Bin Laden dead

[crisis]

Firstly I am glad he is dead if only in revenge for all the lives he has been responsible for.

Secondly I understand Al Qeda will prevail but it is an important psychological blow for them. This is all about mind games after all.
I also remain cynical about the fact he was in Pakistan and how much of a issue the Yanks are making of it being a joint operation and making sure there is no public questioning of why/how he was in Pakistan.

One could jump to all sorts of conspiratorial conclusions so lets. The death of Bin Laden in a time where other Middle Eastern Muslim countries were stable may have resulted in various forms of reactions.

Timing wise it couldn’t have happened at a better time with countries like Syria, Lebanon, Egypt etc all having their own internal issues.
I wonder just how long he has been in the sights and the finger on the trigger waiting only for the most opportune moment.

[f6fhellcat13]

Obama's speech was incredibly well done, though I am sort of uncomfortable with grave dancing.

I saw this on the massive facebook status posting that has ensued and thought it apt.
“I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” —Mark Twain

I wish the best for the families of the victims of 9/11, and hope that this brings comfort, or at least closure, to them.

[zuzulo56]

[QUOTE=f6fhellcat13;966051]Obama's speech was incredibly well done, though I am sort of uncomfortable with grave dancing.

"Grave Dancing"?...as the Sheriff said to John Wayne, in "THE SHOOTIST": "After you're buried, what I'm going to do on your grave won't pass for flowers!" HAR-de-har-HAR! Ben-Laden, Burn in Hell (BIN)! (P.S.- I think it would proper and grande indeed, for everyone near a coast-line to venture there...and pee therein. Maybe at night, holding a candle.)

[LeonOfTheDead]

"Grave Dancing"?...as the Sheriff said to John Wayne, in "THE SHOOTIST": "After you're buried, what I'm going to do on your grave won't pass for flowers!" HAR-de-har-HAR! Ben-Laden, Burn in Hell (BIN)! (P.S.- I think it would proper and grande indeed, for everyone near a coast-line to venture there...and pee therein. Maybe at night, holding a candle.)

Good luck with that.

Muslim sand ninjas will be there to cut away your little precious...

[ScionDriver]

It's a big deal, no doubt but it raises a lot of issues too.

Americans are already questioning Pakistan's role in Osama being there, throughout our whole "war on terror" thing Pakistan has kind of flip-flopped on whether or not it is a true ally and towed the line between friend or foe. There is no doubt though that we probably couldn't have done it without them.

It is wonderful to see though, for at least one night, Americans getting out and showing their pride and peacefully honoring the vets and countless others who have given their lives in this and the people who died to bring it to this.

This is by no means a victory though but I hope it draws down the bloodshed and that the wars end soon enough.

[VOGUE_MAN]

I am certainly glad he's been stopped but I suppose this is a situation where the world might have finished another chapter, but there's still the rest of the book to read.

At this point I find myself more concerned with retaliation that might occur over the coming days or weeks etc than I am satisfied that bin Laden's reign has come to an end.

[henk4]

In Pakistan and in the vicinity of the capital. The Pakistan Government has something to explain.

[Dino Scuderia]

In Pakistan and in the vicinity of the capital. The Pakistan Government has something to explain.

Given that ISI helped Al Qaeda and the Taliban to fight American troops in 2001-2002... I'd say Pakistan had little consideration coming. More than that ISI undoubtedly knew where this clown was, and had the expertise to have seized him and delivered him up.

[Wouter Melissen]

At this point I find myself more concerned with retaliation that might occur over the coming days or weeks etc than I am satisfied that bin Laden's reign has come to an end.

No worries, Al Quaida, along with Donald Trump apparently, have already denied it was Bin Laden. I also want to see the death certificate first!

[henk4]

No worries, Al Quaida, along with Donald Trump apparently, have already denied it was Bin Laden. I also want to see the death certificate first!

likely to be issued on Hawaii.

[RacingManiac]

No worries, Al Quaida, along with Donald Trump apparently, have already denied it was Bin Laden. I also want to see the death certificate first!

A long form version, no less...

[Dino Scuderia]

Give it 15 minutes and a new, scary boogie man will be created for the American public to be frightened of.

Before 9/11 I thought OBL was a joke, that he was just a made up 'boogie man' used for a label to put on the various attacks to make the Intel operations appear to know something about what they were doing.

When it was learned that OBL was responsible for planning the 9/11 attacks I felt stupid for doubting, but at the same time I felt our various agencies had been vindicated.

This American doesn't want a 'boogie man', this American doesn't need a 'boogie man'. I don't think this American is alone in this realization nor do I think I was alone in my thoughts of OBL prior to 9/11.

9/11 changed America in many ways that most of us don't like, we don't like the paranoia, we don't like the encroachment on our freedoms.

I'm hoping we can deal with future threats and 'boogie men' in a more practical manner and I believe we will provided we keep hardcore religious rightwingers out of the WH. At the same time a lot of us will not blow off the idea that next OBL is already out there planning....so when we hear a name connected to any attack we will take it more seriously.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Before 9/11 I thought OBL was a joke, that he was just a made up 'boogie man' used for a label to put on the various attacks to make the Intel operations appear to know something about what they were doing.

When it was learned that OBL was responsible for planning the 9/11 attacks I felt stupid for doubting, but at the same time I felt our various agencies had been vindicated.

This American doesn't want a 'boogie man', this American doesn't need a 'boogie man'. I don't think this American is alone in this realization nor do I think I was alone in my thoughts of OBL prior to 9/11.

9/11 changed America in many ways that most of us don't like, we don't like the paranoia, we don't like the encroachment on our freedoms.

I'm hoping we can deal with future threats and 'boogie men' in a more practical manner and I believe we will provided we keep hardcore religious rightwingers out of the WH. At the same time a lot of us will not blow off the idea that next OBL is already out there planning....so when we hear a name connected to any attack we will take it more seriously.

I perhaps should be clearer in my response.

The American psyche may not need a 'boogie man', in this case someone who's mere name conjurs up images of unimaginable hatred and, more importantly to the purposes of my argument, patriotism.

Who needs boogie men? the powerful and the political. By having an enemy with which you can spew rhetoric and bluster at, you, if only for a moment, take the heat off yourself and point it towards something that can collectively unite the peoples in a common base emotion - fear. And finally, when your grizzly work is done, people congratulate you, celebrate their own small victories, and the cycle continues.

Forgive me for being somewhat disingenuous (I have had the fortune in my time to meet some survivors of the Pentagon attack) but the celebratory scenes of drunken students and 'patriotic' individuals dancing in the streets celebrating the death of one man is eerily reminiscent of those scenes you'd see in some unfriendly countries following...oh, say September 11?

Bin Laden was, by all accounts, not a very nice man. But he certainly wasn't this Goliath the Media, Political pundits and indeed some politicians believe him to be. Terrorist cells are more like Octopi - and they've cut off a tentacle that hasn't been effectively used in a long time.

I hate to bear bad news (perhaps I'm trolled, if so, good work) but that quote isn't a MLK quote, Matra.

I'll quote Margaret Thatcher here (perhaps not the best, but the most appropriate):

We must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend

The best revenge is a life lived well.

[zuzulo56]

No worries, Al Quaida, along with Donald Trump apparently, have already denied it was Bin Laden. I also want to see the death certificate first!

The very self-same sentiment many on your continent had after Hitler's demise...and, probably, of the ancient Greeks after Alex The Great left the stage. Doubt, indeed, can become a powerful human frailty...that we needs guard against, what?
HERE'S THE FINE LADS WHO OFFED "BINNIE"!: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7SrvzIG32k"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7SrvzIG32k[/ame]

[thebrochureman]

I'm glad i just hope it doesn't cause back lash.