Michael Moore thinks Osama Bin Laden deserved a trial

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by Alvin Walton

What Bin Laden did was not a crime, it was an act of war....he gets no trial, enemy combatants don't get a trial. (Is there an echo in here?)

I'm amused that someone who should know how many women, children and civilians Bin Laden killed keeps using the word uncivilized when referring to the USA in a Bin laden discussion.

1) On what basis do you decree that it was an act of war and not a crime? He acted for no country's army. And since when is murder not a crime? And notice that his simple declaration is not enough on this point. If I murder someone today and say that I did it because I am "at war," the cops will lock me up just the same. Tell me why his murderous act was not criminal.

2) In your second paragraph you argue irrationally. Certainly bin Laden was uncivilized - no one here will argue to the contrary. But it is possible that some of us are making an uncivilized argument as well.

Let me put my argument differently: bin Laden wished to destroy the United States. If we then treated him in a way which abrogates our our Constitution, our founding document and the ultimate basis for our law and society, then to a certain extent bin Laden wins. If we denied a trial as specified by our Constitution, then he would have died, but so would our American values and ideals.