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Afghan men working at a TV shop watch the news of the death of accused 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden on a TV May 2, 2011 in Kabul, Afghanistan.Paula Bronstein

"Justice has been done," claimed President Barack Obama about the killing of Osama bin Laden, after U.S. special forces secretly flew deep into Pakistan and fought a brief, intense firefight.

But the decapitation strike - killing the Saudi-born, al-Qaeda leader - won't be regarded as justice by many in the Muslim world but rather the latest evidence of arrogant, powerful infidels.

How did the U.S. do it? Why did it take so long? What happens to the war on terror now?

Earlier today, the Globe's Washington D.C. correspondent Paul Koring took your questions. You can click on the panel below to read a transcript of the Q&A.

If you're reading this on a mobile device, you can click here to follow the chat.



<iframe src="https://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=4f30f488f0/height=650/width=460" scrolling="no" height="650px" width="460px" frameBorder ="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="https://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=4f30f488f0" >Paul Koring takes your questions on the death of Osama bin Laden</a></iframe>




Here are a few of the highlights from the chat above:



Comment From Moe: Were the Pakistani Authorities aware the attack was going to take place?

Paul Koring: Apparently not, the Pakistanis were kept in the dark. U.S. officials have confirmed that. It underscores the deep (and likely justified) suspicion in Washington that some parts of the Pakistani security apparatus are in touch with, perhaps in league with, the Taliban and al-Qeada. In fact, the already nasty relations between the two countries will get worse. The Pakistanis will resent a special forces strike deep in their country and few Americans are going to believe that Pakistan was unaware that Osama bin Laden was living less than a kilometre from Pakistan's main elite military academy in a city less than an hour's drive from the capital. This was hardly a cave in the mountains

Comment From RBW: Was the operation in accordance with international law?

Comment From Guest : What's the legality of ordering the death of someone rather than his capture? Judge, jury and executioners?

Paul Koring: That will be debated, but likely. Osama bin Laden publicly declared war on the United States, he was a political figure. So killing him was legitimate under the laws of war. But, I should add, it may not deserve the term "justice" used by the president. Nor is it clear that an armed strike into a sovereign country -- Pakistan -- was legal.



Comment From DB Smith: While I see the political necessity of the action and the burial by the USA - I still have a concern around the morality of the act of political assassination outside of a declared state of war by a sovereign state on any individual. Your thoughts

Paul Koring: It seems to be the leader of a political or military movement is a legitimate target in a war. If this is a war, then Osama is a legitimate target. By contrast, I'm struck by the stretch that a UN mandate to protect civilians allows NATO warplanes operating under the orders of a Canadian air force general to bomb a residence in Tripoli. Assuming the target was Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi, it's a tougher case to make given the mandate and the result -- which was apparently the death of several children

Comment From David Staples: Finally, with Osama dead, is it more likely that Western nations will pull out of Afghanistan? Is our real mission -- to root out those involved in the 9-11 attack -- finally done there?

Paul Koring: The mission in Afghanistan has long since morphed into nation-building from any original intent to root out al-Qeada. Plenty of countries -- including Canada -- are quitting combat operations irrespective of whether that nation-building job is done (or can be done) but I don't think that means the day when a Kabul government can look after its own internal security is any closer

Shane Dingman: How about a political question Paul: Seems like there is a nice bipartisan moment just now as the Democrats and GOP alike celebrate together... but Mr. Obama has a re-election coming up... how does this alter the landscape?

Paul Koring: It helps Mr. Obama. America's number one enemy and the leader of al-Qeada, the group that attacked the United States killing more than 3,000 on Sept 11, 2001, has been killed on his watch. Good and bad, presidents get the credit and blame for what happens while they are in the Oval Office.

Comment From BJB: Do you think this will influence the developments of the so-called Arab spring in any appreciable way? What about the NATO campaign in Libya, especially after the death of Gaddafi's son?

Paul Koring: I don't know if Osama death will have an impact on the Arab spring but I do think -- at least so far -- that it is a broader, more powerful, more successful and more secular movement that bin Laden's vision of an Islamic Caliphate to oust the infidels and their lackey dictators. For some radical Islamists, the death of the al-Qeada leader may be a call to arms but for the majority of Muslims seeking a decent life instead of lives of fear under repressive dictators, I think they are already awakening. It will be very interesting to watch the reaction in Saudi Arabia.

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