Osama Bin Laden is dead.

[RedAces]

hey,

Bye, RedAces.

This confuses me to no end

I've written you a PM!

meeh^^ I'm viewing a posting as kind of a letter with a proper greeting and a proper farewell. Maybe it's an outdated concept, but I hate my posts if I not do this properly... ^^

Bye, RedAces.

[Fridmarr]

It's not outdated, people do it everyday, just not an internet forum where it comes off as a bit awkward.

[Hokahey]

I agree, Brekkie. Well said.

Also, I'd like to apologize to others for being so rude in this thread. I meant what I said, but I should have said it privately, or not at all.

[Fetzie]

Thanks for that information Brekkie, it's great to hear things from someone who actually knows what the heck they are talking about, not just what some journalist has managed to cobble together from other journalists' reports and press statements.

Personally, I am relieved that OBL is dead. I am not elated that he is dead - that would imply that I have grievances against him (I am not American, I have not lost close relatives or friends to acts of terrorism or in active service), however neither am I sad (because that would just be aweful); I think relief is the correct word for my feeling about this thing. Bin Laden being able to avoid capture for over a decade (I believe he was active before 2001, correct me if I am wrong) must have made him a legend among fundamental Muslims that support Al'Qaida. Now that the legend has been taken out, his image of immortality destroyed, maybe we will start to see Al'Qaida begin to disintegrate, perhaps the feeling of "Osama has evaded capture for as long as I have been alive" (many terrorists are under 25, just a few days ago a 12 year old blew up a group of people) will, over time, fall apart and Al'Qaida as an organisation will suffer membership losses through attrition. I also think that his live capture would have made the situation much worse - for example kidnappings aiming to trade the victims for OBL would have soared.

As for Obama - I think this incident will boost his chances for re-election considerably. I do not think that he should build his election campaign around it though and I hope that he has the integrity to not parade himself around as the "guy who took down Osama".

[Brekkie]

(I believe he was active before 2001, correct me if I am wrong)

According to how the U.S. Department of Defense defines it, 1998 was the first act of terrorism that be convincingly directly attributed to OBL.
Since 1998, al-Qa'ida Central under the direct control of OBL has been responsible for 84 fatal acts of terrorism around the world, resulting in the deaths of at least 4299 individuals and another 6300 wounded.

[Hokahey]

The official story from the White House regarding the circumstances of Osama bin Laden's death have changed. According to the White House, Osama bin Laden was not using a woman as a human shield (the woman attempted to "rush" members of the assault team, and was shot in the leg), and he was not holding a firearm, but he did not surrender, was resisting capture (undisclosed specifically how), and the assault team was exchanging fire with other people in the compound at the time.

I really don't think it changes much, though I'm sure others will disagree. Even if he were only attempting to flee, or simply being non compliant with the assault team's directives while they were being engaged by other hostile personnel, the mission was to kill or capture him, and that is what they did. If they didn't seize the oppurtunity to kill him, there remained a significant possibility that he may again elude capture, since the team was already engaged in a firefight, and may not have had the capacity to complete their objective with a resistant detainee while being directly engaged in hostile contact. As a former soldier, it strikes me as definitely the appropriate decision to make in that moment, in that situation, with the information that was available at the time.

I think special kudos should be given to the administration for its transparency on the details, and also to the operatives on the ground for being as precise as possible about what actually occurred. They (both the White House and the assault team) very easily could have simply allowed the story of what transpired to remain as it was, and its unlikely anyone would have known different other than those that were actually there to witness the events.

[Brekkie]

Hokahey summed up the latest I heard when I went into work today.

My understanding is that OBL's two sons were definitely among the armed combatants and where shot dead during the raid.

[Gerunna]

Drudge just reported that the President is going to release some pics.

Personally I can't stand gore so I won't look at them, I believe he is dead so i don't need to see his brains lol.

But to all who don't flinch at that sort of stuff (I can't watch horror movies cuz I puke), heard it will be released soon.

48 hours later?

Plenty of time to photoshop some realistic photos of a dead Osama!

Already done and debunked. Note the quote from the photographer for bonus lulz.

[Passionario]

the thing alot of us are forgetting is that innocent until proven guilty may be true here in the states, but isnt a universal thing

iirc some SA countries have laws that you must prove your innocence (im going off like 12yr old trivia so forgive me if im wrong)

In Russia, if you get accused of terrorism, you'll be convicted regardless of the evidence with no trial by jury.

[Arnock]

I heard (no reliable source, admittedly) that one wife rushed the troops, while OBL hid behind another.


also

"I have seen a great number of poorly Photoshopped images in my time as a photographer and I can tell by the pixels that it is a fake," said Kenna Lindsay, a New York-based photographer who works with composite images.

I lol'd

[Fetzie]

Isn't a composite image photographer one that superimposes pictures (aka faking them) for a living?

[Brekkie]

It's funny because it is pretty much directly quoting an internet meme.

[Invisusira]

[Arnock]

So, will the members of SEAL team six receive the 52 million dollar reward on his head?

[sahiel]

I believe the rewards are for 'information leading to the capture/death' so it would be more likely that if someone passed on a tip they would get it, if it was on the other hand grueling inch by inch following up of leads and groundwork by the CIA or such then nope, don't think anyone is up for the OBL lottery.