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I won't take sides here but please consider a few things.
1) We were all informed about this mission a few hours after it actually happened. As with any breaking story, the first details are not always accurate, the SEALS had not even been properly debriefed while everyone was already hearing the news. So everything was preliminary and some people giving details were not even authorized to do so.
2) The operation had a HUGE risk of going to shit. When you are landing a few helicopters and a few dozen SEALS a mile away from Pakistan's largest military base, you need to get in and get out quick. As soon as they encountered resistance, I assume it was weapons free. Not to mention, the terrorists use suicide attacks as their number one tactic. How did the SEALS know if the house might have been wired with explosives or not in case of a raid? You can't let people run around the house, you have to neutralize all threats as soon as you encounter gunfire.
They could not have risked failure at any cost. Imagine if SEALS were injured and held hostage if the mission failed. It would be a huge international embarrassment. Imagine Osama Bin Laden capturing a Navy SEAL, his power would suddenly skyrocket and his organization would be envigorated. So failure was not an option, therefore you have to error on the side of aggression.
Also, they didn't kill everyone. Over 20 women and children were left for Pakistani forces to discover and were unharmed.
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