Bin Laden and Drones

I am not entirely happy with the way the Obama administration has handled the bin Laden killing and the frequent drone killings.  I think it was okay to kill bin Laden, but it would have been better to capture him and try him, in the US or in some international court.  If he had resisted arrest, the Seals could certainly have killed him.  I think he was killed because the US did not know what to do with him legally.  The cowardly Republicans are scared to death of bringing any terrorists in the continental US, although the chance of their escaping and harming anyone is practically nil.  The only way they could get out is if they were found not guilty of terrorism, and in that case there is no justification for holding them.

I do not like the idea of executing terrorists by drone attack.  I think it should be used very sparingly, only when there is evidence of a genuine, immediate threat to the US, and the US has to act to save lives.  On the other hand, I do not want to risk the lives of American troops unnecessarily.  The drone attacks certainly save the lives of some American troops.  But we are fighting to preserve American values of justice, honor, and the rule of law.  Destroying these values also has a significant cost.  Presumably we would not kill people willy-nilly, just because they looked suspicious.  So, somewhere there is a trade-off between saving the lives of American troops and destroying American values.  I believe Obama has erred on the side of destroying American values in order to save troops lives.