OSAMA IS DEAD! :D

[Byroe]

Obama just gave a speech, he announced that Osama bin laden has been killed in a raid conducted by the US army!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110502/ap_ ... _bin_laden

[MKindy]

Good luck loading any news website, though. New York Times won't load at all, for me.

I wonder what this means in the big picture.

[697134002]

I heard on TV that some of his kids were killed, too. But it didn't say their ages, so they could be anywhere from ~20 years younger than Osama Bin Laden to children.

[Jake55778]

I wonder what this means in the big picture.

Very little I expect. It's not like he was masterminding all the world's evils from his mountain hideout. Whatever movements he set in motion will carry on just fine without him, strengthened if anything by their new martyr.

[MKindy]

Very little I expect. It's not like he was masterminding all the world's evils from his mountain hideout. Whatever movements he set in motion will carry on just fine without him, strengthened if anything by their new martyr.

If there was a plan for succession in place, mechanisms for redistributing bin Laden's wealth, and no in-fighting with who gets to lead the organization, this is true. My father thinks al Qaeda will collapse in a violent, indiscriminate death throe, before it is replaced by the next major organization over the next decade. I've heard an intriguing thought that the recent public uprisings in the Middle East might be signalling a general shift in attitudes in that region, and that shifting of attitudes might explain why whoever in Pakistan revealed this information did reveal this information, especially since he was hiding in an "affluent suburb" of the Pakistani capital, according to MSNBC. He was hiding out in a place that sounds not unlike the villa of some drug lord; a compound I would think would be impossible to miss. Maybe these popular revolts imply that al Qaeda or organizations like it will have trouble recruiting in the future.

There are a lot of ways it can go.

[Skunk_Giant]

One of the main things I hope people take from this, more so from Obama's speech, is that Muslims =/= Terrorists. People say that Osama did this because he was Muslim, but that's so wrong. You may have your own opinions, but I believe he simply used being Muslim as an excuse.

The question is, will there be a horrible retaliation attack?

[vallorn]

ah good. why didnt they take him alive though? better for everyone (hes now a Martyr).

[Skunk_Giant]

It would have been much more dangerous to capture him than kill him. I think if they'd captured him, there probably would have been a US casualty or at least injury.

[vallorn]

hmm true that but it would still be better in the long run.

(also my 2011th post!)

[Lord_Mountbatten]

The implications for Pakistan are not good, what with the world's most wanted man living in a mansion in their country. Apparently the operation was a joint US-Pakistani one, which will lift some pressure, but hey, 10 years and no one noticed? I doubt it.

Though if Osama was smart, he wouldn't have stuck to just one place.

[Eddietester1066]

I must beg to differ, good Sir. We have known for quite some time, years in fact, that the Pakistani services were and are rife with people that are either suborned by or sympathetic with AQ. This operation was done entirely with USA forces. If anything, we told Pakistan that we were planning an operation several hundred kilometers away.

While the operation was a success, I fell that disposing of his body at sea so quickly was a mistake. Far better would have been to toss it into the manure pit at a hog farm, and send the video to Al-Jazzera for distribution.

A man whose opinion I greatly respect has said that the only way to put an end to the use of suicide bombers and other such "martyrdom operations" is to publicize the use of hogs to dispose of the remains.

[Lord_Mountbatten]

Yes, I found that it's just the ISI claiming it was a joint operation. Hm, biased news sources.

I can also understand why they wouldn't have been notified, with the said sympathy among officials.

[The_Fuzz22]

Disposing of the body so swiftly was a mistake. It raises questions as to the validity of the claims of his death.

The reasoning was that it was out of respect for his religion (essentially a bid to minimise some back-flak), and a respectful method of burial.

That being said, having spent a sizeable portion of my younger life living in the Middle East, it's safe to say this man was practising under a heavily (pardon my language) bastardised version of Islam that the majority of it's followers would not adhere to.
As far as they're concerned, he was not a Muslim and therefore wouldn't deserve a respectful burial anyway.

[Lord_Mountbatten]

As far as they're concerned, he was not a Muslim and therefore wouldn't deserve a respectful burial anyway.

While that's true, I've already seen aspects of grumpiness over the method of burial (though correct, it's not popular, but don't quote me on that, since I read that somewhere, and it might be wrong).

[SneakyPie]

As far as they're concerned, he was not a Muslim and therefore wouldn't deserve a respectful burial anyway.

While that's true, I've already seen aspects of grumpiness over the method of burial (though correct, it's not popular, but don't quote me on that, since I read that somewhere, and it might be wrong).

Quoted.

[Skunk_Giant]

it's safe to say this man was practising under a heavily (pardon my language) bastardised version of Islam that the majority of it's followers would not adhere to.
As far as they're concerned, he was not a Muslim and therefore wouldn't deserve a respectful burial anyway.

This. I don't see how people don't understand this.

Edit: Proof - I heard a kid being asked what Muslims believe in the other day. He answered 'don't they kill anyone that isn't Muslim or something?'