Was Killing Osama a Violation of International Law?

Many right-wingers believe so, as do Osama's two sons.  While there is no concrete evidence that this was a mission to kill, the death of an unarmed (though supposedly "resisting") bin Laden suggests otherwise.  This does not mean that the SEALs are responsible for the assassination of bin Laden, but rather that the higher ups ordered his death rather than his capture. 

As a country that is supposedly an protector of justice and tries so hard to enforce these international laws of fair trials, innocent until proven guilty, and the idea that a country is not permitted to go into a foreign country to assassinate a leader, we seem to have broken all of these in the bin Laden case.  While it is undisputed that bin Laden is the mind (and more importantly bank account) behind the September 11th attacks, this does not mean we should set aside the laws we enforce in this case.

More importantly, simply killing bin Laden does nothing to shed light on what he truly did, and while it may be revenge for some of the friends and relatives of victims, holding a trial where the crimes of Osama were openly stated and proven would perhaps bring more closure for them.  I criticize the Bush administration for allowing such a hastily done trial of Saddam Hussein, charging him merely for the killing of Shiites.  The affect that Hussein had on Iraqi history was far more than this one act, and a lengthened trial exposing all the horrors and crimes committed by the dictator would have shed more light on his atrocities and aided in the "healing process" of the Iraqi people.

Obama deserves credit for taking a strong stance to find the whereabouts of bin Laden.  His desire to avoid any sort of extended trial (not to mention the location of a trial would be a mystery) in order to avoid any possible martyrdom of bin Laden is also acceptable.  However, the positives to be gained of putting bin Laden on trial and fully exposing him for who he is far outweigh any negatives that would be brought with this.  Instead we have a celebratory America, condemned by the international community, and a hypocritical America, breaking laws it seeks to enforce.