Just In: Osama is dead

[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.