Quote:
Originally Posted by dlish
his daughter now has said to pakistani intelligence that she saw him be captured alive and then killed, which sounds like an execution style killing more than a firefight.
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While I seriously doubt the credibility of bin Laden's daughter, executing the man seems perfectly reasonable from a tactical perspective. This is all armchair quarterbacking on my part, but I imagine that there was a bit of a time crunch imposed upon the shooters. They were operating in small numbers, unsupported by air and ground assets, and so could risk only a very short time on target. They didn't have time to wrestle with or otherwise persuade bin Laden to leave with them.
The guy was obviously protected by factions within PAKMIL and, given his status, probably had a quick reaction force in the nearby area. I dont think it would be unreasonable for to the shooters expect some kind of massive response from the nearby military academy and/or the surrounding community. Once the shooters made their presence known on their infiltration, they had to move fast. If bin Laden resisted and slowed the extraction of the team, shooting him would be perfectly acceptable.