STORY OF KILLINGS OF BIN LADEN AND PRABHAHARAN: CONTRADICTIONS AND DOUBLE STANDARDS

This State Department report gave credibility to the pro-Tamil Tiger lobbyists in the United States and Europe that Sri Lankan armed forces violated international law in killing unarmed leaders of the LTTE, including its leader Prabhakaran, who were stepping out with white flags to surrender

A firsthand account of the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden contradicts previous official accounts and raises questions as to whether the terror mastermind presented a clear threat when SEALs first fired upon him.

The news organisations that had the privilege of obtaining copies of the book written by a US Navy SEAL who participated in the raid give the firsthand account how bin Laden died in the hands of the US Navy SEALs.

Bin Laden apparently was hit in the head when he looked out of his bedroom door into the top-floor hallway of his compound as SEALs rushed up a narrow stairwell in his direction, according to former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette, writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen in No Easy Day.

The book is to be published next week by Penguin Group’s Dutton imprint.

Bissonnette says he was directly behind a “point man” going up the stairs. “Less than five steps” from top of the stairs, he heard “suppressed” gunfire: “BOP. BOP.” The point man had seen a “man peeking out of the door” on the right side of the hallway.

The author writes that bin Laden ducked back into his bedroom and the SEALs followed, only to find the terrorist crumpled on the floor in a pool of blood with a hole visible on the right side of his head and two women wailing over his body.

Bissonnette says the point man pulled the two women out of the way and shoved them into a corner and he and the other SEALs trained their guns’ laser sites on bin Laden’s still-twitching body, shooting him several times until he lay motionless. The SEALs later found two weapons stored by the doorway, untouched, the author said.

The White House informed the national and i nternational media on May 3, 2011 that Osama bin Laden was not carrying a weapon when he was killed by American troops when they stormed a fortified mansion in a Pakistani elite neighbourhood just outside the capital of Islamabad.

Several experts on the rules of engagement in combat told The New York Times that in a raid on a target as dangerous as bin Laden, the American troops would be justified to open fire at the slightest commotion when they burst into the room.

US position on Prabhakaran killing

In October 2009 the US State Department presented a report to the Congress on ‘Incidents During the recent Conflict in Sri Lanka’.

In the Executive Summary the report noted “This report is submitted pursuant to the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009 (P.L. 111-32), which directed the Secretary of State to submit a report detailing incidents during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka that may constitute violations of international humanitarian law or crimes against humanity, and, to the extent practicable, identifying the parties responsible.

This report focuses on incidents that occurred from January 2009, when fighting intensified, through the end of May 2009, when Sri Lankan government forces defeated the LTTE.”

This State Department report gave credibility to the pro-Tamil Tiger lobbyists in the United States and Europe that Sri Lankan armed forces violated international law in killing unarmed leaders of the LTTE, including its leader Prabhakaran, who were stepping out with white flags to surrender.

The observations, sentiments expressed in this official State Department report based on ambiguous reports the American Embassy in Colombo received gave political ammunition to the pro-LTTE/separatist lobbying groups to create an anti-Sri Lankan voice in the power centres in Washington and capitals in the European Union.

This is how the unconfirmed and ambiguous date/reports that the American Embassy i n Colombo received were incorporated in the report of October 2009.

As noted above, capturing the long-sought terrorist mastermind alive might have been an option, but it wasn’t a top priority for the Obama administration.

Capturing the long-sought terrorist mastermind Velupillai Prabhakaran and his top players in the Sri Lankan episode were cornered while the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tiger fighting cadre were exchanging lethal fire. If any of the top players of the LTTE emerged from their hideouts the military was not sure if they were wearing suicide vests to harm the soldiers who were in close proximity. According to the US Navy SEAL’s description such a scenario never existed when they confronted Osama bin Laden.

US Violated International Law

Curtis Doebbler, Professor of Law at Webster University and Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations, both in Geneva, Switzerland, says that the action against Osama Bin Laden violated International Law.

He says International law prohibited targeted killings in several ways.

Courtesy Asian Tribune