Thursday, May 5, 2011

If the United Nations Mattered, Osama bin Laden Would Still be Alive

Katie Pavlich

Question of the day: Is it a human right not to get shot in the face?

A top U.N. official, in Geneva (of course) is expressing concern over the possibility that the human rights of Osama bin Laden were violated by the United States of America during the raid on bin Laden's lavish compound Sunday in Pakistan.


The United Nations' top human rights official called on the United States on Tuesday to give the U.N. details about Osama bin Laden's killing and said that all counter-terrorism operations must respect international law.

But Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the al Qaeda leader, killed in a U.S. operation in Pakistan, had committed crimes against humanity as self-confessed mastermind of "the most appalling acts of terrorism", including the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on America.

It was always clear that taking bin Laden alive was likely to be difficult, she said, noting that U.S. authorities had stated that they intended to arrest him if possible.

Thankfully, Attorney General Eric Holder has defended the actions of U.S. Navy SEALS, saying the operation to kill bin Laden was legal.