International, Military

BIN LADEN DEAD

Various news organizations are reporting that Osama Bin Laden is dead. President Obama is expected to announce the news. Bin Laden was reportedly killed in Pakistan by an operation involving Navy Seals but the story is still unfolding. YahooReports indicate that he was shot in the head after he and his bodyboards resisted an attack by the elite unit.

The fact that he reportedly went down fighting will likely add to his image as a martyr — though people who follow him need little encouragement or reason.

Bin Laden was a murderous fanatic who used religion to spread hate. His passing from this Earth would be welcomed news and, even for the most agnostic or atheist among us, there is a lingering wish that there is place for the damned to greet men like Bin Laden after the untold harm that he caused not just to his country but to many countries. Hundreds of thousands of dead can be credited to his dark legacy and beliefs.

While liberals and conservatives differed on the means used to fight Bin Laden, there was never any division on the commitment to fight terrorism or the shared loss from his crimes. On September 11th, the plane that hit the Pentagon struck just after I passed the building on my way to work. I made it about a mile away after blowing my tire on the curb and changing the tire as huge columns of smoke filled the air.

In the end, Bin Laden remained the authentic symbol of radical Islam — an extremist filled with hate living with fellow troglodytes in caves and crevices.

Bin Laden’s death will force some accounting of what has been gained and what has been lost since his infamous wave of terror began. Too much of the damage of 9-11 proved to be self-inflicted, including our use of torture and the launching of two wars that have cost thousands of more American lives and hundreds of billions as the nation sinks into debt and economic distress.

There is no indication that our continued loss of money or personnel in Afghanistan will decrease in any way as a result of the news. While the Afghanistan war seemed personality driven with Bin Laden as the face of evil, it has taken on a type perpetual war due to a lack of political courage to end it.

The world is far better without the likes of Osama Bin Laden. However, he left an ample legacy (and legions) to guarantee that religious hate will continue to shape the future of that region and the world at large.

369 thoughts on “BIN LADEN DEAD”

  3. Stamford Liberal, appreciate the kind words. Trolls do not bother me, since I know they live in a strange little world all their own. What trolls think important is usually the detritus of the internet. Most would not know a serious thought if it came up and hit them in the butt with a bass fiddle.

  6. “I’ve read enough of OS’s posts to know how he operates; facts and truths being of paramount importance”

    In other words, you’re saying: He has told the truth more often than he lies, so he’s cool with me. LOL

    My post above [that he initially IGNORED, which was the reason for the re-posting] PROVES he doesn’t give a shit about facts. He also lied THREE times about the Pentagon on 9-11. So, what you’re saying is: People who ask VALID questions based on FACTUAL 9-11 testimony are tin-foil hat losers, but if you LIE three times without being a conspiracy theorist, that’s better???

    LOL

  7. Raff,

    My son-in-law who bought it for me after he visited me in the hospital at a point I’d run out of books, now has the big one. I like mine better though, because it’s easier to hold in one hand and turn the pages. Have you noticed that you read quicker, it seems to me that I do.?

  8. Mike,
    I am with you. I love my Kindle. I just wish I had waited until the newer models came out.

  9. Nal,

    I’m so sorry to hear that. Kindle has become my reading method of choice. Damn, library here I come.

  10. Larry,

    “OS, just incase any posters on this thread didn’t see the Ayn Rand thread where I caught you in THREE lies about the Pentagon on 9-11,”

    Don’t care, Larry. I’ve read enough of OS’s posts to know how he operates; facts and truths being of paramount importance.

    I have read enough of your posts to know you need a new tinfoil hat. The current one is old and crinkly and your reception is just not that good anymore.

    Core Rules of Netiquette
    Do Not Use All Caps
    The Rules of Netiquette

    Do not use all caps. Do not write in all capital letter words because it is shouting.

    It is a common technique used by scam artists and other unsavory business people to get attention. It is popular on classified advertising and auction websites because it is a good way to make your ad stand out.

    Using all capital letters in electronic communication is the equivalent of shouting at someone in person.

    In reality it is done to get attention through intimidation. It breaks the standard level of volume and tone a voice should carry to force someone into doing something.

    It is not socially acceptable to shout at people in a civilized society because it is intimidating.

    Therefore, it is bad netiquette to use all caps because it is not socially acceptable to yell at people and using all caps is yelling at people.

    http://www.networketiquette.net/core_netiquette_rule_do_not_use_all_caps.htm

  11. Doesn’t look like any of his books are available for Kindle. GRRR!

  13. OS—since you conveniently ignored my post exposing your lies, here it is again:

    OS, just incase any posters on this thread didn’t see the Ayn Rand thread where I caught you in THREE lies about the Pentagon on 9-11, they can now see clearly your blatant stupidity and lack of concern for the truth at your 5:44am post above where you posted a link showing “the first pictures of Osama’s body”. This was the link OS posted everybody:

    http://www.livemint.com/2011/05/02084418/Osama-bin-Laden-killed-in-shoo.html

    This picture is a CLEAR fake. It has been circulating on the web for almost a year. Some TV and radio stations have already declared it fake. If you want PROOF, here is one website from LAST NOVEMBER that posted the SAME picture.

    http://www.a-w-i-p.com/years-of-deceit-us-openly-accepts-bin-la.html

    The fact is, Osama bin Laden has been reported dead nearly a DOZEN times already. The most notable declaration of Osama’s death was in 2007 when Pakistani Prime Minister [before her assassination] told David Frost that Omar Shiekh had killed Osama. Doesnt anyone remember that? I will post the link in the next post since I can’t post 3 in the same post.

    OS, your link above shows and PROVES you care NOTHING about FACTS, or research, or verification, or truth. You just blow the trumpets for those who you ALREADY support and care nothing about getting to the TRUTH. Click the link above from a-w-i-p.com—-the article from November 2010 talks about Bin laden already being dead. But OS, why would facts deter you from posting complete bullshit?

  14. BIL & Mike: Here are a few teasers from Eric Hoffer. They are some of my favorite Hoffer aphorisms”

    “An empty head is not really empty; it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything into an empty head.”

    “I hang onto my prejudices, they are the testicles of my mind.”

    “Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect.”

    “People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.”

    “Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.”

    “Rudeness is a weak imitation of strength.”

  15. mespo,

    I must confess I’m in the same boat as Mike regarding Hoffer, but I have added him to my “to read” list.

  17. Swarthmore,

    Excellent article … but I think McChrystal is still a tool after what he, Bush and Rummy did to the Tillman Family.

    As far as Obama? The teabaggers and Rabid and Ridiculous Right will NEVER accept that not only is he American by birth, but loves his country just as much as they do.

  19. Mespo,

    Thank you for continuing to round out my education. I’ve of course known of Hoffer for years but never read him, which it seems is my loss. The quotes gave a perfect description of the mentality of marching followers and those that lead them. They lead to constructive ways of viewing and understanding of many things. A favorite quote of mine, whose source I’ve forgotten and whose text I paraphrase is:

    “All philosophy throughout the ages can be summed up in the thoughts of an average person taking their long Saturday night bath”

    To some, given his background, Hoffer could be called an average man, but what he did with his “mundane persons” thoughts (from those quotes alone)makes him an extraordinary teacher.

    In this threads context of course, it explains why despite the fact that OBL’s death will change little of America’s current peccadilloes, it was necessarily an important one. His death was necessary (and just) as I commented on 5/2 at 7:08pm. Taking him alive would have just provided him a long martyrdom and stage.
    I have for most of my life been against capital punishment, but that has always been in a practical sense since I feel too many have been killed without meeting the “beyond a reasonable doubt standard.” This to me is an ethical, rather than moral question. In OBL’s case he took credit for thousand of murders and reveled in his complicity and their occurrence. I do not mourn his passing, nor protest its methodology.

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