Osama Bin Laden Killed by US Forces in Pakistan

[thunderfoot]

President Barak Obama has just announced Osama Bin Laden was killed by US Forces in a firefight inside Pakistan. They have his body and forensic analysis has confirmed it is him. One of the 9/11 survivors tweeted, "It has been ten years coming but Justice finally arrived."

 

[CptBenSisko]

God bless america!!!



U.s.a!! U.s.a!! U.s.a!!!!!! U.s.a!! U.s.a!! U.s.a!!!!!!

 

[SciFiFan]

Not to be a negative nancy but, show me the body just as they did with Hussein.

If this is true, I have a major problem. I heard the report saying he was being protected by Pakistani Military. WHY are some one who is suppose to be our ally protecting the man we was hunting?

 

[CptBenSisko]

The way the President explained it in his speech..Bin Laden was attacking Pakistan as well...and that it was a joint effort between US and Pakistany soldiers to bring down Bin Laden.. But i agree...i wanna see a body

 

[Majestic]

This is a major hit to terrorism not just for the USA, but the entire world as his terrorism group is world-wide. However now we don't know who will be leading this group and if we let our guard down they'll hit us harder than September 11 in the US.

 

[CrazyFrog1903]

Wonder where in Pakistan it was....hmmmmm...But Pakistan looks like such a nice place when I walk out my door.... The mountain side lights up pretty well at night.....LOL

I gotta get out of here....Thank goodness this year is up this month..

 

[EAS_Intrepid]

Wonder where in Pakistan it was....hmmmmm...But Pakistan looks like such a nice place when I walk out my door....

Obama said it was in the town of Abbottabad. According to Berlin Inforadio that is just an hour and a half car ride north of Islamabad. CNN reported the strike had been carried out by US Navy Seals and Pakistani military. Apparently Bin Laden was not just a target of opportunity, since the OP was planned since the CIA got a trace of Bin Laden in August 2010.

Glad they got the guy. Congrats to the Seals!

@Cpt Sisko: Just to remind you, the anti-terror campaign and OP Enduring Freedom are done by a multi-national force

 

[Terra_Inc]

Not to be a negative nancy but, show me the body just as they did with Hussein.

If this is true, I have a major problem. I heard the report saying he was being protected by Pakistani Military. WHY are some one who is suppose to be our ally protecting the man we was hunting?

Com'on, nobody trusts the Pakistani Military & Secret Service. They've been doing their stuff behind the USA's back for years.

Anyway, good to hear that the ol' terrorist is dead. It will take some time to rebuild the command structure of the group. The Borg Queen is dead, now the Collective must reorganize.

 

[K_merse]

Osama is only a symbol nowadays - a very important though.
But killing him won't solve the problem of terrorism. But it's a very important and very good point for Obama who desperately needed something to show to the people for his re-election.

Of course it's still good that he is dead, but allow me not to cheer about the death of a man - even if he was Bin Laden.

 

[Jetfreak]

Hard to believe its been close to a decade, but the donkey riding man could not hide under the shadows forever. He was bound to get his hand caught in the cookie jar.

So good riddance, but this is not necessarily mean the end of Terrorism. Oh no, not by a long shot.

 

[thunderfoot]

He was, and still is, a symbol. And I'm not cheering. What I feel is a profound sense of relief. He conspired to murder and then did murder three thousand of my countrymen. My tribe. My family. Guess what? The people in those buildings were not exclusively American, nor does Al-Queda differentiate between Americans and Europeans. The people in those buildings commited only one crime: they got up and went to work that morning, They were people who had children, parents, siblings, uncles, cousins... There are people across the world whose lives were forever horrifically changed in a way not a single one of us can ever truly hope to understand. It is hard to find a country on the planet who does not have someone who is connected to the 9/11 bombings. Evil men, and there truly is no other word to describe them, decided these people were unfit to live. I'm relieved the rascal is dead. Means he cannot plot and conspire to kill innocents ever again.

 

[Adm_Z]

Indeed Thunderfoot, he was an Evil man, and he is dead.(as far as we know. I too would like to see a body) Though it may not stop the war, a major battle has been won and an enemy symbol has been destroyed. Hopefully it will cause more damage than the simple shedding of blood.

Oh, and btw, thank God for the Navy Seals! Those boys sure know how to do their job don't they?

 

[Dan1025]

Wow they finally got him. I still remember the day I came home from school to find my parents watching the 9/11 attack on the news. I was 10 years old at the time and I couldn't understand why anyone would want to do something so evil and cruel. I still can't to be honest.

I'm with thunderfoot; I'm not cheering, but I am relieved. At the end of the day he was an evil man who commited unforgiveable crimes against humanity. There was no other way this could've ended realistically.

Hopefully this will at least mark the beginning of the end of some of the terrorist cells/activity out there, and let us all hope that any attempts at retaliation over Bin Laden's death are stopped before anyone is harmed.

 

[CABAL]

I agree that it's most likely good that he's dead, but people can be just as dangerous in martyrdom as in life. What effect this will have on enemy moral is something we won't really know for a few weeks.

 

[EAS_Intrepid]

As per Islamic law the body of Bin Laden has been disposed of within the 24 hours after death. According to US gov't sources his body has been treated as by Islamic traditions.

But he will not be buried. His remains have been thrown into the sea at an undisclosed location.

I also agree with thunderfoot. The death of a person is not something to cheer for... and I think that the US forces did well in treating Bin Laden's remains as per Islamic law. Mercy upon your enemy is true greatness.

 

[Adm_Z]

Could I see a source for the ocean thing? Not because I am chalenging your statements validity(I wouldn't do that) I just want to read the article.

I imagine that alot of conspiracy theorists will come out about his body being dumped in an undisclosed location. Not that I disagree, as we kinda do need a bit more evidence, but it doesn't make that much difference. If he's dead, and our governments act like he is dead, it doesn't matter whether there is a body or not.

 

[EAS_Intrepid]

Could I see a source for the ocean thing? Not because I am chalenging your statements validity(I wouldn't do that) I just want to read the article.

US media reports said that the body was buried at sea to conform with Islamic practice of a burial within 24 hours and to prevent any grave becoming a shrine.

BBC News - Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda leader, dead - Barack Obama

I imagine that alot of conspiracy theorists will come out about his body being dumped in an undisclosed location. Not that I disagree, as we kinda do need a bit more evidence, but it doesn't make that much difference. If he's dead, and our governments act like he is dead, it doesn't matter whether there is a body or not.

Conspiracy theorists deny facts anyway. And most of them lack a fundamental understanding of history, politics and military matters.

If I would jump on the conspiracy bandwagon, I could say that even images of his body would not matter, since with todays computer and CGI resources basically every image could be forged.


BTW: I'd like to have this image in a better resolution. Might be interesting which medications the guy took. But that is just personal couriosity.

 

[Adm_Z]

Thanks EAS

 

[EAS_Intrepid]

Hm... according to the BBC the burial was conducted on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in Arabic Sea.

Now further investigations are launched as to how much support OBL had in Pakistan. Especially since he was not staying in the border regions to Afghanistan but in the Pakistani heartland.
If this OP was a joint US-Pakistani strike is still not clear. Not even the BBC could definately confirm that Pakistan had any involvement in this.
Additionaly to the USN Seals AH-64 Apaches have been used.

OBL stayed in an area that is also a residential area of a lot of Pakistan's military brass.


By the way: I would like to refer to a (very) old thread here on MSFC where we discussed terrorism as well: Terrorism: A Major Strike - MSFC

 

[Sheogorath]

Well, some good news for once!

 

[Styer_Crisis]

For one i think cheering the death of any man, Evil or not, is wrong. Weither your an american or not, you should not be rooting for people to die, that in itself is an act of radicalism.

And this war will not end with this event. This is why.
The Americans are fighting a cause that glorifies death, promotes mass suicide and bomb attacks, and elevates the status of its dead to Martyrs, famed Heros. What Happened here when pearl habor happened, Assinations occur, Giant depressions, Instead of being dampened by a seemingly insurmountable attack, the country stepped into turbo mode, and pulled through. And here they are fighting somthing that has honed its skills aganst the U.S, and you think it will just shrivel up and Die? The more likely outcome is that they will step up their attacks, to honor their dead leader, go into "turbo" mode, and present themselfs as an even GREATER threat.


Oh and one more thing:

When the terrorists have a succsuesful attack they say:
All Glory To Allah



And when the U.s. scores a descent hit we say
God Bless America

Am I the only one that finds that Creepy?
Who are the real radicals?

 

[dinosaurJR]

Riiiiight...

Spoiler: Epic Post

Whilst I do not agree, I will say that you have the right to say what you did, what with freedom of speech and all; but I for one am happy that this man got what he deserved (and I hope that what he got was a 50cal right between the frontal lobes, however, in the circumstances, a high velocity assault rifle round would also be a good substitute).

This man was a terrorist, in the purest sense of the word - he used violence against innocent people in order to further the cause he was aligned with.

Don't you think he cheered too? When those two air liners, packed with innocent people crashed into those two buildings, packed with yet more innocent people? You can bet your sweet a*s he did. Or when the other flight crashed into the Pentagon? Or how about that other flight (the one they made the movie about - United 98, I think) simply crashed into the ground?

He killed and so was in turn killed. He got his, and I for one am glad.

Now, as for the whole God Bless America thing... That is an expression of patriotism for ones country. A country that, ok, has not always done the right thing in the past (Bay of Pigs, the Iraqi WMD thing et.al.) but a country that is one of the good guys.

Any way you slice it. The US Armed forces are either doing a difficult and admirable job fighting the good fight and every insurgent they eliminate is one less to creep into a packed subway car in NYC and blow it to kingdom come. Every despotic dictator they overthrow is one less that can fund terrorist organisations that attempt to drive burning SUVs into airport terminals. Every Afghan farmer they provide with seeds for crops is one less Afghan farmer that needs to resort to growing poppies, the product of which 99% of the time ends up funding crime across the globe, the product of which ends up in the veins of thousands of young people whose life it gradually destroys.

Or course the other way to slice it is that the US Armed forces are doing an admirable and very difficult job, fighting the good fight throughout the globe to secure oil and other natural resources, to ensure the US economy (the therefore by extension the world economy) has a steady access to raw materials that are not in the clutches of corrupt despotic dictators. Dictators that fund insurrections and terrorist activities and that every despot they overthrow is one less to fund the purchase of air tickets and the training of pilots who wish to hurl airliners into buildings full of innocent people. It also ensures that your economy is stable, keeps you in fuel for your car, ensures heat for your home and also plastics for the very keyboard you used to write that there message above about how bad it all is...

The Praise be to Allah thing is simply misplaced zealotry, twisted and abused religious fervor. The young and impressionable are led to believe by twisted and evil clerics that there is this amazing afterlife and they should not fear death and that they are pure, honorable and being subservient to their god (which, by the way is the same God as the God bless America God - don't believe me? Read a little, or maybe actually speak to a Muslim) by destroying Imperialist America... Although, I didn't hear them complaining about Imperialist America when the CIA were arming them to fight the Soviets in the '80s...

These evil people (or which Bin Ladin was one, Abu Hamza another) are hypocrites. They care not for Allah - they are not true Muslims, they care only for power.

No, I will not weep because one of them is dead.

And furthermore, to ask "who are the radicals?" based on the statements you gave shows a lack of understanding of the entire subject.

 

[Majestic]

Okay before this heads into an arugment, DJR is right with Freedom of Speach and all that and people have a right to an opinion whether you agree with it or not but please keep this civil, the second I see this head down hill it's the second I close the thread and give an infraction to those who have escalated the situtation.

This guy was no saint and infact was an evil man, no one here is saying otherwise, just staing an opinion on what they would've done or prefered to have done in they had the choice of what to do with him when he was captured. Even though he made it hard for the men involved in the operation of capturing him when he and his men were using human shields and all those distasteful actions.

 

[dinosaurJR]

I got you - and I apologise if I seemed any less than civil in my last post - I do not intend to insult, inflame or generally pee off people, and this last post was no exception.

I will, however discuss and defend my point of view and my opinion right up to the point where I get the kind of message above me ^ (possibly in red bold...)

I do not wish to create any ill will here and I certainly hope on one bares me any ill will either; we have a great, strong and open minded community, which I enjoy participating in and which is exactly why I feel it can stand to have the sort of debate above.

But as I always say;

"You the boss, boss!"​

 

[Katala]

I agree that it's most likely good that he's dead, but people can be just as dangerous in martyrdom as in life. What effect this will have on enemy moral is something we won't really know for a few weeks.

I have to agree with this statement, unfortunately even though someone who had done and organised such evil deeds is now dead, what outcome and effect will this have on his followers?

Who is to say they wont see him as a Martyr and simply assume that he allowed to happen to him what he asked all his followers to do? Or that he in fact knew they were coming for him and arranged for one of his main followers to show it throughout the organisation as part of a plan?

We do not know and have no way of knowing what effect all this will have on future terrorism.

Unfortunately, depsite everything, terrorism will be around for a long time yet despite our hardwork to end it, we as a species are still too aggressive and self-important to be able to get past the terrorism any time soon. It seems from looking over the past the more we advance, the worse it gets and I don't think that will change for a long time if ever

 

[Majestic]

I got you - and I apologise if I seemed any less than civil in my last post - I do not intend to insult, inflame or generally pee off people, and this last post was no exception.

It wasn't directed at any particular member, I just needed to put that out before someone decides they don't like what some else has said and it goes down hill.

 

[thunderfoot]

...Oh and one more thing:

When the terrorists have a successful attack they say:
All Glory To Allah



And when the U.S. scores a descent hit we say
God Bless America

Am I the only one that finds that Creepy?
Who are the real radicals?

No, you are not the only one who finds this creepy. But those of us who have worn the uniform and been willing to defend your right to say what you like just smile and shake our heads whenever we read something like this. As to the 'real radicals', I do not ever recall being ordered to deliberately attack innocents. As a matter of personal principle, and as required by both US and international law, I was legally bound to disobey any such order and arrest anyone who gave such an order. No matter what rank they held.

As to being a 'radical', why yes I am, thank you very much. If being fully committed to the removal of men such as Osama Bin Laden and the pain and suffering they cause to innocents throughout the world makes me a 'radical' in your view, then I shall wear the title quite proudly and shout my brand of radicalism from the rooftops.

 

[dinosaurJR]

If being fully committed to the removal of men such as Osama Bin Laden and the pain and suffering they cause to innocents throughout the world makes me a 'radical' in your view, then I shall wear the title quite proudly and shout my brand of radicalism from the rooftops.

Amen - can you sign me up too?

 

[Terra_Inc]

No, you are not the only one who finds this creepy. But those of us who have worn the uniform and been willing to defend your right to say what you like just smile and shake our heads whenever we read something like this. As to the 'real radicals', I do not ever recall being ordered to deliberately attack innocents. As a matter of personal principle, and as required by both US and international law, I was legally bound to disobey any such order and arrest anyone who gave such an order. No matter what rank they held.

We need more people like you. Some of the scandals of the last years (Abu Ghraib, anyone?) could have been averted.

 

[K_merse]

He was, and still is, a symbol. And I'm not cheering. What I feel is a profound sense of relief. He conspired to murder and then did murder three thousand of my countrymen. My tribe. My family. Guess what? The people in those buildings were not exclusively American, nor does Al-Queda differentiate between Americans and Europeans. The people in those buildings commited only one crime: they got up and went to work that morning, They were people who had children, parents, siblings, uncles, cousins... There are people across the world whose lives were forever horrifically changed in a way not a single one of us can ever truly hope to understand. It is hard to find a country on the planet who does not have someone who is connected to the 9/11 bombings. Evil men, and there truly is no other word to describe them, decided these people were unfit to live. I'm relieved the rascal is dead. Means he cannot plot and conspire to kill innocents ever again.

I didn't want to offend you. What Bin Laden did is cannot be forgotten - or forgiven. Terrorism is one of the most terrible things on Earth: Killing innocent people without real purpose.
Still, for me, all lives are sacred. And, as Crisis pointed out, he still could have one reason to at least accept - what would be the proper word here, I don't even know in Hungarian - his reasons: Those terrorists died for their faith, because they really though that they did the right thing, that with this they made Earth a better place. And maybe so did Osama.

Primitive? Absolutely. Violent? No question. Demanded it innocent lives? Unfortunately, yes. Unjustified? We can't tell as we don't know their culture, their life at all. Do I want those whose life was ruined on that day to forgive? No, I don't think I could forgive in their place.

If they did it because o their faith, because they really believed that it's good what they did, that this was God's will, then do we really have the right to judge them? Wouldn't that be God's task?
Especially if we check, who are the ones who took the judgement. Peolpe who throw out the most food on the Earth per day into the trash, while others die of starving. People who never had to suffer of lack of anything. Etc.

My problem with the whole thing is that everyone sees only one side of the full story, and don't bother to know the other one.