Various sources: Osama bin Laden is dead. (Merged)

[Ruff Stuff]

sounds like your desire to see these images is simply some combination of morbid curiosity and desire for vengeance.

and i am pretty sure the terrorists did not win this round, even if you don't eventually get to pump your fist at a bloody corpse.

I don't get this self analyzation argument. Like I'm suppose to look within myself, see the evil and barbarism in my wishes, and repent?

Yes its morbid, yes I'm curious to what the photos look like, and yes I have a desire for vengeance which will come full circle when I see his ugly dead mug.

And look, I know Killing OBL is a win for us, but we have gone through a hell of a lot of trouble, i.e., the burial and this decision not to release the photos(don't kid yourselves this has nothing to do with not wanting americans to see a graphic image. ewwww braaaaains!).

We are obviously very afraid of the backlash. While I don't believe in dragging his corpse through New York by a horse, I don't think we should be so damn sensitive to a group that already wants nothing more than to see us perish.

To those of you who don't want to see the pics, thats fine, I can respect that. But those of us who want to see them should be given the same respect.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

I'm 100% certain now that this was a straight assassination mission. Surrender was not an option. I was just reading something about his wife. They entered the room, she rushed them, they shot her in the leg and disabled her (non-serious injury) and then they shoot him in the chest and the head, while he is unarmed.

I have no problem with it. I just think it's interesting. I continue to be amazed at how cleanly this all went down. The only hiccup was the helicopter going down and they actually planned for that. Normally military operations have all types of **** ups. They nailed this.

[Popeman38]

Osama's final Facebook update:

[greenspandan]

I don't know. Join twitter and ask him youself. I want proof.

if what you really want is proof, then a photo doesn't help in this age. if they're lying about killing him, then why wouldn't they just fake a photo?

what do you really want?

i agree wholeheartedly with this:

“Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the Internet,” said Representative Mike Rogers, Republican of Michigan and chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. “Osama bin Laden is not a trophy. He is dead, and let’s now focus on continuing the fight until Al Qaeda has been eliminated.”

[Madison Redskin]

I'm 100% certain now that this was a straight assassination mission. Surrender was not an option. I was just reading something about his wife. They entered the room, she rushed them, they shot her in the leg and disabled her (non-serious injury) and then they shoot him in the chest and the head, while he is unarmed.

I have no problem with it. I just think it's interesting. I continue to be amazed at how cleanly this all went down. The only hiccup was the helicopter going down and they actually planned for that. Normally military operations have all types of **** ups. They nailed this.

Now that's a conspiracy theory that I think is quite plausible. In fact, I tend to think the SEALs were given "kill, no capture" orders. Could I be wrong? Sure. Do I have a lot of evidence to backup my gut feeling? Nope.

[Homercles82]

I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment that it was ok to show countless times the destruction of the WTC, people jumping to their deaths, Saddam Hussein's hanging multiple times, from multiple angles, Uday and Qusay's battered bodies, but this is not something to show?

[Tulane Skins Fan]

I'm 100% certain now that this was a straight assassination mission. Surrender was not an option. I was just reading something about his wife. They entered the room, she rushed them, they shot her in the leg and disabled her (non-serious injury) and then they shoot him in the chest and the head, while he is unarmed.

I have no problem with it. I just think it's interesting. I continue to be amazed at how cleanly this all went down. The only hiccup was the helicopter going down and they actually planned for that. Normally military operations have all types of **** ups. They nailed this.

Whether he's armed or not, you have to assume he is capable of killing you. You're talking about the most dangerous man alive, who endorses suicide bombings among other things. If they came in, told him to "freeze," and he so much as ran into another room, those SEALs need to assume he's making some attempt to kill them. I don't think they could have given him even an inch. Its "down on the ground, now" or else you shoot him... for their own safety.

[greenspandan]

I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment that it was ok to show countless times the destruction of the WTC, people jumping to their deaths, Saddam Hussein's hanging multiple times, from multiple angles, Uday and Qusay's battered bodies, but this is not something to show?

i don't see the connection between those things and this -- except for the hussein hanging, which was NOT the US Government, and was a pretty gross and barbaric eventuality anyway. i thought the idea was that we were defending something better than the violent jihadists.

[DarrellsMyHero28]

I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment that it was ok to show countless times the destruction of the WTC, people jumping to their deaths, Saddam Hussein's hanging multiple times, from multiple angles, Uday and Qusay's battered bodies, but this is not something to show?

The WTC photos/videos were not from the government.

Neither was Sadaam.

The pics from Uday/Qusay caused a pretty big uproar.

OBL is dead. Seriously, he's dead.

[Elessar78]

What IF each major news outlet just sends a representatitve to report that there is a photo?

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Whether he's armed or not, you have to assume he is capable of killing you. You're talking about the most dangerous man alive, who endorses suicide bombings among other things. If they came in, told him to "freeze," and he so much as ran into another room, those SEALs need to assume he's making some attempt to kill them. I don't think they could have given him even an inch. Its "down on the ground, now" or else you shoot him... for their own safety.

Couldn't you say the same about his wife? I mean it's not like female suicide bombers are uncommon. Yet they only disabled her with a leg shot.

I'm actually more impressed if it was an assassination mission.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

What IF each major news outlet just sends a representatitve to report that there is a photo?

I would suspect that some Congressman, from both GOP and DEM, will be given access to these photos.

---------- Post added May-4th-2011 at 02:43 PM ----------

Couldn't you say the same about his wife? I mean it's not like female suicide bombers are uncommon. Yet they only disabled her with a leg shot.

I'm actually more impressed if it was an assassination mission.

You're asking for details that neither of us have. For all we know she was shot in the leg and then bound and pulled out of the house in an instant, wherein OBL may have run... we just don't have those details, you and I. But, I think its fair for the SEALs to have assumed the worst with him.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

The pics from Uday/Qusay caused a pretty big uproar.

And were released under a different administration.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I think this just - again - reflects Obama's personality. He is not going to "prove" something to doubters who simply cannot be swayed. If he makes a statement and offers the proof necessary to support that statement, that's the end of it. He's not going to play an endless game of reflection and discussion.

For all the talk of his being a neo-colonial, modern, progressive, Marxist usurper...what he really behaves like is a 19th Century Patrician. He doesn't feel he owes the public anything. W had a little bit of that in him, but nothing like this.

---------- Post added May-4th-2011 at 01:45 PM ----------

The WTC photos/videos were not from the government.

Neither was Sadaam.

The pics from Uday/Qusay caused a pretty big uproar.

OBL is dead. Seriously, he's dead.

I saw no need for the Uday/Qusay photos.

I find all photos of dead bodies to look like movie props. Once the life force is out of a body, it just looks like a bunch of plaster to me.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

You're asking for details that neither of us have. For all we know she was shot in the leg and then bound and pulled out of the house in an instant, wherein OBL may have run... we just don't have those details, you and I. But, I think its fair for the SEALs to have assumed the worst with him.

I'm not asking for any details. I'm using the details we have and making what I think to be is a pretty fair assumption.

They enter the room, the wife rushes them. They shoot the wife in the leg and disable her with a non-serious injury. Osama is unarmed and they shoot him twice, once in the chest and once in they head.

If they were that concerned for their lives, they would have killed the wife in an instant, like the Russians do with the Chechen female suicide bombers. They didn't shoot her in the leg because they missed. And I think they didn't shoot Osama in the leg and disable him in the same fashion because they weren't there to disable him. They were there to kill him.

And really, as I said, I'm more impressed. They really thought this thing through to the bones. Having a Prisoner Osama would be a nightmare.

[DarrellsMyHero28]

And were released under a different administration.

Yep.

I think this just - again - reflects Obama's personality. He is not going to "prove" something to doubters who simply cannot be swayed. If he makes a statement and offers the proof necessary to support that statement' date=' that's the end of it. He's not going to play an endless game of reflection and discussion.

For all the talk of his being a neo-colonial, modern, progressive, Marxist usurper...what he really behaves like is a 19th Century Patrician. He doesn't feel he owes the public anything. W had a little bit of that in him, but nothing like this.

---------- Post added May-4th-2011 at 01:45 PM ----------

I saw no need for the Uday/Qusay photos.

I find all photos of dead bodies to look like movie props. Once the life force is out of a body, it just looks like a bunch of plaster to me.

Well, he was swayed on the birth certificate issue.

And I agree, the Uday/Qusay photos were unnecessary. There was no reason to release them whatsoever. I think with something like this, there could be reasons to release OBL's photos. However, because I'm a rational human being, I don't really care.

[Dan T.]

I saw no need for the Uday/Qusay photos.

Those two were brutal, and they scared the crap out of everyday Iraqis. They held power over the Iraqi people through fear and intimidation, bolstered by a huge network of informants and tattlers throughout Iraqi society. They were ubiquitous boogey men that haunted the people of Iraq. They killed people for petty reasons, and raped brides on their wedding days because they could. The Iraqi people had to be convinced those two thugs were really gone.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Those two were brutal, and they scared the crap out of everyday Iraqis. They held power over the Iraqi people through fear and intimidation, bolstered by a huge network of informants and tattlers throughout Iraqi society. They were ubiquitous boogey men that haunted the people of Iraq. They killed people for petty reasons, and raped brides on their wedding days because they could. The Iraqi people had to be convinced those two thugs were really gone.

I've heard that argument and it's never persuaded me. If people are so afraid of them to doubt that they are really dead, how does releasing death photos where they are nearly unrecognizable help?

[Dan T.]

Interesting tidbit from a NYT article today:

"...after members of the Navy Seals shot and killed Bin Laden, they found that he had money — 500 euros (about $746) — and two telephone numbers sewn into his robes. That suggested that Bin Laden had an escape plan, which he was not able to carry out when American helicopters landed in the compound."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/us/politics/05binladen.html

[Stadium-Armory]

From that same ^^ NYT article:

“Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the Internet,” said Representative Mike Rogers, Republican of Michigan and chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. “Osama bin Laden is not a trophy. He is dead, and let’s now focus on continuing the fight until Al Qaeda has been eliminated.”

Representative Rogers makes a lot of sense.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Sarah Palin apparently thinks that we need to put Bin Laden's head on a pike on a South Lawn.

SarahPalinUSA Sarah Palin

Show photo as warning to others seeking America's destruction. No *****-footing around, no politicking, no drama;it's part of the mission.

I've figured out why she is so popular in online conservative forums. It's because she talks like someone who post anonymously online.

[MattFancy]

Sarah Palin apparently thinks that we need to put Bin Laden's head on a pike on a South Lawn.

I've figured out why she is so popular in online conservative forums. It's because she talks like someone who post anonymously online.

Wow did she really say that?

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Wow did she really say that?

Not explicitly. What I quoted was her Twitter feed. She wants to posts the pictures as some kind of warning.

To me, that's a modern way of saying, "Send his limbs to the four corners of England....."

[greenspandan]

sounds like something a terrorist would do.

[Stadium-Armory]

E-Thug: Because talking smack face to face can be dangerous.