Capture Team Stood

                                      By for Bin Laden

...............senior officials also said that two teams of specialists were on stand by:One to bury Bin Laden if he was killed, and a second composed of lawyers,interrogators and translaters in case he was captured alive. That team was set to meet aboard a Navy ship........

New York Times  May 10

So the capture and killing of Ben Laden was not illegal

o because of  violating  the requirement for Congressional authorization. Because  on Sept 18 2001 Congress authorized it in the language which you can find in my comment to Des' blog on Glen Greenwald and Empty Wheel

o because the Seals were directed to kill him thus depriving him of a right to a Trial.. If that was their instruction the Administration would not have created a team of lawyers and interrogators .

Let's save some pointless exchanges. Do me a favor , don't comment that the  team of lawyers etc. is a lie.

Could it possibly be? Yes.

Is that sufficiently probable to discuss it as if it were a serious alternative. No.

The article is credited to Eric Schmitt, Thom Shanker and David Sanger.That's too many to conspire to inflict on the Times a repeat of  the infamous WMD collaboration with Scooter Libby. Or to have permit themselves to be reduced to the role of stenographers while an Administration flack spun a story. These are guys who lust for a Pulitzer, not to enrolled in the chump of the week club.

I'm willing to bet a bottle of Two Buck Chuck that the Times'  3Ss asked enough questions of enough people to have satisfied themselves that it was responsible not only to include the interrogation team  in their report but to do that prominently

So it they didn't collaborate with the attempted lie, do I at least admit there was an attempted lie.by the Administration ? . No.In Technicolor.

Obama's staffers may have their weaknesses.. But  they're smart enough not to create a phantom team of lawyers ,interrogators and translaters and con the 3Ss into annoiting it with printers' ink.in Macy's window.

Let's put the turkey on the table. .Many of the Dagblog contributors.  have been so infuriated by some  Obama policies over the last 3 years.that if he announced the sun was rising in the East. they'd cast their eyes on the Pacific. So discuss those evil policies . But don't try to convince us that the sun just erupted from the Pacific and is heading towards the Grand Canyon.

If we were to have that debate my comment would be along the lines of Churchill's in June 1941 

"if Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons"