Bin Laden dead
 

What ? No trial ?

Re: Bin Laden dead
 

No body either.

Identified through DNA 99.9% sure, then buried at sea.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/ar...rms-death?bn=1

Re: Bin Laden dead
 

So much for the judicial system then.

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You mean Guantanamo Bay?

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Ah yes, well said sir.

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The US govt. has stated that it was an assassination (not in those words).

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Save your tears, hand wringing, indignation for someone who matters.....justice, albeit 'Summary' in nature, long overdue, has been done.

Re: Bin Laden dead
 

Yep certainly looks that way.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories...-laden-110502/

Re: Bin Laden dead
 

Hmm, so, for the sake of argument, say Im a navy Seal sent to go get him, and I am facing a terrorist mastermind in his own compound. If the subject is putting up some resistance that might be a threat to my plans for later in the week that involve things like "breathing in and out", am I going to lose too much sleep over shooting the SOB dead before he does the same to me?

No, I dont think I am...

Did it happen that way? We will never know...

Burial at sea, an inspired way to maintain Muslim death traditions and rituals while avoiding a heap of political headaches, and removing the obvious dangers of a shrine appearing if he was buried. I just hope everything was documented and the information is available to all to limit the inevitable conspiracy theories.


Will his death change anything in terms of how Al-Qaeda operates? I guess we will see, but I doubt it. There are bound to be some revenge attacks though, and a high profile martyr wont hurt recruitment any...

What would a trial have acheived I wonder. In theory transparent justice is the way to go, but he did send a video out that left little doubt that he was behing the 9/11 attacks, so all it would do is provide a platform for more rhetoric, allow the muslim extremists to claim it was all a sham and the verdict was pre determined, and then end up with him dead anyway after 20 years of legal appeals. Just look at the farce surrounding the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

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Summary justice is always a bad thing. He should have been tried for murder. I think this sets a very bad precident. Although I'm glad he's dead, he's now a martyr.

Re: Bin Laden dead
 

did Bin Laden actually exist? I mean why not cremate his body after a public showing and then sell ash filled pendants for those who want them?

EDIT: i dont want one!

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You will have to wait for the movie to find out. Should be out shortly.

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Or fed him to the pigs....then sell the very exclusive 'Bin Laden' cured bacon....:cool:

EDIT....I don't want any!

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Agree with all of that. There will be more questions than answers though about how he was living in that place for so long undetected etc Also will this be for Obama what the Falklands was to Mrs T?

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Didnt the CIA or somesuch list the Pakistan joint intelligence agency as a pivotal part of Al-Qa'ida operations? Thats something Bob Fisk has been saying for years... that probably goes some way in explaining his living in suburbia rather than a mountain cave. Its not insignificant that the pakistan authorities were only informed of the operation after its completion.

Good for Obama? I suspect so. Not quite like a proper war though, and a terrorist backlash is to be anticipated I would guess. He needs the economy to bounce back though big time.

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/9...7854270128.jpg

Re: Bin Laden dead
 

I suspect that would have offended a vast number of Muslims around the world.

Islam categorically prohibits cremations, and Muslim tradition dictates that bodies are buried within 24 hours, so having him on show and then cremating him would have done far more harm than good in terms of the way the US is perceived by muslims around the world, and that after all is at the core of the battle for hearts and minds in this conflict.

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He's probably been protected for years by elements of the Pakistan security services. Its seems where he was living was the Pakistan equivalent of Sandhurst.

Time will tell I suspect that the bounce for Obama will be significant but the potential for backlashes is significant also. For Mrs T the economy was probably at it's lowest point at the time of the Falklands and it turned things around for her.

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Buried at sea or thrown out of a helicopter? (Ideally whilst still alive....)

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You missed the word "upwards" :sneaky:

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You are not the only one to speculate about this:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2006503/

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Had he been arrested, put on trial, found guilty and sentenced to death under the US legal system. it could have been years until sentence was carried out. It would have cost literally millions of dollars with, God only knows, all types of other problems arising. In this situation the soldiers may well have been ordered to assassinate him. The world is well rid of him.

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To paraphrase John Wayne 'They gave him a fair trial before the hanged him'

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The Americans are going to be even more insufferable now. :frown:

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I'm glad they did it after the Royal Wedding that would have been a prime target for retaliation.

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Should the cost of justice be a deterrent? Is assassination without trial really a better solution?

This and the recent Libyan events don't sit comfortably with me.

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Doubt it. It's good news, but ultimately it's not likely to have much effect on the various wars America is currently fighting. By the election everyone will have forgotten about it.

The best thing I could see is that it might allow Obama to declare victory in Afghanistan and get the troops out ASAP.

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When does killed in an armed conflict become assassination? Why have you defined it as assassination?

The allegation that he resisted, implies that he was not shot by a sniper from a position 1000 metres away.

Will his death make any real difference? I very much doubt it

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Because all the media seem to be reporting with one voice that the order was given to make sure he was killed? It not exactly rocket surgery to join up the dots....

There does seem to be some confusion over the issue now with Brenan saying "If we would have been able to take him alive, we would have done that", but prior to that all the reporting was saying that Obama had signed an order OKing his death. I think the reality was if he had surrendered they would have taken him alive, but there was no expectation that that would ever actually happen.

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Yep. For all that he was a murderous terrorist, he did serve as a reminder to the septics of their own incompetence. Now he's gone - they are going to bang on about how great they are for ages. It will be worse than Vancouver still talking about expo putting the city on the map.

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I agree with your post Ian. Just couldn't see much detail of what went down ( ie attempted capture or just kill ) on the BBC website.

I am far from hand wringing.

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I still believe that whatever your crime, you still have legal rights.

Due process is so important in the US that they have made it part of their constution. These laws are in place to protect indivduals from this type of action.

They say he resisted but legally he was within his rights to resist as the US had no legal right to do what they did. Pakistan is an ally and does have an extradition agreement with the US.

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Yes, its obvious from his remote hiding place that the Authorities in Pakistan would have moved heaven and earth to help bring him to justice has the US only informed them of his location....


Oh, hang on, he was a few miles from their main military training headquarters in a rather obvious high security compound, right under their noses... and the pakistan ISI is on the CIA shit list, so maybe the US DIY approach was considered the best bet to bring this long standing international fugitive to justice. Shame he didnt come quietly though. Shame for him anyway...

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Except this way he becomes a martyr for his followers and gets his 72 virgins.

I agree though, if they'd tried extradition he would have mysteriously vanished before the authorities in Pakistan could arrest him.

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Surely that would have happened regardless, had he been arrested, gone through the media circus surrounding a trial, and then been convicted and presumably eventually executed?

There isnt any perfect way to deal with this situation, but this could have been done a lot worse.

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I've heard that he was caught unawares because he didn't think they collected bins on a Bank Holiday:rofl:

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on that note bin lidden shoulda givin a 10 min warning to all those peoples in da wtc. that woulda been fairer 2 all - no???? i mean we are playin by da rulz:thumbdown:???

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Aaaah i love reading the views of the armchair critics, conspiracy theorists, do-gooders, and hang-em highers.......keep 'em coming ladies and gents :thumbup:

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Isn't that what forums are for ?

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I am currently in the UK and it was certainly refreshing to get the Royal Wedding out of the news.

Bin Laden had armed guards and the bottom line was they were always going to take him out in a fire fight.

If he wanted western justice he could've surrendered years ago- but what fair trial would he have been given?

Best just dealt with swiftly and quickly. I wish they would extend this sort of action to the likes of Mugabe, Gadaffi etc......

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and anyone you don't like ? ( devil's advocate position I might add )