Bin Laden is dead

[bobt]

Not sure how many of you tune into the news, but Bin Laden has been killed.

I guess we now await his replacement, nothing much is likely to change except the head. Everyone will continue fighting and blaming each other nonetheless.

[Bear Dale]

I'm for one am glad.

[ElectricImages]

My friends on Facebook are currently soliciting song suggestions for his funeral. So far, they have:

Every breathe you take - The Police
Where'd you go? - Fort Minor
Boom Boom Pow - BEP
Bang Bang (he shot me down) - Nancy Sinatra
One way or Another - Blondie
Boom! (shake the room) - by Will Smith

:p

[Kym]

Mods emotive topic warning: Keep on topic, do not get personal or 7 day bans will be dished out without warning.

It's a good thing he was brought to justice, but he used a woman as a human shield and she was killed. That sums up what I think of OBL.

There are a lot of possible ramifications from extremists. Psychologically it is a good thing.

[peterb666]

Well he is dead, but I would call it a far cry from being brought to justice.

I doubt that it changes anything other than making Bin Laden a martyr. Al Qaeda is still there as a are large number of other loonie tune mobs.

[colinbm]

Little to celebrate really :confused013
He was trained for this roll by the USA anyway :o
Col

[BecM]

I agree Kym, psychologically it is a good thing especially for every single person who lost somebody on September 11. Apparently hundreds of people are gathering at the site of the WTC.

There are/will be people that are just as bad as him out there but today it's the news of his death that matters. I had not heard that he used a woman as his shield :(

[Scotty72]

Well, it is welcome relief that ObLis dead but, I think the awful image of Americans dancing in the street is over-the-top and will probably only serve the cause of those wishing to stir-up the gullible to be sucide bombers... and so the cycle will go on.

Certainly, breathe a sigh of relief but, wild celebration only fuels the fire.

Scotty

[Kerro]

OBL maybe dead but nothing will change.

[Kym]

wild celebration only fuels the fire

I tend to agree, but maybe there will be a bit of venting (much the same as extremists celebrating US disasters),
but then hopefully it may open up a more sane dialogue? We can but hope.

[mrDooba]

Does anyone have a link to his most recent portrait ;)

[colinbm]

Does anyone have a link to his most recent portrait ;)

With a hole in his head :eek: Why :confused013
Col

[Scotty72]

I tend to agree, but maybe there will be a bit of venting (much the same as extremists celebrating US disasters),
but then hopefully it may open up a more sane dialogue? We can but hope.

That is my point. Remember the sense of outrage we felt when we saw images of people dancing in the streets over the various terrorist attacks. Why is it any less outrageous that we dance. Even more than that, how many young Muslims may see the US celebrations and be spurred to take up arms?

This war's end is the start of the next :(

[Bennymiata]

The real problem is that there are now dozens of them wanting to take his place, and each of those will be very happy to show us how much tougher they are than Osama was.

I'm surprised that the story wasn't broken by Al Jahzira a week or so ago.

I also find it strange that it took them 10 years to find a 6'4" skinny guy that needs dialisis 3 times a week.
These types are certainly NOT common over there.

[Bear Dale]

Those Navy Seal guys sure do have an extra set.

[Bear Dale]

Does anyone have a link to his most recent portrait ;)

The official FBI/CIA photoshop -


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5678259983_07405502d3_o.jpg

[peterb666]

The official FBI/CIA photoshop -


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5678259983_07405502d3_o.jpg

Pretty unflattering photos. Certainly wasn't taken by anyone on AusPhotography. I mean the white balance is all wrong in the later photo, and that square to the camera framing just makes his nose look gigantic. At least there is a nice neutral background to it. I wonder if the photographer considered using soft focus?

[Photophil2010]

Thanks Peter for showing us the funny side of this. :D

[kiwi]

Channel 9 actually showed the death shot on the news which I was very surprised by.

I say good riddance, shame that al queda's #2 in charge is even more fanatical

[ving]

Oh uncle Osama! what have the infidels done to you! :p

in all seriousness. is the world a better place? yes... but there are so many bin ladens out there that one less wont make much of a dent... dont you think his terrorist cell will replace him.
*sigh*
its a twisted world we live in.

[mrDooba]

With a hole in his head :eek: Why :confused013
Col

I like the nitty gritty details.

[colinbm]

I like the nitty gritty details.
Blood & gore :o
Col

[41jas]

OBL maybe dead but nothing will change.

We could only hope so.

[kiwi]

Obl now sleeps with the fishes.

[kiwi]

Death photo

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/media/blogs/blog/9/osama_bin_laden_dead0001_66.jpg

[peterb666]

Death photo

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/media/blogs/blog/9/osama_bin_laden_dead0001_66.jpg

That photo is even worse than the one above.

[mrDooba]

Blood & gore :o
Col


Something like that ;)

[mrDooba]

Death photo

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/media/blogs/blog/9/osama_bin_laden_dead0001_66.jpg


Thanks for that. I used your clue about 9 showing the photo so I found their news report on their website.
He looks a bit worse for wear!

[Bear Dale]

Elton John is playing at Bin Ladens funeral.. he is playing Sandals in the Bin.

[triptych]

Elton John is playing at Bin Ladens funeral.. he is playing Sandals in the Bin.

Too funny! LMAO

[AmyK]

I'm glad they finally got him, but I don't think it's going to 'automatically fix' the world's problems. Sure it's probably a good, symbolic thing, to further inflate the ego's of the Americans; but it's not going to fix things overnight. There is always going to be another successor, some other looney with radical ideas of the world and it's workings.

As for Osama and his death, I wish they'd got him alive and questioned him, and then made him rot in jail. Death was too much of an easy way out.

[Kym]

Those photos are a fake mashup. There is a BBC report showing the two images used to make the fake.
No photo's of a dead OBL have been published.

[Patagonia]

Regardless of who´s the one that was killed I like to point out some word of the so called Most Important Person in the World:

"the world is a better place after he was killed"
? sorry Mr Obama, the world becomes a worse place when a man kills an other man, there cannot be another interpretation to that and the phrase shows we do not understand nothing and that we have not advanced a bit since the caveman ages...its hopeless of any improvement as mind kind.

regards

[Bear Dale]

Regardless of who´s the one that was killed I like to point out some word of the so called Most Important Person in the World:

"the world is a better place after he was killed"
? sorry Mr Obama, the world becomes a worse place when a man kills an other man, there cannot be another interpretation to that and the phrase shows we do not understand nothing and that we have not advanced a bit since the caveman ages...its hopeless of any improvement as mind kind.

regards

I think it's a better place without Osama Bin Laden.

[ElectricImages]

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that"
-- Martin Luther King

[ving]

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that"
-- Martin Luther Kinga truer word has never been said. for those who rejoyced his death and said karma finally caught up with him... I try to think of karma as a 2 way street....
horrid and evil people like osama tend to bring out the mob mentality in people and we get to see everyones worst side. its a bit sad really. I dont think the death of anyone, no matter how bad they are is a reason to throw a party.

*sigh*

but the world is better for his absence...

[Rattus79]

They say that DNA testing has been done to identify him, but is it just me or does DNA testing take up to 3 weeks for the cultures to ... well, culture??

[ElectricImages]

They say that DNA testing has been done to identify him, but is it just me or does DNA testing take up to 3 weeks for the cultures to ... well, culture??

No. It takes time to replicate, if you only have a very small sample to work from. But if they had his whole body, there would be ample tissue to sample. :p

[Rattus79]

but you could't do it overnight?

Ok, I did some googling, and aparantly it can be pushed to 72 hours.

[Kym]

but you could't do it overnight?

Once the have a usable sample basic it only takes and hour or so for the machine to produce a matching chart (key marker tests, not a full DNA breakdown).

Here in SA they DNA tested all of the prison population 3 or 4 year ago and cleared a backlog of unsolved cases.
I know someone in Forensic Science who did a presentation on it.

[Dylan & Marianne]

I wonder what this death will achieve
Sure it's symbolic for misgivings of the past
Perhaps it might have the negative effect of inspiring reprisal
Personally ,I'm not sure how I feel about his death apart from wariness and a sense of forboding of what's to come

[colinbm]

They can chop off an octopus's tentacle, but you still have an octopus :confused013
Col

[Scotty72]

I find it sad that anyone can rejoice the deliberate assassination of a human being.

No doubt, he probably was one of the most horrible criminals of all time but, to take pleasure in death shows a complete disregard for humanity.

I can accept that perhaps the military had no choice if he fought back but, better for the human race would have been to take him to trial and allow the world to seek justice.

Revenge killing and the celebration of it just takes us back to the stone-age. :(

[Bear Dale]

I find it sad that anyone can rejoice the deliberate assassination of a human being.

No doubt, he probably was one of the most horrible criminals of all time but, to take pleasure in death shows a complete disregard for humanity.

I can accept that perhaps the military had no choice if he fought back but, better for the human race would have been to take him to trial and allow the world to seek justice.

Revenge killing and the celebration of it just takes us back to the stone-age. :(

Ug Ug ............ Just call me Fred Flinstone then.

[Kym]

Most Americans I know are quite sober about this and are glad he's gone but still remember those who were killed.

We need to remember the innocent Aussies and others killed in 9/11, Bali 2002 and other terrorist incidents.

[Scotty72]

Most Americans I know are quite sober about this and are glad he's gone but still remember those who were killed.

We need to remember the innocent Aussies and others killed in 9/11, Bali 2002 and other terrorist incidents.

Of course but, do we, in a civilised society, allowed the aggrieved to go around extracting brutal revenge.

It is a very fine line between a civil society and anarchy; sometimes, we dance very close to that line.

[Kym]

Of course but, do we, in a civilised society, allowed the aggrieved to go around extracting brutal revenge.

We don't and Obama did not, he sent a small team in to capture OBL and when OBL fought back he died. It would have been safer to bomb the place with a drone.

[pollen]

Yes it's quite sad that a lot of people are celebrating over death

Good riddance if he was what they said he was, though it's impossible to not draw parallels between Osama and Goldstein from 1984

[peterb666]

Of course but, do we, in a civilised society, allowed the aggrieved to go around extracting brutal revenge.

It is a very fine line between a civil society and anarchy; sometimes, we dance very close to that line.

I don't think we have a very civilised society. We just have pockets of civilisation here and there. We are quite lucky in Australia and I am glad I live here rather than many other spots in the world. Animals kill because they need to. People take it to a much lower level.

I don't support killing but the outcome was inevitable. Look at what happened to the former leader of Iraq. Wether it was an assassination or not, the end result is the same but with slightly less of a circus performance in-between.

[Bennymiata]

Personally, I was disgusted at the throngs of cheering "people" in the USA that we saw on various news broadcasts.
If they would have had the body, I'm sure they would have taken great delight in dragging it through the streets like they did in Lebanon when the captured and killed the Israeli soldiers.

It seems they aren't much better in the US than in uncivilised countries. :(

While his death may be celebrated in the west, the fact is that his home is now a shrine to terrorists and Usama is now a matyr for their cause, with many more to try and follow in his footsteps.

Latest reports are saying he wasn't even armed, although the US soldiers were under heavy gunfire, so why didn't they just capture him instead of making him a matyr?

[Kym]

Latest reports are saying he wasn't even armed, although the US soldiers were under heavy gunfire, so why didn't they just capture him instead of making him a matyr?

I'm guessing you have no military training. If you're under fire you shoot back.

I'd be surprised if he were not armed, and if he were then those around him certainly were not and in the middle of a firefight you shoot first.
Also if unarmed it did not mean he did not resist.
In the end it matters little given the scenario of an heavily armed compound.

Being totally pragmatic, capture was probably never a viable option.

[Kym]

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/anatomy-of-a-fake-quotation/238257/

MLK mis-quote fixed...


“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr

The first sentence was not MLK

[JM Tran]

I'm guessing you have no military training. If you're under fire you shoot back.

I'd be surprised if he were not armed, and if he were then those around him certainly were not and in the middle of a firefight you shoot first.
Also if unarmed it did not mean he did not resist.
In the end it matters little given the scenario of an heavily armed compound.

Being totally pragmatic, capture was probably never a viable option.

No switch or option for 'set phasers to stun' on those assault weapons I'm afraid:D:D:D

[Scotty72]

Americans are now slowly being caught out in their own spin...

This, it seems, was never about truth, justice and the American way... it was clearly a cold-blooded hit.

I guess no American will ever face court over this.

It seems international (or even US) law doesn't apply to the USA.

Scotty

[zollo]

pfft right or wrong the quotes 'you live by the sword, you die by the sword' or 'play with (gun)fire, you'll get burned' comes to mind. binLaden would have known that with navy seal hunting him it was only a matter of time.

[William]

I should'nt even reply to this thread , Dead , Gone , And who cares , Good riddence I reckon , Trouble is the retubutance we may get from his followers in the future , Glad I'm getting old and won't have to worry , I think about my Kids and the future :(

[soulman]

I'm guessing you have no military training. If you're under fire you shoot back.Soldiers are supposed to follow their Rules of Engagement, which do vary. Standard rules for marines include this:

Level 4: Assaultive (Bodily Harm). The subject may physically attack, but does not use a weapon. Use defensive tactics to neutralize the threat. Defensive tactics include Blocks, Strikes, Kicks, Enhanced pain compliance procedures, Impact weapon blocks and blows.With no disrespect to the soldiers, who are brave men that sometimes do gruesome things on our behalf, I'm sure they could have taken him alive had it been a command priority. It doesn't seem as though they wanted that, which I think is a great shame because he is far more powerful to the enemies of the US now than he would have been as a hateful old man rotting in a prison cell. They've missed a great opportunity - by not putting him on trial - to show Bin Laden to the world as the bitter & twisted mass murderer he was. Geoffrey Robertson sums it up pretty well (http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/bin-ladens-summary-execution-maketh-the-man-martyr-and-myth-20110503-1e6md.html) I think.


...it was clearly a cold-blooded hit...Robertson calls it a summary execution, which is very much what it looks like.

The way some people are celebrating it makes it very difficult to see the way in which they differ from those they profess such hatred toward. One of the big problems with ignoring your own laws when dealing with your enemies is that it disallows legitimate claim to any kind of moral high ground. Not that this minor issue seems to ever plague the seppos too much.

[pollen]

There is a lot of speculation that the primary special operations team involved was the (Name Classified) team formerly known as DEVGRU and before that, SEAL Team 6. The name keeps changing for security reasons but they are basically the best SEAL team

This (Name Classified) team is a Tier 1 US special operations unit (the other is Delta Force. Other SEAL teams are tier 2 special operations units) and are referred to as "Black operatives", i.e. their operations fall outside the scope of US and international law

If this speculation is correct, standard military rules of engagement do not apply - their orders likely came straight from the top as soulman describes above

And it's most probable that it was (Name Classified)/SEAL team 6 as this falls within their normal operational responsibilities (i.e. everything)

[Bally]

From a queenslander

It must be a hoax, everyone knows you can't take out a Bin on a public holiday

:cool:

[Chilli]

No offense to anyone but I don't find any of this funny. Obama was a criminal on a grand scale AND so is America. Killing is killing. It can be justified for me but not for you mentallity !
What is all the "in God we trust" and "God bless America" and stuff the rest of the world. Bombing everything and everyone. Who made them the world police ?
I am sickened to my stomach over this entire story and quiet frankly dont even beleive it.
Who wants to see a photo of a dead Osama ? anyway with the little knowledge I have of photoshop and digital editing, imagine what they can do with a photo with all their fancy equipment.


I hope i am not asking to be banned, it was not my intention and i hope i have not offended my forum members.

[colinbm]

............What is all the "in God we trust" and "God bless America" and stuff the rest of the world. Bombing everything and everyone. Who made them the world police ?...........

All too true Chilli.
The other side also says "in God we trust" and "God bless Islam etc"
God says "Peace on Earth" :confused013

Col

[kiwi]

Who made America the worlds police ? We did. thank goodness . The alternative is anarchy or fundamental Islam like Taliban (ever see how they used football stadiums?)

Why is Obama a criminal ? I dont get it

[Chilli]

Kiwi, apologies, I did edit my post to correct, I mean Osama not Obama.

[Scotty72]

Who made America the worlds police ? We did. thank goodness . The alternative is anarchy or fundamental Islam like Taliban (ever see how they used football stadiums?)

Why is Obama a criminal ? I dont get it

We also have police, we do not give them the right to summarily execute an unarmed suspect - no matter how hideous a suspect he is. And thank God we don't.

It has been pointed out that the US sent in its very top special forces unit. It is murderously ludicrous to suggest that an old, unarmed man with kidney disease posed a lethal threat to to a team of navy seals (who could almost kill you twice by blinking in your general direction).

The US at the order / full knowledge of Obama broke its own and international law. God I hope he gets tried Hague for this.

Otherwise, when the other side starts its retalitory summary executions of people who did not faced a court (I would be very nervous if I were a digger in the Middle East) - we will have little right to criticise when they start dancing in the streets. After all, they will have learned from our example.

I just hope some people are aware of their hypocracy when they fall victim to a system that ignores the rules when the bosses find the rules a bit inconvenient - and complain.

Our society has some highly disturbing elements to it.

[Scotty72]

If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge! If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge! The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.
Shylock - The Merchant of Venice

... and I fear, they will better our instruction. We have behaved disgracefully and are bound to pay the price.

400 years after Shakespeare's lessons, we have not learnt a damned thing.

Scotty :(

[colinbm]

I don't think USA is party to international law or is it the Geneva Convention ??
Col

[Kym]

This thread is about to go off the deep end.

The fact is OBL is dead, the US took him out. OBL's of this world help no-one. Was it the ideal way to get him? who knows, but we are better off without him.

[Kym]

PS: No one re-raise this topic! It won't end nicely.