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Phoenix
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I don't normally post this kind of news, but considering how long this SOB has been on the run and everything he's been responsible for, directly and indirectly, I felt it's worth taking a moment to make note of this.Osama bin Laden, hunted as the mastermind behind the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, has been killed, President Obama announced tonight.
The president called the killing of bin Laden the "most significant achievement to date" in the effort to defeat al Qaeda.
"Justice has been done," Obama said.
Bin Laden was located at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, which was monitored and when the time was determined to be right, the president said, he authorized a "targeted operation."
"A small team of Americans carried out the operation," Obama said. "After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body."
DNA testing confirmed that it was bin Laden, sources told ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-killed/story?id=13505703
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  I fly into the night, on wings of fire burning bright...
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Woodsman
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the last human death i celebrated was tookie williams by drinking a 6 pack of dry hard cider. For this one, ill have to drink the home made peach wine i made last week because i am broke.
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Tabun
Pixel Procrastinator
Team Member
Elite (3k+)
   
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I'm kind of curious as to how they got DNA-information to be able to confirm this... Did Al Qaeda send a blood sample or something?
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| Tabun |
?Morituri Nolumus Mori? |
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MarneGator
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I'm not much into macabre celebrations, but I think I'll drink to this! I just wish it was the Army, not the bloody Navy, that took the honors!  |
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-Veritas-
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Phoenix
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Not sure on that one Tab. I can only assume someone had a sample from some prior event, perhaps when he was incarcerated in the Sudan for a time or maybe they can confirm it through a sample from a blood relative. I know Osama was not very popular with the rest of his family so I don't think they'd turn down a little cash for some cheek cells. They're supposed to have a picture as well, and they're mulling over whether to release it to the public or not.
I also wonder where it goes from here. There's a piece that was leaked through Wikileaks about Khalid Sheikh Mohammad having said there is a nuclear device probably somewhere in Europe that would be detonated if Osama were ever captured or killed. I'm hoping that bit is a fabrication, but the story for that is here: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8241119/capturing-bin-laden-would-unleash-hell
I'm certain they obtained intel when they raided the compound, so hopefully this will cause a domino effect and Al Qaida's leadership can be dismantled more effectively. I know Musharraf is hacked off over the raid, but I think the time for playing nice to tin-pot dictators is rapidly coming to a close. Pakistan needs to get its act together really quick or they're going to have serious internal problems. I don't think the military is going to want to sit around and wait for Pakistan's government to play nice while the roaches scatter.
Personally I'm glad that this was a Spec Ops kill raid and not another case of lobbing missiles at a car that might have had someone in it but who really knows. That, and zero US casualties. Someone still knows how to fight a war and win. I hope people learn from this. I don't normally have much to praise Obama for as I am pretty much completely opposite to his policies, but for this one I can say: Good work Mr. President. Well done, and good job to those that planned and executed this operation.
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I fly into the night, on wings of fire burning bright...
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Thomas Mink
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It's nice that it got done, but all I can honestly say in response to this is, "It's about friggin time! God.."
The guy should have been dead about 10 years ago (some would argue longer).. but I will admit, better late than never. I just hope his death isn't looked at as some weird sort of martyr to 'rally the troops' as it were. Not that that matters to me at all, but.. whatever.
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Woodsman
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so i guess seal team six is the one that did the whack. I bet that compound is going to be a map in the next counter strike.
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~Va^^pyrA~
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I'm shocked that the guy was still alive, honestly. It seemed logical that he had probably died all on his own years ago. Kidney dialysis in the caves of Afghanistan is no fun.  I'm sure this pleases a lot of people on a vengeful level, but I don't really see what it realistically changes. The guy is a relic now, both as a target and as the oppositions leader. America didn't just magically win a war by killing this one guy. Our troops will still march onward into whatever country they want, for whatever reason they want. Maybe they're get wind of some country hiding WMDs? Hell, maybe this will start a downward spiral with Pakistan... Sending in a Special Ops team with no prior communication with their government seems shaky from a political standpoint. Does anyone else find it a little suspicious that they were so quick to get rid of the body? You'd think that his corpse would have been shown off a bit in some kind of macabre celebration. Instead it was almost immediately dumped into the sea. Regardless, I don't think a lot of people are going to miss the guy. I just wish that we, as a country, could try pulling our heads up out of the sand now and focus on problems at home. Fighting half a dozen wars across the globe isn't really helping us in the long run. |
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« Last Edit: 2011-05-03, 15:48 by ~Va^^pyrA~ »
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LunaG
Beta Tester
Baron of Hell
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so i guess seal team six is the one that did the whack. I bet that compound is going to be a map in the next counter strike.
We have this game called "Counter-Strike Online" in our country, do you? ^^ And it seems Pakistan had already known that he is there all the while, but kept quiet? Or so it seems... More of the Seals Team 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ohtOlBLdEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AI2znwr8Ag |
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« Last Edit: 2011-05-04, 03:38 by LunaG »
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Phoenix
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~Va^^pyrA~: I would say that Pakistan's government has a lot of explaining to do, and is pretty embarrassed that we got Bin Laden right in the middle of a town with their military academy and a bunch of retired generals living near by. It looks bad for them more than it does for the US. If the raid had failed, then the US would be on the hook. It was a pretty gutsy move by Obama to authorize this.
As for the value of it, it's symbolic in a lot of ways, yes, but it also sends a message to the terrorist enemies of the US: "We will find you. We found Saddam, we found his sons, we found Osama. Don't think you can hide." That's demoralizing to the enemy, to the point that Hamas and the Imam of the Al Aqsa mosque have shot their mouths off in rage. The real value in the hit is the intel that's been collected. Several hard drives, flash drives, DVD's, and other electronics and documents have been removed and there's over 100 techs pouring over it in a base in Afghanistan somewhere. If Osama was being kept in the loop on Al Qaida's operations by Zawahiri then it means there's a lot of potential new targets, maybe even Zawahiri himself. He's been the brains of the operation for a long time and nailing him would be much more beneficial operationally than killing Bin Laden.
Regarding the body... it's not suspicious. Muslim tradition requires the body to be buried within 24 hours after death. They offered the corpse to Saudi Arabia since he was a Saudi national. They refused, so a burial at sea is acceptable under Muslim tradition if a land burial is not possible. It also allowed them to avoid someone erecting a shrine or mosque "in honor" of Bin Laden. It's typically not US policy to parade around or desecrate corpses the way the bad guys do. For one, there's the whole world opinion thing. Everyone seems to be looking to take a cheap shot at the US lately, and this gives them no grounds to do so. Second, it seems fitting that the US treat its enemies with respect that its enemies are unwilling to give in return. It's saying, "We're not just going to tell people we're better than them, we're going to prove it through our actions." Frankly I can think of no worse insult to Bin Laden than to have him dumped off a carrier with full Muslim honors precisely because of how he viewed the US and the West. I could imagine him standing before God and being shown this, then being told "You were wrong about the Americans." How would it make you feel knowing that the whole reason for your jihad and for 9/11, that the West was against Islam, was completely unfounded?
I certainly agree that the problems on US soil need to take precedent. Iraq and Afghanistan need to be finished up, and Libya should not turn into a third war. Hopefully the intel acquired in the raid will be useful in dismantling Al Qaida on a larger scale much more rapidly so things can be brought to a conclusion soon.
LunaG: The Counter-Strike that Woodsman mentioned is a Half-Life modification. Anyone that owns Half-Life can play it, but it's also available as a stand-alone game on Steam. There's two versions right now: The original Counter-Strike, and Counter-Strike: Source. Here are links to both so you can see if they're the same thing as what you're referring to.Counter-StrikeCounter-Strike: Source
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I fly into the night, on wings of fire burning bright...
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LunaG
Beta Tester
Baron of Hell
Posts: 94
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so i guess seal team six is the one that did the whack. I bet that compound is going to be a map in the next counter strike.
Here goes http://www.gamebanana.com/maps/156014 |
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