Murder By Presidential Decree
Jan. 4th, 2020 12:13 pmGovernments ought not to be above the law they exist to maintain- and so really shouldn't murder people. We know they do- but all the same it's disheartening when they do it in such a way as to hit the headlines- and so remind us that presidents are no better than mafia dons.
In the wake of the murder of Qassim Soleimani the LRB has reprinted- free to view- Seymour Hersch's account of the murder of Osama Bin Laden. If Hersch is to be believed- and I don't see why not- almost everything we were told about the operation (by the President among others) was a lie. Bin Laden was a sitting duck- a prisoner of the Pakistanis, an invalid, mentally confused, unguarded, unarmed. There was no opposition, no firefight and no question of him being taken alive; it was a hit- pure and simple.
Like I said, disheartening.
In the wake of the murder of Qassim Soleimani the LRB has reprinted- free to view- Seymour Hersch's account of the murder of Osama Bin Laden. If Hersch is to be believed- and I don't see why not- almost everything we were told about the operation (by the President among others) was a lie. Bin Laden was a sitting duck- a prisoner of the Pakistanis, an invalid, mentally confused, unguarded, unarmed. There was no opposition, no firefight and no question of him being taken alive; it was a hit- pure and simple.
Like I said, disheartening.