Bin Laden and PC

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Wed May 4 17:27:26 UTC 2011


At 1:16 PM -0400 5/4/11, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
>OTOH, I have a problem with the use of "KIA," in a case like this. KIA
>implies that, like a red-blooded American defender of our freedom,
>Usama had died in combat. I haven't read the news particularly
>closely, but my impression is that Usama was basically a sitting duck,
>not engaged in any kind of pro-, or even re-, active defense of
>himself and al-Qaida.
>
Well, after all, bin Laden was killed in the course of the Navy
Seals' action even if not his own.  After all, KIA doesn't specify
whose action the killee was killed in.  Underspecification strikes
again!

LH

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