Bin Laden is dead

[Aictos]

Burial at sea was the wrong thing to do though since it will prove impossible to verify whether or not he's dead.

Why was it wrong, I think the best possible way to dispose of the body was at sea. You name one country willing to accept his remains to be buried by his family and have it turned into a shrine for hardcore followers.

Yes they could have dug this terrorist a unmarked grave however there is every risk that the grave could be discovered and the remains exhumed for burial in some shrine.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

So William and Kate ask for a weekend of privacy, and then Saturday evening Gadaffi's son is taken out, and Monday morning Bin Laden is taken out. Hmm....

 

[Darandio]

So William and Kate ask for a weekend of privacy, and then Saturday evening Gadaffi's son is taken out, and Monday morning Bin Laden is taken out. Hmm....

Her first official engagement as a royal was as a covert agent!

 

[wintonian]

Trying to extract state secrets out William?

 

[seagull]

Donald Trump is saying that it hasn't really happened - he is demanding to see the Death Certificate

Hehe, that's funny

Interesting few weeks or months ahead I suspect though, let's hope the worst predictions of revenge attacks don't come true.

 

[justinsteam]

The world has been rid of a terrorist.

 

[WestCoast]

The world has been rid of a terrorist.

Yes, but the that's one terrorist - he may be a symbolic figure but in the short term at least, the problem will not go away by any means. Quite the opposite, they will want revenge...

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The biggest risk of a retaliation attack is surely less likely to be from the formal AQ cells than it is from unknown individuals acting off their own bat?

Most of the former will be pretty much known or suspected to the authorities and would generate enough electronic chatter that it would be obvious if something was imminent.

With the latter, they are very likely to be unknown and unsuspected and because they would not be communicating heavily there would be less chance of detecting them through signals intelligence.

 

[justinsteam]

Yes, but the that's one terrorist - he may be a symbolic figure but in the short term at least, the problem will not go away by any means. Quite the opposite, they will want revenge...

Only time will tell what will happen in the long term.

 

[HST Power]

Well what we need to remember is that just because Bin Laden is dead (forget the conspiracy theories) it doesn't mean that Al-Qaeda will cease to operate. Moreover, they will want revenge. It is said that Bin Laden was merely on the side lines for a lot of Al-Qaeda's operations, and there will doubtlessly be many potential candidates all too willing to step into his shoes and show the world that Al-Qaeda are still out there, still fighting and still prepared to battle against the West from interfering in the Middle East.

 

[passmore]

Only time will tell what will happen in the long term.

Agreed, but I suspect the long-term isn't in the mindset of many of the key world leaders. Worries about short-term retaliatory strikes seem to be prevalent in the minds of many so far.
Just because Bin Laden is dead doesn't mean the ideology upon which Al Qaeda is founded is dead. You can kill a man but not an idea. The root causes of why young, disaffected Muslims turn to extremism remain, in spite of Bin Laden's death.

 

[Kneedown]

Generally, to be able to have any influence in Pakistan, we need to show our support the them. Obviously the jury is out there as to whether the authorities are really against terrorism, and also wanted Bin Laden dead, but we've got much more chance of having the authorities on our side against terrorism if we're contributing.

Sounds a bit like a protection racket to me.
I can see it now, Cameron and Clegg take over the old Queen Vic.
In walks Mustapha-Al-Kray:- "Nice boozer, be a shame if anything happened to it, 2 grand a week and it won't!"
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Monday morning Bin Laden is taken out. Hmm....

Thought you weren't supposed to take out the Bin's on a Bank Holiday?

<gets coat and hat>

 

[HST Power]

Thought you weren't supposed to take out the Bin's on a Bank Holiday?

<gets coat and hat>

No need for the coat, it's a good joke! Was all over the office yesterday, and I couldn't hide my smile, I'll admit!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

One I've seen today:

The Americans have just admitted they have made a terrible mistake; the DNA results came back and it appears the man they shot was not Bin Laden at all. It was Lord Lucan...

 

[strange6]

One I've seen today:

The Americans have just admitted they have made a terrible mistake; the DNA results came back and it appears the man they shot was not Bin Laden at all. It was Lord Lucan...

hahahaha Nice one

 

[cantosis]

Something smells fishy about this whole thing to me

 

[43106]

Osama Bin Laden (OBL) may be dead, but Al Qaeda is still on the go. Since 11/9/2001 (I can't call it 9-11, cos the USA don't know how to write dates properly), Bin Laden kept his head down, so he wasn't a threat - he just let his supporters get on with it (e.g. Bali, Madrid, USS Cole, 7/7).
I question the legality of the US effectively invading Pakistan to knock off OBL. Although he may be out of the front-line, he could have been questioned (and by that I DO NOT mean tortured). His deliberate execution (and that's what it was) was unneeded and unnecessary. I can understand burying the body at sea, so that his burial site can't be used as a symbolic focal point. I understand that a Moslem burial service was carried out prior to dumping the body in the sea, but I think that Moslem tradition forbids burial at sea - perhaps someone could clarify this.
The reaction of the US public was shameful, regardless of whether it was stage-managed or spontaneous. The world, quite rightly, criticised Iran when they danced in the street immediately after 11/9/01. Similarly, the US public should have restrained their 'celebrations', which may inflame the situation.

 

[ainsworth74]

Bin Laden kept his head down, so he wasn't a threat - he just let his supporters get on with it (e.g. Bali, Madrid, USS Cole, 7/7).

The attack on the USS Cole was carried out before 9/11.

I understand that a Moslem burial service was carried out prior to dumping the body in the sea, but I think that Moslem tradition forbids burial at sea - perhaps someone could clarify this.

As far as I can tell its a bit of grey area. Burial at sea is not strictly forbidden under Muslim law, however it would not normally be carried out unless the person had died at sea.

 

[HST Power]

As far as I can tell its a bit of grey area. Burial at sea is not strictly forbidden under Muslim law, however it would not normally be carried out unless the person had died at sea.

That is correct.

I can also now confirm that the White House are not going to release the photographs of Bin Laden.

I agree with this decision.

 

[1V53]

There have been some quite gruesome photos released of other victims as shown on the Guardian website today though

 

[HST Power]

There have been some quite gruesome photos released of other victims as shown on the Guardian website today though

I just saw them on my Iphone.

How is it that those photographs were released?

 

[1V53]

I just saw them on my Iphone.

How is it that those photographs were released?

It does seem perverse if they wont release Bin Laden photos but release those of the other victims?

 

[185]

The nasty vicious tyrant has gone!



So who will be Moir Lockhead's replacement?

 

[jon0844]

(I can't call it 9-11, cos the USA don't know how to write dates properly)

The international method of writing dates is year, month, day, just like you write hours, minutes and seconds.

So you can call it 9/11 and wonder we don't do it properly (and both of us still put the year last!)

 

[thefab444]

I quite like the year-month-day method myself, but day-month-year is adequate as at least they are in order of sorts. Month-day-year is completely unacceptable.

 

[Oswyntail]

I quite like the year-month-day method myself, but day-month-year is adequate as at least they are in order of sorts. Month-day-year is completely unacceptable.

Wonderfully off-topic I know, but the YYYYMMDD format is the easiest on which to sort chronologically dates in a computer.

 

[jon0844]

At least 'our' 7/7 is universal!

 

[SS4]

Wonderfully off-topic I know, but the YYYYMMDD format is the easiest on which to sort chronologically dates in a computer.

Agreed.

file-YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS.ext

for example (although seconds are probably unnecessary as are hours and minutes if you back up less frequently than daily although you'd think windows would be case sensitive :roll: but I digress)

I still think Obama is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't release the photos. I think he should personally because it reeks of censorship
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

At least 'our' 7/7 is universal!

Still rather we didn't have it even though that's not your point. I don't like calling it 7/7 simply because of the implied reference to 9/11 which, to be fair, was in a different league - more Britons died in 9/11 than 7/7

 

[jon0844]

I'd much rather we didn't have 9/11 or 7/7 (or indeed the failed 7/21 or 21/7) but I accept that these are now how they're referred to - and people know the significance.

9/11 happened in the USA, so they can call it 9/11 and we can respect that. I'm sure that if July 7th had happened on July 6th, they'd have accepted it as being called 6/7. Well, maybe not Fox...

 

[HST Power]

It does seem perverse if they wont release Bin Laden photos but release those of the other victims?

It most certainly does. And the Bin Laden compound is now a tourist attraction in Pakistan, with families heading out their to take photos and have an afternoon picnic.