John Brennan just said they were willing to take bin Laden alive if he

[jenmito]

posed no threat at the time, but he fought back making it not an option to do so. This goes against all the reporting in the last several hours saying the order was to KILL bin Laden, and that taking him alive wasn't an option. I bet this discrepancy will be debated in the media after this briefing.

[TheWraith]

1. We heard as early as last night that he was offered a chance to surrender.

I'm not surprised that they didn't go to extreme lengths to take him alive. It would increase both the risk of him escaping and of troops getting injured or killed.

[jenmito]

2. OK then...

as long as it doesn't contradict statements said earlier. On MSNBC, all I heard was that the orders had always be to kill him-not to capture him, since it would cause so many more problems, like what to do with him, how to try him, etc.

[LiberalFighter]

3. It might had been Try and capture him alive wink wink

If you can't then authorized to kill