lsd5you has already provided a good response, but in addition to that: 1. Explicitly targeting civilians is generally considered grounds for vilification - it'

lsd5you has already provided a good response, but in addition to that: 1. Explicitly targeting civilians is generally considered grounds for vilification - it's why we call them "terrorists", and why we have rules of warfare, etc. 2. It's pretty standard to vilify people who are trying to kill you, rather than people who are trying to kill others on your behalf. If you want to take a stance outside of national interests, that's fine, but again it's not unreasonable for Americans to feel more hostile towards Bin Laden than Bush, even if they disagree with the Iraq War and its consequences. 3. In a better world, the Iraq War certainly should have resulting in crimes against humanity charges being brought and tried against perpetrators like Bush, Cheney, and his gang. But the fact that we don't live in that world doesn't change the fact that what Bin Laden did was a bad thing, which justifies vilification.