Main focus of Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Killing of Bin Laden puts US under pressure

The US government has revised its account of the killing of Osama bin Laden. It now appears the al-Qaida leader was unarmed when he was shot at his retreat. While some commentators see the killing as completely legitimate, others consider it a violation of international law and accuse the US of adopting terrorist methods.

Handelsblatt - Germany

International legal expert Andreas Fischer-Lescano writes in the liberal daily Handelsblatt that the shooting of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden violates international law, and warns against adopting the terrorists' methods: "Osama bin Laden was a criminal. Hence from a political point of view there may be reasons to suggest his death was unavoidable. Nevertheless it is nothing short of a disgrace that Nobel Peace Prize laureate Barack Obama should celebrate his killing with the words 'justice has been done' and that the German chancellor should second him with an expression of joy at Bin Laden's death. ... The justice that Obama is after is retributive justice. But if the global justice fails to respect the procedures of international law according to which criminals are brought to justice, and instead makes short work of them with targeted killings, then the prophecy of French philosopher Jacques Derrida will come true: terrorist networks and state networks will be indistinguishable as regards the techniques they use." (04/05/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Weltanschauung, » Ethics, » U.S., » Pakistan
All available articles from » Andreas Fischer-Lescano

Delfi - Estonia

The world is a safer place after the death of Osama bin Laden, however it's unclear if the killing can be justified in legal or moral terms, writes the portal Delfi: "It's difficult to form a clear picture of the events. Did the commando team receive the order to arrest the world's most-wanted terrorist, or was it supposed to kill him? Did Bin Laden have a weapon that he turned on the US soldiers? There are contradictory reports regarding both questions, but they are highly relevant. If the goal was to arrest Bin Laden and he refused to come in alive, the matter is clear. But if the special troops that were flown into Pakistan were told before the operation to carry out bin Laden's death sentence if possible right then and there, the US has violated international law." (04/05/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Human rights, » Justice, » U.S., » Pakistan

De Morgen - Belgium

The question of the legality of the killing of Osama bin Laden is not easy to answer, writes the daily De Morgen, but the paper can very well understand why the US acted as it did: "Imagine if the Navy Seals had handed Osama bin Laden over to the International Criminal Court in The Hague without a fight. That would probably have meant Obama's political suicide, for no US citizen would accept that others judge their arch-enemy, and even a trial in the US would no doubt have turned into the most difficult and strenuous battle ever fought in court. ... Perhaps this is justice according to a moral and political logic, but not a legal one - unless we accept that the law applies for everyone except your own worst enemy?" (04/05/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » U.S., » Global
All available articles from » Yves Desmet

La Vanguardia - Spain

The killing of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden on Pakistani territory was lawful and justified, writes the Catalan daily La Vanguardia: "The order issued by Barack Obama was legitimate - from a moral, legal and strategic perspective. The al-Qaida boss was directly responsible for thousands of deaths all over the world and he fought in a way that completely defies all moral standards. A serial murderer has been liquidated, a despiser of all laws. After 9/11 the US had the right to defend itself. Resolution 1378 of the UN Security Council legitimised the use of violence against the bases in Afghanistan where the intellectual and material authors of the massacres in New York and Washington took shelter. After bin Laden's flight from Afghanistan his hideout in neighbouring Pakistan became one of those bases." (04/05/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Justice, » U.S., » Afghanistan, » Pakistan

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