal of protecting America."

Liberals have sneered endlessly that George W. Bush was incompetent because he didn't capture or kill bin Laden. And before the election, Obama insisted that capturing bin Laden was paramount. But now Obama suggests that being trapped in a cave somewhere is just as good. He's right, of course, but it was just as true when President Bush said it.

It was better to contain bin Laden than kill him. Killing him would have created a martyr. Capturing him would have left us with the unpalatable problem of how to give him a trial without giving up every national secret we have. Personally, I preferred that the soldiers who captured him accidentally shoot him in the head, but that's just me.

As things have turned out, we get treated to a video periodically with Osama pathetically challenging us, but not much else comes of it. Which is better all around.