Bin Laden is dead!

[Beantown]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

Are you talking about the actual confrontation with bin Laden? The way I understand it is it happened in his compound. Who ever was in his compound is considered an enemy combatant to me.

Want to respond to this post -

I couldn't agree more. Anyone in that compound was not "innocent," no matter what. They were harboring a world-wide fugitive, and just like if you were to house a fugitive in the states you would be guilty of aiding a fugitive, all of those people who lived in the same compound with the nation's number one most wanted criminal are criminals to me.

I value human life as much as the next person, but this man and any person that helped him over these past ten years do not deserve my remorse.

[mKoz26]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

Its hard to celebrate a murder

Let me ask you a question: Is self-defense murder?

EDIT: Let me rephrase that. Is self-defense resulting in death murder?

[Sportsforever]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

Its hard to celebrate a murder

In 1997 Bin Laden declared war against the Western World. As far as I know, he never retracted, asked for an truce, or surrendered. He was, by his own choice, a combatant. This was not murder.

[slickdtc]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

I tweeted this last night as it was happening: "I know he killed a lot of people, but celebrating in the streets feels like something THEY would do after mass-killing Americans." and that's pretty much how I feel. I'm not condemning those that felt like gathering in the streets and celebrating with each other. They have their freedom to do that, it's part of the reason America's so awesome. I just felt like there's a thin line between celebration and hypocrisy. For years and years we've decried and denounced terrorist sympathizers for celebrating in the streets because they managed to kill a bunch of Americans.

Here's where I think our celebrations last night and their celebrations separate, though, now that the dust has settled and I've had some time to think about it (That tweet was almost immediate and in the moment). Last night was about unbridled joy and happiness. It was about closure. It wasn't about "we hate these people and look what we did to them", like it is when these celebrations happen over there, if that makes sense. Like I said, it's a thin line between last night's celebrations and the celebrations that happen over there when they kill Americans, but there is a line, and I think that's important.

I didn't do any celebrating last night, really. I was pretty introspective for awhile, then I cracked jokes on Twitter. That was my night, because that's the way I felt like reacting to this. If other people felt the need to organize in crowds and just be with each other, that's their prerogative.

It just feels so wrong celebrating a death. But when I get to thinking about it, if I had lost someone in the 9/11 attacks, if I had ever been in the military fighting a war against these type of people, I think I would celebrate. Just like if someone had murdered a member of my family or a friend, I would celebrate them being brought to justice. There's no way you can ever get those people back who were lost, or have that day erased from history. It happened. And as wrong as it is to celebrate another human being killed, how can you not? This man brought so much horror and terror to the world, and he can no longer do that because he is no longer here. What had to be done was done.

[N51_rob]

Its hard to celebrate a murder

I can respect your opinion. But I respectfully disagree. They didn't hijack a military transport and crash it into a military base. They attacked civilians. If he was the mastermind he brought this on himself.

You call it murder but some call justice. To each his own.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[Jukeman]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

Let me ask you a question: Is self-defense murder?

Story I heard is that he was shoot in the head. was he sniped?

If not, why not capture him and gather more intel like the so called weapons of mass destruction?

The image I have in my head is this

Spoiler

<object height="390" width="480">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zMs0i7c2_MA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="390" width="480"></object>

[TheGamingChef]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

A lot of people want to play idealistic on that one.

Without getting into politics, learning this info may have changed my opinion on that issue.

Campus in Ames was pretty crazy last night with the celebration... we had one of the better ones across the country. I definitely took part. In my mind, it wasn't celebrating a death, but rather a celebration of the success of the American mission of protecting freedom.

And with a few exceptions of idiots talking about Bush and Obama, 99% of the crowd was able to come together and make it a non-political issue for all Americans to celebrate. I loved that.

[mKoz26]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

Story I heard is that he was shoot in the head. was he sniped?

If not, why not capture him and gather more intel like the so called weapons of mass destruction?

If you know next to nothing about the situation, how can you call it murder?

Osama fired at the team. Once that happens, they have every right to shoot to kill.

[TheGamingChef]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

Story I heard is that he was shoot in the head. was he sniped?

If not, why not capture him and gather more intel like the so called weapons of mass destruction?

There was a firefight that Osama himself participated in. He took his wife as a human shield.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

Story I heard is that he was shoot in the head. was he sniped?

If not, why not capture him and gather more intel like the so called weapons of mass destruction?

Well then, you should get your damn facts straight.

Not only was he shooting back, and not only did we detain him first, but we gave him the option of surrendering or dying. He chose death.

[Sportsforever]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

Story I heard is that he was shoot in the head. was he sniped?

If not, why not capture him and gather more intel like the so called weapons of mass destruction?

This isn't necessarily directed at just you, but I have a problem with everyone coming out of the woodwork today and saying how wrong we are for killing OBL. Where were these same people the last 10 years as we hunted him, with an executive order on the books saying take him DEAD or alive? If you have moral objections, why not voice them then? Why is it that the deed happens and now people want to moralize our decision? If you had a problem with it, it should have been voiced in 2002 when the executive order was signed and continued to be voiced.

[PVarck31]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

Story I heard is that he was shoot in the head. was he sniped?

If not, why not capture him and gather more intel like the so called weapons of mass destruction?

The image I have in my head id this

Spoiler

<object width="480" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zMs0i7c2_MA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zMs0i7c2_MA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

He was given the opportunity to surrender. He chose not to. Hardly murder.

[Psyblast]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

In 1997 Bin Laden declared war against the Western World. As far as I know, he never retracted, asked for an truce, or surrendered. He was, by his own choice, a combatant. This was not murder.

Thank you.

OBL, and those of his ilk, want to exterminate this country and all of its inhabitants from the face of the earth. They would behead every single one of us without a second thought or any remorse. We here in the West (not getting political here) have this romantic notion that we can negotiate with all our enemies, that we can find common ground and hammer out some kind of truce without shedding blood. It's unbelievably sad that it took 3000 American lives for us to finally wake up to the reality that this is an enemy that cannot be bargained with. They don't want land, or money, or prestige. They want us to cease to exist. They want to destroy every remnant of our way of life.

It's kill or be killed. It's that simple. It's not pretty. But it's necessary. This is war. OBL was not a civilian; he was a mass murderer with zero regard for human life, and the world is a better (and safer) place with him no longer drawing breath.

I'm not going to comment on any religious aspect of this thing (and neither should any of you, remember...). It boils down to the fact that a man who wanted to murder all of us is now dead, and for that, I celebrate his demise.

[NDAlum]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

Story I heard is that he was shoot in the head. was he sniped?

If not, why not capture him and gather more intel like the so called weapons of mass destruction?

The image I have in my head id this

Spoiler

<object height="390" width="480">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zMs0i7c2_MA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="390" width="480"></object>

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/news/5147948-417/how-the-u.s.-found-killed-osama-bin-laden

"The troops had orders to take bin Laden alive only if he posed no threat to American soldiers. But bin Laden refused to give himself up. That’s when he was shot in a bedroom — only minutes into the raid — ending a 10-year manhunt."

"And when he came under fire from U.S. forces, the boastful Saudi son of privilege had a human shield, a woman, possibly his own wife."

[bkrich83]

Re: Bin Laden is dead!

Its hard to celebrate a murder

He declared war on the US quite literally. Making him an enemy combatant. Killing an enemy combatant is not murder. Now the war he declared is over for him.