[Note from Kathie Malley-Morrison: Continuing the series on just war, Dr. Mike Corgan offers some reflections about whether the killing of Osama bin Laden meets the criteria for just war.]
Though details are still being released it seems the raid at Abbottabad and the killing of Osama bin Laden do meet the requirements of just war.
Bin Laden certainly made himself a legitimate target for military and even lethal retaliation by his continuing orchestration and advocacy of attacks directed at civilians, and not just military or police, in Muslim and in Western countries.
The raid itself was risky precisely because it was a proportionate use of force and not a dropping of a dozen or twenty 2,000 lb bombs on the compound which certainly would have caused many civilian deaths.
The women and children were unharmed except for the wife who rushed the attackers; she was shot in the leg, not the head. Of course bin Laden was shot in the head, twice, though he appeared to have had no weapon in hand. However, the use of suicide bomb vests by Al Qaeda is well documented and the shooter, who had one or two seconds to make a decision, had no reason to assume bin Laden did not wear one.
There seems to have been no “collateral damage.” It was about as well carried out as these things can ever be.
Michael T. Corgan, Associate Chair and Associate Professor of International Relations, Boston University