Usama Bin Laden is Dead, Say Sources

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Now remembers this is from Reuters. What is amazing is that they call this “In cold blood” when these are the people who string bodies up on bridges and display their captives in town squares. Yet Reuters has the nerve to report that these people were treated unfairly. And you will notice that Osama is spelled with an O, not a U. The US media changed it to a U because it was spelled too close to Obama, just one letter different. The media is trying to distance Obama from his Muslim roots. Obama=Osama, sure close isn't it.

No resistance in "cold-blooded" U.S. raid: Pakistan officials
(Reuters) - Osama bin Laden and his comrades offered no resistance when killed by U.S. special forces in a Pakistani town, Pakistani security officials said on Thursday.
U.S. accounts of what happened have changed throughout the week, and initial characterizations of a 40-minute gun battle have given way to officials being quoted as saying only one of the five people who were killed had been armed.
The White House has cited the "fog of war" as a reason for initial misinformation on whether bin Laden -- who was shot in the head -- was armed when U.S. Navy SEALs raided his compound in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad early on Monday.
Two senior Pakistani security officials, citing their investigation, said there was no firefight because the inhabitants never fired back.
"The people inside the house were unarmed. There was no resistance," one of the officials said.
"It was cold-blooded," said the second official when asked if there was any exchange of fire during the operation which, U.S. officials said lasted nearly 40 minutes.
The officials declined to say how they got their information, but officials had earlier said wounded had been detained.
Photographs acquired by Reuters and taken about an hour after the assault show three dead men -- not including bin Laden -- lying in pools of blood. No weapons could be seen in the closely cropped images.
The photos, taken by a Pakistani security official who was in the compound after the raid, show two men dressed in traditional Pakistani garb and one in a T-shirt, blood streaming from their ears, noses and mouths.
reuters

[LAPhil]

Reuters has got to be one of the most liberally biased news sources on this planet. I have no respect for them. They make our mainstream media look objective.

[Twoller]

Originally Posted by Jeanfromfillmore

Now remembers this is from Reuters. What is amazing is that they call this “In cold blood” when these are the people who string bodies up on bridges and display their captives in town squares. Yet Reuters has the nerve to report that these people were treated unfairly. And you will notice that Osama is spelled with an O, not a U. The US media changed it to a U because it was spelled too close to Obama, just one letter different. The media is trying to distance Obama from his Muslim roots. Obama=Osama, sure close isn't it.

No resistance in "cold-blooded" U.S. raid: Pakistan officials
(Reuters) - Osama bin Laden and his comrades offered no resistance when killed by U.S. special forces in a Pakistani town, Pakistani security officials said on Thursday.
U.S. accounts of what happened have changed throughout the week, and initial characterizations of a 40-minute gun battle have given way to officials being quoted as saying only one of the five people who were killed had been armed.
The White House has cited the "fog of war" as a reason for initial misinformation on whether bin Laden -- who was shot in the head -- was armed when U.S. Navy SEALs raided his compound in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad early on Monday.
Two senior Pakistani security officials, citing their investigation, said there was no firefight because the inhabitants never fired back.
"The people inside the house were unarmed. There was no resistance," one of the officials said.
"It was cold-blooded," said the second official when asked if there was any exchange of fire during the operation which, U.S. officials said lasted nearly 40 minutes.
The officials declined to say how they got their information, but officials had earlier said wounded had been detained.
Photographs acquired by Reuters and taken about an hour after the assault show three dead men -- not including bin Laden -- lying in pools of blood. No weapons could be seen in the closely cropped images.
The photos, taken by a Pakistani security official who was in the compound after the raid, show two men dressed in traditional Pakistani garb and one in a T-shirt, blood streaming from their ears, noses and mouths.
reuters

You got it Jean, but I think you've mixed up two issues. First there is the issue of how the mission went off and what the mission was. Was the mission to capture OBL? If not, why not? Maybe the mission had capture as an option, but not a high priority option. The first priority was probably elimination. In other words, if they thought they could capture him alive without any difficulty, then they should do so. If there was the slightest possibility of problems, then they should focus on elimination. My guess is there was problems and they moved quickly on to the task of elimination. Considering the difficulty of the mission, its secrecy and the potential of interference from Pakistani military, this was really the only way they could get it done. Capturing OBL alive would have been a far greater victory than just executing him.

The other issue is not showing the images of the dead OBL. Worrying about Muslim reaction is just pathetic considering, as you mention, their flagrant appetite for displaying their own victims in public. As recently as during the Egyption riots, we see the open display and mutilation of the corpses of the opposition. Recall the display of own dead soldiers and the mistreatment of their bodies during the military advance in Iraq. There simply is no good reason for showing that kind of respect for the body of OBL. The public needed to see that he was dead and the case was really closed.

[LAPhil]

Originally Posted by Twoller

Capturing OBL alive would have been a far greater victory than just executing him.

Not necessarily, Twoller, because this would have left us vulnerable to other terrorists using this as a bargaining chip by possibly taking American hostages in exchange for Bin Laden, or making some other type of credible threat which could force us to submit by turning him over. I think the Seals (or whoever it was) made the right decision to take him out and avoid that scenario.

Originally Posted by Twoller

The other issue is not showing the images of the dead OBL. Worrying about Muslim reaction is just pathetic considering, as you mention, their flagrant appetite for displaying their own victims in public. As recently as during the Egyption riots, we see the open display and mutilation of the corpses of the opposition. Recall the display of own dead soldiers and the mistreatment of their bodies during the military advance in Iraq. There simply is no good reason for showing that kind of respect for the body of OBL. The public needed to see that he was dead and the case was really closed.

I agree with you on that point.

[Jeanfromfillmore]

I didn't mix up any issues. I don't care what their intent was. For Reuters to imply that Osama was "killed in cold blood" because he didn't have a weapon or because he didn't put up resistance is an insult. Did the 3,000 killed on 9-11 have weapons on them? You missed the point that Reuters is siding with the Osama supporters.

[Twoller]

Originally Posted by Jeanfromfillmore

... For Reuters to imply that Osama was "killed in cold blood" because he didn't have a weapon or because he didn't put up resistance is an insult. Did the 3,000 killed on 9-11 have weapons on them? You missed the point that Reuters is siding with the Osama supporters.

I agree that suggesting that OBL was killed in cold blood is definitely an insult to valor of our SEALs who undertook the mission. Even from what little we have been able to see, there is no question that this team were on top of themselves and the situation. After all, there were survivors among the targets of the mission, if they were just running amok, why would they leave anyone alive at all?

[wetibbe]

Exterminating Bin Laden immediately on sight was the wisest decision.

Trying to extract him from the compound, and all subsequent handling and transportation, only provided opportunities for mishap or escape.

I certainly did not want him kept in Guantanamo for years alive. Closure was best for me. It's over, done. Good old fashioned Western justice.

Cold blooded ? Who cares ? The people on the airplanes that crashed on 9-11 were ALSO UNARMED ! The people in the WTC towers were all UNARMED - all 3,000. But that wasn't "cold blooded" they got barbecued in the fires. That is to say those that didn't jump and splatter on the ground.

Maybe Reuthers watches too much "Gunsmoke" or "Bonanza" or reads too many Dime Westerns". I don't think anyone really cares to see if Bin Laden could have outdrawn the Seals in a "fair fight".

So what's the big deal about Bin Laden being terminated with extreme prejudice? Now he"s with many virgins, the Muslim dream come true. The suicide bombers are told that. So lets not have it two ways !

I'm not dancing. I'm not cheering. I'm not high fiving. It's business as usual. Time to move on to the next one. Sheikh Mubarak Gilani.