Should Osama bin Laden be put to death?

[minionofmidas]

No.
Not for his sake, for yours.

[minionofmidas]

No.
Not for his sake, for yours.

Yeah... Let him live so the terrorists can take hostages and order for his release.

I say put him to death if only to protect us from that situation.

Eh, good point. Hard to say what's worse, a live imprisoned Bin Laden or a dead martyr Bin Laden. Either might prove more dangerous than an alive-and-kicking Bin Laden. (notice: might)

But I was thinking along moral lines, not practical ones.

[minionofmidas]

Just read Camus, it'll save me a lot of work.

[minionofmidas]

OK here's my idea:

Put him in prison.  Brainwash him so that he becomes either a devout Christian or an atheist.  Get him to make another video from his cell of him totally denouncing Islam and terror tactics, and calling Mohammed a heathen or something, and broadcast it from al-Jazeera or some-such.

What good's that going to do (apart from the fact that it's near impossible to "brainwash" somebody). Everybody seeing it will recognize it was made by torture. It would just lower everybody's esteem for the US, and make Islamists madder than ever.

[minionofmidas]

Give him the full American treatment...a fair trial

Contradiction in terms.
Sorry to sound harsh.