Osama Dead!!!

[MrEmann]

Hopefully this guy wakes up in the fires of hell, wondering where the fuck are all my virgins? I also hope that all 2,997 victims of the World Trade Center, and every soldier, sailor, marine, air force, police and fire personnel that has lost their lives since the hunt for this asshat began, gets to kick him in his face. Once a day for eternity.

God Bless America

That's damn right. I'm a Damn Yankee, and damn proud of it.

[Ozme52]

I'm glad he's gone and can do no more personal harm, though some no doubt will be done in his name.

I'm glad this particular chapter of terrorism is over. He took credit so I have no issues with the "sentence" and his death. It didn't come soon enough.

I'm pretty sure I'm not glad we'll be actually celebrating his death. It's what the terrorists did when they succeeded in bringing down the Towers. I'm not sure why I feel this way, and I know it is really a celebration in tribute to those lost, both the victims and the fallen rescuers who gave their lives that day...

So justice, though late, is done... but let's focus the conversations that will come on the innocent lost, not the guilty.

Maybe I'll come to terms with my thoughts tomorrow.

[denuseri]

Unfortunately I think that alltough his death is going serve as a good moral boost for our troops, I think its going to do nothing for getting our people home where they belong.

[Thorne]

I'm glad he's dead, but I don't think it justifies the celebrations I've heard about. Just another terrorist/mass murderer put down.

I expect there will be attempts at reprisals by Al Qaida, which will no doubt result in even more innocent deaths. I suspect that his capture would have been worse, though. The terrorists would likely have taken hundreds, even thousands, of hostages in an attempt to free him. And they would not have hesitated to kill those hostages when the government refused to release him. And dumping his body at sea is brilliant. No relics to enshrine, no grave to turn into a mosque. His body will be forever lost and as food for the fishes will finally serve some useful purpose.

But sadly his death won't make a damned bit of difference in the continuing abominations of world politics. It'll just be another 7 day wonder before getting back to the same-old-same-old.

[Snark]

bin Laden is dead! Allah be Praised! Of course now the US Navy will be castigated for polluting the ocean...

[Anita Blake]

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

I think Martin Luther King Jr. had it right.

@Thorne I know, I know “The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit." ~ W. Somerset Maugham but I couldn't resist.

[Thorne]

@Thorne I know, I know “The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit." ~ W. Somerset Maugham but I couldn't resist.

"One must be a wise reader to quote wisely and well." - Amos Bronson Alcott

Or you can be a pain in the ass like me, who knows how to look up relevant quotes.

"Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

I don't think MLK Jr. got it quite right, though. Understanding can drive out hate. Know your enemy and know why he hates you and you are one step closer to accepting him. And, of course, death destroys hate, too. It's pointless to hate someone who is dead. I can hate what he has done, and I can hate even more what he has made us do. I cannot hate the man, though. It would be pointless.

And it's even more pointless to celebrate his death.

What we need to do is to understand why bin Laden hated us, and we'll be one step closer to preventing others from hating us as well.

[thir]

I myself do not feel too good about this..for several reasons. One is that his death and mystical' burial at sea' may well make him a martyr much more dangerous than he was these last days, that questions will arise whether he is really dead, that questions will arise why he could not be brought to justice instead, to see him in the dock as criminal or normal (physical) stature rather than an icon, gone in blood and glory.

Robert Fisk, British journalist for the Independant who met with OBL 3 days had these comments in his article:

"A middle-aged nonentity, a political failure outstripped by history – by the millions of Arabs demanding freedom and democracy in the Middle East – died in Pakistan yesterday. And then the world went mad. "

"But the mass revolutions in the Arab world over the past four months mean that al-Qa'ida was already politically dead. Bin Laden told the world – indeed, he told me personally – that he wanted to destroy the pro-Western regimes in the Arab world, the dictatorships of the Mubaraks and the Ben Alis. He wanted to create a new Islamic Caliphate. But these past few months, millions of Arab Muslims rose up and were prepared for their own martyrdom – not for Islam but for freedom and liberty and democracy. Bin Laden didn't get rid of the tyrants. The people did. And they didn't want a caliph."

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion...g-2278028.html

Another journalist, Geoffrey Robertson thinks that in spite of the problems it woud have caused, it was a shame he not brought to trial:

"This would have been the best way of de-mystifying this man, debunking his cause and de-brainwashing his followers. In the dock he would have been reduced in stature – never more remembered as the tall, soulful figure on the mountain, but as a hateful and hate-filled old man, screaming from the dock or lying from the witness box."

"Killing instead of capturing Osama Bin Laden was a missed opportunity to prove to the world that this charismatic leader was in fact a vicious criminal, who deserved to die of old age in prison, and not as a martyr to his inhuman cause."

Then of course there is the ever present question and danger og becoming that which you fight:

"America’s belief in capital punishment is reflected in its rejoicing at the manner of Bin Laden’s demise. .... And now Barak Obama has most likely secured his re-election approving the execution of Bin Laden. This may be welcome, given the alternatives. But it is a sad reflection on the continuing attraction of summary justice.

It was not always thus. When the time came to consider the fate of men much more steeped in wickedness than Bin Laden – the Nazi leadership – the British government wanted them hanged within six hours of capture. President Truman demurred, citing the conclusion of Justice Robert Jackson that summary execution “would not sit easily on the American conscience or be remembered by our children with pride?the only course is to determine the innocence or guilt of the accused after a hearing as dispassionate as the times will permit and upon a record that will leave our reasons and motives clear”. He insisted upon judgment at Nuremberg, which has confounded Holocaust-deniers ever since."


There is much to think abouthere.

[thir]

Unfortunately I think that alltough his death is going serve as a good moral boost for our troops, I think its going to do nothing for getting our people home where they belong.

Maybe it will?? The question has already been raised, that since the war in Afganistan was to get OBL, can it now be stopped? After all there has already been talk about down sizing the war - in some countries, anyway.

[thir]

I'm glad he's dead, but I don't think it justifies the celebrations I've heard about. Just another terrorist/mass murderer put down.

Me neither.
I think the advantages of his death are not that great, in that it will not stop Al Qaida. The shouting represents a propaganda scoop more than anything else, and is not without its back draws.

I expect there will be attempts at reprisals by Al Qaida, which will no doubt result in even more innocent deaths. I suspect that his capture would have been worse, though. The terrorists would likely have taken hundreds, even thousands, of hostages in an attempt to free him. And they would not have hesitated to kill those hostages when the government refused to release him.

I belive that if that was possible, they would already have done this.

And dumping his body at sea is brilliant. No relics to enshrine, no grave to turn into a mosque. His body will be forever lost and as food for the fishes will finally serve some useful purpose.

I fear that it will make him immortal, in a manner of speaking, since there is now no actual evidence of his death.

[thir]

I don't think MLK Jr. got it quite right, though. Understanding can drive out hate.

This is true.

I can hate what he has done, and I can hate even more what he has made us do.

Noone was 'made' to do anything. We are all responsible for our own actions, noone else.

What we need to do is to understand why bin Laden hated us, and we'll be one step closer to preventing others from hating us as well.

Well said indeed!

[Thorne]

Noone was 'made' to do anything. We are all responsible for our own actions, noone else.

He made 'us', as a nation, fear him. He made 'us', as a nation, hate him. And ultimately, he made 'us', as a nation, murder him. Which makes me, as a person, sad.

Well said indeed!

Thank you! I guess every once in a while I get something right?

[denuseri]

So now the debate begins...do we want to see pictures of him or not?

[Thorne]

In this day and age? Pictures don't mean squat. Any fool with a computer and a graphics program can make any picture say anything he likes. I'd be more interested in the DNA evidence, but even that could be faked. No, the biggest proof that he is dead is that he hasn't turned up to deny it. Yet.

[denuseri]

I found this interesting Video and report printed bellow:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot...-comfort-zones

It's hardly a revelation to note that the cable and talk-radio commentariat is divided on many leading issues of the day. But in the wake of the military raid claiming the life of Osama bin Laden, the range of pundit opinion has exhibited some striking crossover maneuvers, with traditionally caustic conservative critics of President Obama congratulating the daring and resolve of the successful mission. There have also been some notable misreadings of sardonic intent--plus some simple confusion about how to process the dramatic news.
Take the remarks of "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart. In the clip featured above, the news satirist spent the first 10 minutes of his Monday's broadcast skewering Osama bin Laden, who was killed a day earlier by U.S. special forces in Pakistan, before offering some more somber reflections.
"I am way too close to this whole episode to be rational about this in any way, shape or form," he said. "Last night was a good night, for me, and not just for New York or D.C. or America, but for human people. The face of the Arab world in America's eyes for too long has been bin Laden, and now it is not. Now the face is only the young people in Egypt and Tunisia and all the Middle Eastern countries around the world where freedom rises up. Al Qaeda's opportunity is gone."
Meanwhile, the conservative talk-radio baron Rush Limbaugh suffered something of a tonal misfire, as some listeners took his comments on the bin Laden raid--which seem unmistakably derisive in print--as an unprecedented show of heartfelt gratitude to President Obama.
"President Obama single-handedly came up with the technique in order to pull this off," Limbaugh said on Monday. "You see, the military wanted to go in there and bomb as they always do. They wanted to drop missiles and drop bombs and a number of totally destructive techniques here. But President Obama, perhaps the only qualified member in the room to deal with this, insisted on the Special Forces. No one else thought of that. President Obama. Not a single intelligence adviser, not a single national security adviser, not a single military adviser came up with the idea of using SEAL Team 6 or any Special Forces."
Some members of the media didn't pick up on the joke, either. Jon Bershad of Mediaite, for instance, marveled at Limbaugh's remarks. "Limbaugh opened his show today with huge praise for his President, his military, and his country," Bershad noted. "That's right, folks. America can still get along." After some correspondents noted that Limbaugh was speaking with tongue firmly in cheek, Bershad added an update, arguing that "in the world of talk radio, everything's relative" and that the show's opening segment was "about as nice as Limbaugh's ever going to get on Obama."
Such confusion is understandable--especially since so many of Obama's dogged pursuers were offering genuine thanks and praise to one of the most frequently lambasted figures on their broadcasts.
"I want to personally congratulate President Obama and the men and women of the Armed Forces for a job well done," said Donald Trump, who just a week earlier was on his crusade to disprove Obama's American citizenship, in a statement to ABC News. "We should spend the next several days not debating party politics, but in remembrance of those who lost their lives on 9/11 and those currently fighting for our freedom. God Bless America!"
Fox News host Glenn Beck also had some kind words. "First of all, congratulations to President Obama. He got him," the conservative talk show host said in response to the news of bin Laden's death. "Thank you, President Obama, thank you." And Beck's colleague on Fox, Sean Hannity, was no less expansive in his praise, saying that Obama's leadership of the mission was "gutsy" and "the right thing to do."
Less surprising, naturally, was the chorus of admiration offered on the left-leaning airwaves of MSNBC Monday night.
"President Bush had 2,686 days to catch Osama bin Laden. President Obama got that job done in 831 days," said Lawrence O'Donnell," at the start of his 8 p.m. show. "Somehow ... bin Laden got the feeling that he could settle down comfortable in a walled fortress is a Pakistan suburb. But someone -- someone -- was still thinking about bin Laden in a lethal way. ... President Obama would make his biggest national security priority getting Osama bin Laden, and so he did."
Meanwhile, Jon Stewart brought his conflicted monologue on the meaning of bin Laden's death to resolution on a patriotic note, suggesting that at least this one sardonic pundit actually does believe we can all just get along.
"For the last 10 years, al-Qaeda had the world's attention. They apparently wanted an ideology competition, and for all of our rights and wrongs, all al-Qaeda seems to have come up with is, 'Uh, we killed some Americans." ... They have nothing," he said. "Can they still do damage? I'm sure. But we're back, baby."

[Thorne]

I listened to Limbaugh a little on Tuesday. (A little is about all I can stand.) Everything he said pertaining to the killing was either sarcastic or sour grapes. HIS president (Bush, of course) deserved some credit for allowing the torture of prisoners. HIS president created the intelligence assets which finally paid off. HIS president this, and HIS president that. It was almost comical. Except that it was too sad to be comical.

[thir]

He made 'us', as a nation, fear him. He made 'us', as a nation, hate him. And ultimately, he made 'us', as a nation, murder him. Which makes me, as a person, sad.

He wanted US out of the middle East, and used terrorism to try to attain his goal. Those are his decisions and actions, for which he is responsible.

US responded the way it did, for which US is responsible. No one can blame/give credit to others for their own actions, be they right or wrong.

Thank you! I guess every once in a while I get something right?

It happens! ;-))

[thir]

So now the debate begins...do we want to see pictures of him or not?

No. Pictures would cause more of an upheaval, as last time. I think it unwise. I think the decision to bury at sea is a no-return one.

[thir]

A new twist to this event that caught me by surprise! American muslims getting threaths and hatemail:

"Are American Muslims Safer or Not in the Wake of Bin Laden's Death?"

http://www.care2.com/causes/politics...n-laden-death/

[denuseri]

Thats odd, over here we keep hearing how its the other way around ...everyone is gearing up for fear of reprisals from the terrorists:

http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/all...th-503479.html

America and its allies were today braced for violent reprisals from al-Qaida after Osama bin Laden was killed in a dramatic raid by US special forces.

The world’s most notorious terrorist, who inspired numerous atrocities from the 9/11 attacks in America to the July 7 bombings in London, was shot dead in a brief firefight outside the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

His body was swiftly buried at sea, with US officials acknowledging it would have been difficult to find a country prepared to accept the remains of such an infamous figure.

Officials said that his identity was confirmed with “99.9% confidence” by DNA testing after he was killed by a shot to the head.

It marked the end of an international manhunt lasting more than a decade for the elusive figurehead behind a campaign of Islamist violence which has sparked wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and claimed thousands of lives around the world.

While it had long been suspected that he had been hiding in Pakistan, there was surprise that he was finally tracked down to a comfortable mansion complex close to a leading military academy.

The discovery he had been living in the garrison town of Abbottabad, rather than the lawless tribal areas of the North West frontier, prompted fresh suspicions that he was being protected by Pakistan’s intelligence services.

The announcement of his death sparked jubilant celebrations in America, with crowds gathering outside the White House and at Ground Zero where the Twin Towers had stood in New York.

In a late night statement broadcast from the White House, US president Barack Obama said the operation had been carried out by a “small team of Americans” acting with “extraordinary courage and capability”.

“On nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al-Qaida’s terror: justice has been done,” he said.

“The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to.”

David Cameron, who was telephoned by Mr Obama in the early hours to be told the news, said it was “a massive step forward” which would be welcomed throughout the UK.

“Of course, nothing will bring back those loved ones that families have lost to terror. But at least they know the man who was responsible for these appalling acts is no more,” he said.

The euphoria that greeted bin Laden’s death was accompanied by warnings that his followers would almost certainly attempt to extract revenge in bloody terrorist reprisals.

“Though bin Laden is dead, al-Qaida is not,” said CIA director Leon Panetta. “The terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him, and we must – and will – remain vigilant and resolute.”

Britain followed the US in placing its embassies, diplomatic missions and military bases around the world on a heightened state of alert.

The UK's Foreign Secretary William Hague said that elements within al-Qaida and its affiliates would want to show that they were still “in business”.

“This is a very serious blow to al-Qaida but, like any organisation that has suffered a serious blow, they will want to show in some way that they are still able to operate,” he said.

“We will still have to be vigilant – even more vigilant – in the coming days about the international terrorist threat.”

Pakistan’s High Commissioner in London, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, insisted that his country’s authorities had not known of bin Laden’s whereabouts prior to the attack.

“Nobody knew that Osama bin Laden was there – no security agency, no Pakistani authorities knew about it. Had we known it we would have done it ourselves.”

However the discovery he had apparently been living in a large, purpose-built complex in a busy urban area raised fresh questions about the role played by the Pakistani ISI intelligence agency – elements of which have long been seen as sympathetic to al Qaida.

Nigel Inkster, a former assistant chief of MI6, said they may have judged it “better to keep Osama bin Laden safe rather than risk the opprobrium that might attach to being in some way responsible for his death or capture”.

US officials said that as well as bin Laden, three other men, including his adult son and two suspected al-Qaida couriers, and a woman who was being used as a human shield died during the raid.

Around two dozen troops from the US Navy’s Seal Team Six counter-terrorism unit, were flown by Blackhawk helicopters into the compound in an operation lasting less than 40 minutes.

The mission, which was formally given the go-ahead by Mr Obama on Friday, marked the culmination of years of patient intelligence work.

Officials said they had known from statements made by detainees that bin Laden had a trusted al-Qaida courier who, they believed, may have been living with him in hiding.

Four years ago, they learned the man’s identity, and then about two years later, they identified the areas in Pakistan where he and his brother operated. Last August, they tracked down their residence to an affluent part of Abbottabad.

Despite being said to be worth $1m, the property had no internet or telephone connections, fuelling suspicions about its true purpose.

By mid-February, the intelligence coming from multiple sources was said to be clear enough for Mr Obama to seek to pursue “an aggressive course of action” to get bin Laden.

Over the next two and a half months, he led five meetings of the National Security Council focusing on whether bin Laden was in the compound and, if he was, how to deal with him.

Following the confirmation of his death, Norman Thompson from Sheffield, whose 33-year-old son Nigel died in the Twin Towers, said: “I’m pleased, definitely. It doesn’t bring our son back – we’ve lost him.

“It would bring justice, definitely, but certainly no closure. It’s an everyday trial for us.”

[thir]

That article is about what happens in USA, and it caught me by surprise too!

[denuseri]

I know, I read the one you posted, I am not blind, but it isnt anything I am seeing on TV over here yet. I was just pointing out that there is more fear of muslim reprisals than there is of violence against muslims.

Both articles however lead me to believe that people are still having trouble seperating in their minds the difference between an everyday normal person who practices Islam, and a terreroist though, which is sad.

You hear about as much about violence against muslims over here as you hear about muslims condeming the terrorists.

Which imho only leads to more hate and fear , as if that is what the medias goal is...to promote scandal and fear, to get "rateings"...which I guess shouldnt be all that surprising considering all the majior media here is controled by corperate interests, which means all they really care about is profit.

Violence against muslims is not nearly as wide spread as fear of them by any means from what I can tell.

Personally I think pictures would be part of transparency, its not like the terrorists are going to become any less pissed off at us, I also think he should have brought the body back first for further proof, as his detractors will only use the burial at sea thing to add further fuel to their belicose attacks and partisanship.

Now they are talking about blowing the building up where it all happened (which is quite useless imho), it won't prevent any shrine building anyway, if they want a shrine to a terrorists those who wish for it will build one of their own regardless.

[serrated]

I hope all his virgins are men. LOL

[IAN 2411]

US President Barack Obama announced his decision not to release "graphic" images of bin Laden's body for fear of encouraging reprisals. While the pictures may have dispelled doubts that the terrorist mastermind was truly dead, Mr Obama said publishing them would be a "national security risk" and could incite "additional violence," potentially becoming a "propaganda tool".

That is a load of bull. Does the American President think that they are not going to be targeted because he never showed pictures of the dead body? The Special Forces have already incited reprisals for publishing OBL death. How the hell would publishing them become a security risk, the only security risk you could get from showing the pictures of OBL would be if he were still alive. No I think the American Spooks are just to Spooky, and I just don’t believe that he is dead, and the American Secret Service are pulling a fast one.

Obama; put up or shut up.

There are thousands of people throughout the world that have been touched by OBL violence, after losing kin and kind and looking after the broken and distraught survivors in their family. Well they should have the proof that justice has been done on their behalf, not a load of dodgy rhetoric. I would like to point out that the World Trade Centre was only the start, and since then his terrorist org had killed and mutilated innocent people all over the world they have rights above Obama’s personal beliefs.

Barack Obama’s presidency has been a difficult one. Universal healthcare, the budget deficit, high unemployment and fuel costs have resulted in low poll ratings and defeat for the Democrats at last year’s mid-terms, when the Republicans took the House of Representatives.

What better way than to get those poll ratings up than by suddenly killing America’s most wanted man? Writing on a Tea Party website, one conspiracy theorist said: "Don't you think Obama needs something to assure his re-election?"

There you have it.

Be well Ian 2411

[Thorne]

IAN 2411,

Do you recall the outrage expressed by Muslims throughout the world by the posting of some ridiculous cartoons in Denmark? Publishing those photos would be worse, I think, not to mention that it would be just plain wrong. And just what would showing the photos prove, anyway? They could easily be faked, one way or another. Hell, we have thousands of photos of men walking on the moon and there are still idiots who don't believe it.

No, the only proof we have that OBL is dead is that he has not come out and shown the world that the Great Satan is lying! Don't you think he would jump at the chance to exploit a piece of propaganda like this? He was far too intelligent NOT to.

What better way than to get those poll ratings up than by suddenly killing America’s most wanted man? Writing on a Tea Party website, one conspiracy theorist said: "Don't you think Obama needs something to assure his re-election?"

The election is a year and a half away! If he was only interested in that he would have waited, don't you think? How much more effective would it have been in September or October of 2012?

[IAN 2411]

IAN 2411,

Do you recall the outrage expressed by Muslims throughout the world by the posting of some ridiculous cartoons in Denmark? Publishing those photos would be worse, I think, not to mention that it would be just plain wrong. And just what would showing the photos prove, anyway? They could easily be faked, one way or another.

As I said Thorn, do you honestly think along with Obama that the USA will not get reprisals? Yes I agree the photos could also be faked, but even faked photos are better than none at all. The Americans had no qualms when it came to showing photos of Sadam’s two sons and some of his close advisers being hung; you have a very soft and controversial president.

No, the only proof we have that OBL is dead is that he has not come out and shown the world that the Great Satan is lying! Don't you think he would jump at the chance to exploit a piece of propaganda like this? He was far too intelligent NOT to.

I don’t disagree for one minute that OBL was not intelligent and wouldn’t exploit the truth if he were alive and free to do so. My point was that if he was not dead but captured there would be a reason for withholding photos. This is all too bloody secret, and to be quite honest the secrecy of the aftermath is well over the top. It was all too fast, dead one minute buried at sea the next, rushed statements, and even now no one seems to tell the same story. It has left an element of doubt.

Be well IAN 2411

[IAN 2411]

SKY NEWS;

President Barack Obama has visited New York's Ground Zero - as fresh doubts emerged over the official US account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
The American leader will hope to begin to bury the memory of the terror chief by honouring those who died in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.
He spoke privately with the families of victims of the atrocity and first responders, after laying a wreath at the 9/11 memorial.
But the visit comes as a senior US defence official revealed only one of the five people killed in the raid on bin Laden's compound was armed and fired a shot.
The official presented a very different account to the administration's original portrayal of a chaotic, intense and prolonged firefight.
He said the sole shooter in the al Qaeda leader's Pakistani compound was shot dead in the early minutes of the operation.
Details have become clearer now the Navy Seal commando assault team has been debriefed, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the record.
He said the raid should be described as a precision, floor-by-floor operation to hunt and find the al Qaeda leader and his protectors.
As the Navy Seals moved into bin Laden's compound, they were fired on by bin Laden's courier, who was in the guesthouse, the official said.
The commandos returned fire, and the courier was killed, along with a woman with him. The official said she was hit in the crossfire.
The Americans were never fired on again as they encountered and killed a man on the first floor and then bin Laden's son on a staircase, before arriving at bin Laden's room.
Officials had said the al Qaeda boss was killed after he appeared to be reaching for a weapon.
But although he was unarmed, it has also emerged there were two guns in bin Laden's room, a Makarov hand gun and an AK47, which commandos believed he was attempting to get to.
US TV network NBC reports the majority of the operation was spent gathering up the computers, hard drives, mobile phones and other items that could offer valuable intelligence on al Qaeda and potential operations worldwide.
A White House spokesman had previously referred to "many other people who were armed in the compound", with others claiming bin Laden had taken part in the shoot-out.

Not another different story, so what did happen? Alive or dead? One man shot dead but who?

[denuseri]

Al-Qaida on Friday confirmed the killing of Osama bin Laden and warned of retaliation, saying Americans' "happiness will turn to sadness."
The confirmation came in an Internet statement posted on militant websites, signed by "the general leadership" of al-Qaida. The announcement opens the way for the group to name a successor to bin Laden. His deputy Ayman al-Zawahri is now the most prominent figure in the group and is a very likely contender to take his place.
The statement, dated May 3, was the first by the terror network since bin Laden was killed Monday by U.S. commandos in a raid on his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The statement's authenticity could not be independently confirmed, but it was posted on websites where the group traditionally puts out its messages.
"The blood of the holy warrior sheik, Osama bin Laden, God bless him, is too precious to us and to all Muslims to go in vain," the statement said. "We will remain, God willing, a curse chasing the Americans and their agents, following them outside and inside their countries."
"Soon, God willing, their happiness will turn to sadness," it said, "their blood will be mingled with their tears."
There was no indication how the group will retaliate. Rather than making vehement cries of vengeance, the statement — entitled "You lived as a good man, you died as a martyr" — struck a tone of calmness and continuation. Though it included praise of bin Laden, much of the 11-paragraph statement was dedicated to underlining that al-Qaida would live on, depicting him as just another in a line of "martyrs" from the group.
"It is impossible, impossible. Sheik Osama didn't build an organization to die when he dies," the statement read. "The university of faith, Quran and jihad from which bin Laden graduated will not close its doors," it added.
"The soldiers of Islam will continue in groups and united, plotting and planning without getting bored, tired, with determination, without giving up until striking a blow," the statement.
It said bin Laden was killed "along an established path followed by the best of those who came before him and those who will come after him."
In the statement, al-Qaida also called on Pakistanis to rise up in revolt against its leaders to "cleanse the shame." It also said that an audio message bin Laden recorded a week before his death would be issued soon.
The writers of the statement appeared unaware of the announcement by American officials that bin Laden's body had been buried at sea. The statement warned against mishandling or mistreating bin Laden's body and demanded that be handed over to his family, saying "any harm (to the body) will open more doors of evil, and there will be no one to blame but yourselves."

[leo9]

He made 'us', as a nation, fear him. He made 'us', as a nation, hate him. And ultimately, he made 'us', as a nation, murder him.

Or in the immortal words of Oliver Hardy, "Now look what you made me do!"

And he believed that the US made him do what he did. Vendettas only stop when people take responsibility for their own actions.

[leo9]

Considering how often people who don't respect Godwin's Law have compared OBL to Hitler, it's ironic that the Allies were keen to take Hitler alive and put him on trial for war crimes like his officers. They understood that the best way to diminish your enemies is to treat them as criminals, not warriors: whereas we ennobled OBL by treating him as a warrior when he was only a criminal, because Bush needed a war, not a police action. And now we've completed the error by giving him what his admirers will consider a warrior's death, instead of the humiliation of a trial.

It's hard to imagine that with a team like that and the compound in their hands, they couldn't have taken him alive; and it's hard to imagine that someone as aware of political nuances as Obama couldn't see how much more impressive that would be. I can see where you're going with the idea that they have him alive but hidden, Ian, but I can't see that he would be more valuable hidden than publicly exposed. So the conspiracy theory I'd go for is that the object was indeed to fetch him out, but either he was too fast or someone screwed up, so they had to say "We meant to do that!"