But the world is starting to question those actions.
Death of a terrorist and unanswered questions
Your correspondents have rightly been critical of the questionable legality of American action against Bin Laden and Nato attempts to assassinate Colonel Gaddafi (Osama bin Laden and wild-west justice, 3 May). Some 65 years ago US prosecutors and politicians led the way in rejecting the idea of simply identifying and then executing Nazi leaders when they fell into allied hands. Justice Robert Jackson insisted that if the western allies wanted to hold the moral high ground they had to be seen to behave differently from the defeated axis states. The Nuremberg trials gave an opportunity through due legal process for the victor states to demonstrate that the rule of law had to be applied even to the most lawless acts.
Letters: Death of a terrorist and unanswered questions | World news | The Guardian
Just why should we care what these people's opinion is? As I recall, it was not THEIR nation Bin Laden attacked on 9/11. Now personally, I would have liked to see us parade Osama's head throught our streets, to send the ragheads a message as to how we felt watching them cheer and laugh at the news of 9/11; but absent that, we at least killed the SOB like we should have, and if anyone doesn't like that, and wants to know why, the answer is, because we are the one hyper-power on the planet, and we will damn well do as WE, not YOU, see fit. Everybody got the message, now?
The fact is, that we could, if we chose to do so, retaliate for 9/11 by essentially wiping Islam from the face of the earth; in fact, we have the capacity to do most of the job in a matter of hours, literally, were America so inclined. There have been throughout history many great powers, which, had they had such a capacity, would not have hesitated for one moment in using it. Given that, I think America has been rather restrained. Some of our critics, despite what they say, would NOT be so restrained themselves, were they in our place; you may be sure of that. I think therefore, that we should point this reality out to them, in detail so that they can comprehend it. We have confined the killing in this case to the stateless rogues responsible for the atrocity. If necessary, I say we pick one nation (Pakistan or Saudi Arabia) and demonstrate upon it our full capabilities, as a reminder of what we CAN do.. That should be sufficient to bring our critics to understand just how much say they do NOT have, in how we handle our affairs in war. If people are going to be jealous of and hateful toward you, it is far better, that they also must fear you.