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LawyerRon,
I agree that as a practical matter it’s hard to imagine a GI being charged with murder unless his actions were as egregious as the Mi Lai massacre. And even in such a case, the Army would go into it’s automatic cover-up mode. If his orders were to execute Bin Laden due to the fact that he is deemed to be too dangerous to apprehend in a war context, then he is no doubt off the hook. But if Bin Laden were, say, naked, wounded and unconscious when encountered and shot, I would have trouble calling that self-defense, in spite of his past threats. The GI is likely to know in his own mind if he is committing murder. I wouldn’t want it on my conscience, even if they called me a hero.
Besides, a captured Bin Laden might be an intelligence bonanza. He may not be able to resist bragging about his agents and their planned terror.
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