Just In: Osama is dead

[pmulcahy11b]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

Front of the site.

NBC News is saying that it was a US military operation in Northern Pakistan and we have his body.

[Cdnwolf]

Just hope its not one of his doubles...

[Legbreaker]

And about bloody time too!

[Abbott Shaull]

Yeah, and he was in the suburbs of the Capital of Pakistan. Thanks you for being one of our Allies...NOT!

Now we will see his group splinter into couple groups and one will powerful enough to give us black eye once this settles down...

[Targan]

I'm a government media monitor... guess which direction the rest of my working day just went? Frantic alerts to the Premier and government ministers going out in all directions.

I hope that bin Laden died in pain. In a perfect world there would have been a wet ops specialist kneeling on his chest and bitch-slapping him as he faded to black.

[Panther Al]

From what I am hearing, we got intel in august of last year he hangs out where we got him. The Paki military runs a academy there. The call was made to send in Spec Ops, we did not tell the government about it (A good idea since the politicians like the Taliban) but did tell selected members of the Paki military. The compound went apeshit when they saw the helo's sweep in (As they should considering who they was protecting), and during the battle, a Paki Helo was shot down. DNA match confirms we got him.

At least, thats what I have gleaned from the media so far.

My analysis so far: Massive bump in morale accross the board, Obama takes credit (I will admit that he does deserve some for keeping the hunt alive in spite of what he said he would do during his campaign), and AQ goes apeshit: The loss of leadership from OBL will be felt, but it won't cripple AQ. Expect an uptick in activity over the next two years.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Panther Al

DNA match confirms we got him.

Umm, doesn't that take more than five minutes to run...?

[Panther Al]

We got him a few days ago according to reports, we just now officially confirmed that it was him.

And it looks like the SEAL's are gonna be insufferable now.

[Ramjam]

All I can say is thank fuck for that.

And I hope the bastard burns in hell.

(Please excuse my language but after 10 yrs of losing friends it's about time).

[TiggerCCW UK]

Good result.

[Panther Al]

Indeed. As a friend said: Best Birthday Present Ever.


More info, seems the initial reports of Paki involvement was wrong, there was none at all, not even any response from the local paki authorities to the 40 minute fire-fight. The lost helo mechanicaled on the way in, which had to raise the pucker factor.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

A couple of thoughts at this late hour:

I wouldn't be surprised if the Pakistanis turned him out: just a week or two back we told them no more unrestricted drone flights over their borders. They were probably sick and tired of the heightened AQ presence in Pakistan caused by OBL being there which was drawing in more drones and causing pressure on the government.

As bad as Pakistan can be when it comes to Islamic conservatism, there's a bunch of those tribal folks who want nothing, nada, zip to do with the Taliban and their style of fundamentalism.

Second, I can't help but think the guy had "dead man switch" operations in place, to wit: "Hey, if you find out I've been martyred by the Americans, initiate these attacks."

I think things are about to get really, really sticky for a while. I just hope I'm wrong.

[Webstral]

Kicking a beehive generally produces an immediate if temporary negative reaction, even if the queen dies.

Webstral

[Matt Wiser]

About bloody time. Goodbye and good riddance to UBL. Now that Osama is rooming with Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Saddam, Milosevic, and Khomeni, let's find Ayman Al-Zwahari, AQ's #2-and presumably now #1, and liquidate him as well.

Bravo Zulu to all involved in the op, and glad there were no friendly casualties.

[Arrissen]

Ding dong the witch is dead!

[dragoon500ly]

Its been a long hunt for a piece of crap; but the SEALs pulled it off! Congrats to those who went in and capped OBL, to those who have tracked him down, its been a long run but WELL DONE!!!

Now, we have to buckle down and hunt down the rest of these animals and put them down as well!

[Fusilier]

Originally Posted by Panther Al

We got him a few days ago according to reports, we just now officially confirmed that it was him.

Can you share these reports you are referring to?

[95th Rifleman]

Now if somebody would kill Gerry Adams, all my dreams would come true in one week.

[Fusilier]

Originally Posted by 95th Rifleman

Now if somebody would kill Gerry Adams, all my dreams would come true in one week.

I'm sure if the money was put up, someone would do it.

[Cdnwolf]

Now the conspiracy theories come out.... why dump the body at sea? Why no attempt to take him alive (shoot to kill order from media reports)... worlds fastest DNA results also...

Makes more sense to keep him alive and drain him of intel first....

[Cdnwolf]

Originally Posted by 95th Rifleman

Now if somebody would kill Gerry Adams, all my dreams would come true in one week.

A few people would add George W to that list...

[Fusilier]

Originally Posted by Cdnwolf

Now the conspiracy theories come out.... why dump the body at sea? Why no attempt to take him alive (shoot to kill order from media reports)... worlds fastest DNA results also... ....

Oh Christ, please don't tell me that crap has started already. All of those things can be easily explained.

Originally Posted by Cdnwolf

Makes more sense to keep him alive and drain him of intel first....

Including why it doesn't make more sense to do that.

[TiggerCCW UK]

Originally Posted by 95th Rifleman

Now if somebody would kill Gerry Adams, all my dreams would come true in one week.

Seems a bit harsh to be comparing Adams to Bin Laden. While I'm far from a fan of the Republicans, at least Adams has moved forward in a peaceful manner and is genuinely trying to improve the situation here.

Wow, never thought I'd see me defending a provie...

[raketenjagdpanzer]

As far as why no attempt to take him alive...according to reports they DID - he was given the option to surrender and be taken in to custody and he refused.

Now...how he refused, what the circumstances were...that's what I want to know. Was he holding a gun (unlikely) or did he make a move like he had a suicide belt on or the like? Or did he just say "No" when told to lie down and freeze?

Frankly, I don't care. Also, I don't think he'd give ANY information up.

[James Langham]

Originally Posted by raketenjagdpanzer

As far as why no attempt to take him alive...according to reports they DID - he was given the option to surrender and be taken in to custody and he refused.

Now...how he refused, what the circumstances were...that's what I want to know. Was he holding a gun (unlikely) or did he make a move like he had a suicide belt on or the like? Or did he just say "No" when told to lie down and freeze?

Frankly, I don't care. Also, I don't think he'd give ANY information up.

The cynic in me says a live prisoner means the likelihood of hostages being taken... Of course the really interesting bit would have been the lawyer's bills!!!!

Of course the really big cynic in me says that they have SAID that he is dead...oh and look no body to prove it! (There are still rumours the Israelis did exactly that at Entebbe.)

[Mohoender]

Ok Bin Laden is dead and I won't say I'm sad about it but I don't see anything to celebrate here. I'll be celebrating only when someone will declare on TV that this war is over.

We still have plenty of soldiers in Afghanistan, fighting and dying everyday. People keep dying in Iraq not to remind you of the Marakech bombing that took place only 48 hours ago. I have more thoughts about those who died there that about a f... execution of a Bin whatever be.

We might have won a battle (a tiny one) but it doesn't seem to me that victory is at hand and I prefer to turn my thinking toward those fighting and dying far away from Islamabad.

In addition, if that's a victory, it is one we have not so many reason to be proud of. The Nazis had been brought to trial at Nuremberg (Hitler had commited suicide and the suicide of Goering had been felt has a major failure. US authorities who had felt so were right). General Tojo was condemned. The Serbian leaders had been brought to trial as well. Laurent Gbagbo is currently under arrest. The Khmers had been brought to trial as well and even Saddam Hussein had been trialed (It can be critisized but it was a trial nonetheless). Bin laden, however, will remain a thorn in our back and questions will not wait long before being raised (actually it's already the case). I'm no more supportive of the french aircrafts targetting Khadaffi.

Simply from a 5 minutes quick reading I have seen that 8 US troops had been killed last week by an Afghan pilot, that a 12 years old child had detonated the bomb it carried only yesterday (I can help it but I feel as sad for this kid as i do for his victims). Sorry but there is really nothing to celebrate right now. I'll celebrate when a friend of mine currently editing a monthly paper on the french army will not write any more article entitled "In Memoriam".

Although I have not seen any celebration on this forum, the one I saw in US are only gross and disgusting. Soldiers in the fields and their families can rightfully feel relief about this news but celebrating it as our forfathers had celebrated the end of ww1 or ww2 is simply disrespect.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Cdnwolf

Now the conspiracy theories come out.... why dump the body at sea? Why no attempt to take him alive (shoot to kill order from media reports)... worlds fastest DNA results also...

I think that a captured Bin Laden would generate a lot more revenge and extortion-type terrorism than a dead Bin Laden. Don't have an answer for the quick DNA results, except for years of preparation and technology increase that may only be available to the highest levels of government (and those working directly with them).

[headquarters]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I think that a captured Bin Laden would generate a lot more revenge and extortion-type terrorism than a dead Bin Laden. Don't have an answer for the quick DNA results, except for years of preparation and technology increase that may only be available to the highest levels of government (and those working directly with them).

..any administrations worst nightmare.

The media circus
the trials - with countless domestic and international rows on legal issues
the uprisings and demonstrations against the US
the terryfying possibility that something could go wrong and Osama twists the tale..implicating people..upsetting the balance..


I dont know. Probably a more prudent, but brutal way to end it like that. Its no secret that the US -pretty much everybody- wanted him dead.

Far better to just serve up the present and then move like Obama did.

[copeab]

The one thing I am celebrating is that this killed the royal wedding coverage on American TV. Even the Alabama tornadoes couldn't preempt the royal wedding coverage ...

[Legbreaker]

I'm with Mo on this. Yes it's good he's been found and ended, but he was just one small and almost insignificant cog in an relatively massive machine. Some sources state that he wasn't even involved in AQ in a significant role since the 9th of September 2001.
Basically he was a figurehead, one head of the hydra which will soon be replaced.

There's very little here to celebrate in my opinion, nothing until the region is stable, and anyone willing to kill without fear of the consequences of an effective law and order system is brought low.

The death of OBL is little more than a morale boost for the west and a probable martyr and rallying point for the insurgents and terrorists. There WILL be organised reprisals against the Americans and allies. May not happen today, but it will happen within the next 12-24 months.