Quoting Ezra Klein (“The incoherence of the “Deathers””)
If we didn’t kill bin Laden, presumably he’ll quickly release a video emphasizing the fact of his continued existence. Or he’ll at least tell his daughter to stop publicly saying that she watched as he was shot and killed by Americans. If the conspiracy is that the Obama administration is claiming to have killed bin Laden when they in fact have actually captured him and are holding him for torture/interrogation/fun dance parties, then a photograph proves nothing more than that someone in the Obama administration knows how to use Photoshop.
I’m all for skepticism of government claims, but not when it makes no freaking sense whatsoever to doubt them.
Things I am willing to be skeptical about, to varying degrees:
• The helicopter malfunctioned as opposed to being shot down
• That we gave no warning to the Pakistani military/ISI (though I’d put this as quite probable)
• That bin Laden “resisted” in a meaningful way
• The extent to which the funeral on the aircraft carrier was respectful
• Nearly anything that comes out of ISI interrogations of the survivors
I’m also very curious about those reports that the power shut off in Abottabad before the assault began, which would also tie into the discrepencies between reported number of helicopters and SEALs involved (I’ve seen anywhere from 12 to 72—maybe a group split off and cut the town’s power), and how many people were actually in the compound and fighting back.
But those are details.