I wonder if there was a chance of taking him alive? Must've been considered but I suppose that this would have lead to Western hostage-taking on a grand scale by Al Qaeda so much better not to give them the excuse. There will of course still be some nasty retaliation to come but taking hostages will serve no purpose and there will be no trial to disrupt. As his hideout was a high-security compound 70 miles from Islamabad, questions are already being asked about how much the Pakistan authorities knew about his location.