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Osama bin Laden: Targeted Killings and Torture
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Osama bin Laden: Targeted Killings and Torture

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Osama bin Laden is dead. But the way he was killed has led to a UN investigation, and the way he was found has renewed debate over torture. We hear the arguments. Also, the South is soaked by the the swollen Mississippi River. On Reporter's Notebook, is the US Senate's "Gang of Six" on the verge of collapse?

Banner image: Supporters of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Nazaryati shout anti-US slogans during a protest in Quetta on May 2, 2011 after the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Special Forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Photo: Banaras Khan/AFP/Getty Images

Making News

South Soaked by Swollen Mississippi River ()

As the Army Corps of Engineers continues opening the Morganza Spillway, sheriff's deputies are going door to door in low-lying Cajun country, urging residents to seek higher ground. That's according to Rick Jervis, Gulf Coast correspondent for USA Today.

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Main Topic

Osama bin Laden: Targeted Killings and Torture ()

The killing of Osama bin Laden was an act of finality, but international debate about its legality and morality has just begun. The presidential order to kill the al Qaeda leader has raised questions about executive powers under the laws of war and produced a UN investigation. The intelligence work that led to bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan has raised other questions about "enhanced interrogation techniques." When can a president decide who lives and who dies? Should bin Laden have been captured and tried? Does discovery of his hideout justify torture? We hear different answers about law, morality, national security and the international reputation of the United States.

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Reporter's Notebook

Was the 'Gang of Six' Undone by the Threat of Compromise? ()

The date when the US will no longer be able to pay its bills is now set for August unless Congress agrees in the meantime to lift the ceiling on debt. One instrument for bipartisan compromise has now been weakened by Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn's withdrawal from the Senate's so-called "Gang of Six." Saying the group is at an impasse, Coburn explained, "We can't bridge the gap between what actually needs to happen and what people will allow to happen." Major Garrett is Congressional correspondent for the National Journal.

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