Osama Bin Laden dead

Spartan198 · #1 05-02-2011, 02:29 PM

As much as I want to believe one of our Team 6 boys ventilated OBL's skull, things aren't really adding up when I further contemplate it.

Firstly, only one photograph of his remains is circulating the web and it's believed to be a digitized hoax (Google "Osama Bin Laden Corpse" and decide for yourself, but while an admittedly gruesome image, it looks Photoshopped to me).

And secondly, we've seen in the past how US military/federal agents love to make a show of parading captured terrorists in front of TV cameras or releasing photos of dead ones' remains into the media. But with the most wanted terrorist in US history now allegedly dead and his remains in US custody, they ever so suddenly, and with very little fanfare, give him a quiet "burial" at sea? It makes no sense. Since when does our government decline an opportunity to toot its own horn? Never that I know of. And keep in mind that our failure to immediately capture OBL has constantly been used as a joke against us by the international community. Why would they decline an opportunity to rub this back in the faces of the likes of Moscow, Tehran, and Beijing? They wouldn't, they'd want to make us look as badass and tough as possible in our rivals' eyes.

I want to believe we got him just as much as you guys do, but the course of events aren't matching up to me. With the only known photographic evidence being suspect, no known publicly-available video footage of the raid, and our only "confirmation" that he's dead coming from the mouth of the president and "sources" of various news agencies that may or may not be credible, I'm finding this whole situation a little suspect and hard to swallow.

k9870 · #2 05-02-2011, 02:34 PM

I hope something's released later, it does seem weird, im guessing the admistration is afraid of offending anyone. But id gladly show video. Hell id mount cameras on the rails of the seals rifles and have vids of where every shot lands and watch bin ladens head exploding. But yeah im not a political type.

funkychinaman · #3 05-02-2011, 02:37 PM

The Islamic tradition is burial within 24 hours, so that's 24 hours to take photographs, video, run tests, etc, before dumping him in the ocean. (And they did do a DNA test.) I'm sure we'll get a tasteful photo within a day or two.

Markost · #4 05-02-2011, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spartan198

Firstly, only one photograph of his remains is circulating the web and it's believed to be a digitized hoax (Google "Osama Bin Laden Corpse" and decide for yourself, but while an admittedly gruesome image, it looks Photoshopped to me).

The pic REALLY looks chopped, we should wait a while for the real ones.

funkychinaman · #5 05-02-2011, 02:41 PM

Okay, they said that DNA testing is underway. Man, what if they were wrong? You'd think the administration would want to be absolutely certain before going public with this.

And it looks like his safehouse was down the road from the Pakistani Military Academy. So Pakistan, anything you want to tell us here?

k9870 · #6 05-02-2011, 02:42 PM

Say what you want about musharraf but he wasnt a pussy when it came to fighting terrorists like then new paki gov.

MT2008 · #7 05-02-2011, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spartan198

As much as I want to believe one of our Team 6 boys ventilated OBL's skull, things aren't really adding up when I further contemplate it.

Firstly, only one photograph of his remains is circulating the web and it's believed to be a digitized hoax (Google "Osama Bin Laden Corpse" and decide for yourself, but while an admittedly gruesome image, it looks Photoshopped to me).

And secondly, we've seen in the past how US military/federal agents love to make a show of parading captured terrorists in front of TV cameras or releasing photos of dead ones' remains into the media. But with the most wanted terrorist in US history now allegedly dead and his remains in US custody, they ever so suddenly, and with very little fanfare, give him a quiet "burial" at sea? It makes no sense. Since when does our government decline an opportunity to toot its own horn? Never that I know of. And keep in mind that our failure to immediately capture OBL has constantly been used as a joke against us by the international community. Why would they decline an opportunity to rub this back in the faces of the likes of Moscow, Tehran, and Beijing? They wouldn't, they'd want to make us look as badass and tough as possible in our rivals' eyes.

I want to believe we got him just as much as you guys do, but the course of events aren't matching up to me. With the only known photographic evidence being suspect, no known publicly-available video footage of the raid, and our only "confirmation" that he's dead coming from the mouth of the president and "sources" of various news agencies that may or may not be credible, I'm finding this whole situation a little suspect and hard to swallow.

I think you are being a little too cynical.

As Evil Tim pointed out, it's a bad idea to publicly display Bin Laden's body if he has followers who will just see him as a martyr. This isn't a case of the Obama administration being "respectful" of Islamic tradition due to their liberal naivety; there are historic precedents where the same decision was made.

That being said, I'd expect the horn-tooting to commence sooner rather than later. Obama's address last night was full of swag and confidence that I've almost never heard in any speech he's given related to the War on Terror. I can already tell that he's going to milk this victory for all it's worth (because let's face it - he needed this, badly, to have a chance in 2012).

Spartan198 · #8 05-03-2011, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by funkychinaman

Okay, they said that DNA testing is underway. Man, what if they were wrong? You'd think the administration would want to be absolutely certain before going public with this.

That's another thing. Obama said during his address that OBL was identified with DNA testing, but now they're saying DNA testing is underway and that he was identified with facial recognition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MT2008

I think you are being a little too cynical.

Believe me, I hope that's all it is.

Quote:

As Evil Tim pointed out, it's a bad idea to publicly display Bin Laden's body if he has followers who will just see him as a martyr. This isn't a case of the Obama administration being "respectful" of Islamic tradition due to their liberal naivety; there are historic precedents where the same decision was made.

Yeah, I didn't think of it that way and I can see that being valid reasoning behind such a quick and quiet disposal.

k9870 · #9 05-03-2011, 02:04 AM

Thing is, there was live footage of the raid. We get....nothing. Bin laden;s body was in custody for hours and....nothing. Its just weird.

Evil Tim · #10 05-03-2011, 10:42 AM

One imagines after the whole wikileaks thing they're going through any footage with a fine tooth comb before they release it so there's absolutely no way anyone can identify the men in the team that killed him. Because if they can, someone will, even though they might as well paint a target on those men, their friends, their families...