Bin Laden = Dead

[JackDiggity]

10 years. Trillions of dollars. Thousands of soldiers dead. State of the art technology. The U.S. finally found Bin Laden.....

In his House.

18 years. 3 administrations. You forgot about the first WTC bombing in 93.

[matthewk]

I wish we could see all of the intelligence that was recovered in this place. He had to have all the information on al Quaeda, different cells throughout the world, and even "rival" terrorist organizations. I think this strikes a major blow if our intelligence is able to decipher everything. Terrorism will never go away, but I think we get a lot of them now.

They probably didn't recover much, if anything. It doesn't sound like he was running things much anymore. He was more of a figurehead than anything else. He may have had some general info, but I doubt his place was a treasure trove for Al-Quaeda operations.

Strange layout the place had. One diagram I saw showed that nearly every section of outside wall was a different height. Why not just make it all 18 feet high instead of 12 here, 13 there, etc..?

At least some higher ups in Pakistan had to know he was there. A compound like that going up in 2005 in that area would have had to draw at least some attention.

[bdunn13]

I can only imagine what was going through the mind of the Seal that had Bin Laden in his crosshairs and then dropped his ass. Must have been something. A Great Day.

I would like to give him a high-five and buy him a cold one... or as many as he wanted!

[JackB1]

^^^^^^^^^^

Love it Slumber!!!!!

I heard Trump is demanding to see the death certificate.

[Slumberland]

Hm. I'm disappointed by some of the conspiracy mongering (Osama not really dead) and holier-than-thou posturing on twitter about how wrong it is to celebrate someone's death... and from people that I respect on other topics. Oh well.

[Naples39]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/violen ... onc,20294/

[RobVarak]

Jackdog...or anyone else with experience out there. Any thoughts about possible oddities in the info being released about the mission? I have two friends who are SF, both in Afghanistan right now, and they're raising holy hell about inconsistencies in the info about the raid. These guys are both on their 4th deployments, so they're not green...although they may be jealous that the swabbies got to pull the trigger.

One thing that struck me as either wrong or inaccurate is the story of the downed helo. WaPo reported that the team in that helo was tasked with perimeter security and the helo's tail rotor clipped a wall as it landed inside the compound. If the team's going to secure the perimeter of the compound, why deploy inside the walls?

I'm not fishing for conspiracy theories, just trying to piece together a few more details. I wonder, for instance, if some of the Pakistan was kept in the dark info is cover for the Pakistani government. This op was deep inside their territory and the team was on the ground for over 40 minutes. That means that either the Pakistanis actually did know something US-related was up or that the US was prepared to engage Pakistani forces who might've responded. I know the WH implied that they were in fact ready to engage. If Pakistan did provide any help, they would certainly rather have US public opinion suspicious of them than the militant Islamic elements certain of their complicity in the strike.

[LAking]

Jackdog...or anyone else with experience out there. Any thoughts about possible oddities in the info being released about the mission? I have two friends who are SF, both in Afghanistan right now, and they're raising holy hell about inconsistencies in the info about the raid. These guys are both on their 4th deployments, so they're not green...although they may be jealous that the swabbies got to pull the trigger.

One thing that struck me as either wrong or inaccurate is the story of the downed helo. WaPo reported that the team in that helo was tasked with perimeter security and the helo's tail rotor clipped a wall as it landed inside the compound. If the team's going to secure the perimeter of the compound, why deploy inside the walls?

I'm not fishing for conspiracy theories, just trying to piece together a few more details. I wonder, for instance, if some of the Pakistan was kept in the dark info is cover for the Pakistani government. This op was deep inside their territory and the team was on the ground for over 40 minutes. That means that either the Pakistanis actually did know something US-related was up or that the US was prepared to engage Pakistani forces who might've responded. I know the WH implied that they were in fact ready to engage. If Pakistan did provide any help, they would certainly rather have US public opinion suspicious of them than the militant Islamic elements certain of their complicity in the strike.

The US DID notify Pakistan right before the mission was executed. They just didn't let them know anything up until that point. That is why there was no military response from Pakistan.

[Teal]

^^^^^^^^^^

Love it Slumber!!!!!

I heard Trump is demanding to see the death certificate.

Fair warning: This is making the event political. It will become moreso if it continues.

[Brando70]

One thing that struck me as either wrong or inaccurate is the story of the downed helo. WaPo reported that the team in that helo was tasked with perimeter security and the helo's tail rotor clipped a wall as it landed inside the compound. If the team's going to secure the perimeter of the compound, why deploy inside the walls?

Could have been security for the perimeter of the house itself, inside the walls. Or perhaps they wanted to get on top of the walls to secure the compound from any possible external retaliation.

Given the accuracy of the SEAL's shots, they must have been using the FAMAS while bin Laden was using the AK-47

[Naples39]

I wish we could see all of the intelligence that was recovered in this place. He had to have all the information on al Quaeda, different cells throughout the world, and even "rival" terrorist organizations. I think this strikes a major blow if our intelligence is able to decipher everything. Terrorism will never go away, but I think we get a lot of them now.

They probably didn't recover much, if anything. It doesn't sound like he was running things much anymore. He was more of a figurehead than anything else. He may have had some general info, but I doubt his place was a treasure trove for Al-Quaeda operations.

Strange layout the place had. One diagram I saw showed that nearly every section of outside wall was a different height. Why not just make it all 18 feet high instead of 12 here, 13 there, etc..?

At least some higher ups in Pakistan had to know he was there. A compound like that going up in 2005 in that area would have had to draw at least some attention.

You're too negative.

The aftermath of the mission has been productive. The U.S. collected an “impressive amount” of material from bin Laden’s compound, including computers and other electronics, Panetta says. Panetta has set up a task force to act on the fresh intelligence.

Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/05/03/ci ... z1LJ6SfTgE

Al-qaeda may be a loose organization and Bin Laden may be hiding out, but it was still his personal project and life's work. Got to be things of value there.

[RobVarak]

The US DID notify Pakistan right before the mission was executed. They just didn't let them know anything up until that point. That is why there was no military response from Pakistan.

I watched Brennan's press briefing yesterday. He said that contrary to earlier reports, Pakistan was not notified until the strike force was out of Pakistani territory.

[ScoopBrady]

Thank you for keeping this thread politics free (for the most part) guys. Let's keep it that way.

I've seen some of that "it's wrong to celebrate the death of someone" crap on Facebook and Twitter too. I've got no problem celebrating this one. Hell, I wasn't celebrating but I wasn't exactly upset when I learned of Bill Wirtz' death. I guess that makes me a bad person.

[pk500]

The US DID notify Pakistan right before the mission was executed. They just didn't let them know anything up until that point. That is why there was no military response from Pakistan.

I watched Brennan's press briefing yesterday. He said that contrary to earlier reports, Pakistan was not notified until the strike force was out of Pakistani territory.

Indeed. Pakistan scrambled jets to intercept the unknown intruders, but our choppers flew low and slipped out of Pakistani airspace before the Pakistani forces could mobilize and engage.

More proof that we can sell our weapons to other nations, but our know-how and skill is what makes the difference when we use those tools. People and knowledge still are decisive.

[pk500]

Double post. Sorry.

[Teal]

Thank you for keeping this thread politics free (for the most part) guys. Let's keep it that way.

I've seen some of that "it's wrong to celebrate the death of someone" crap on Facebook and Twitter too. I've got no problem celebrating this one. Hell, I wasn't celebrating but I wasn't exactly upset when I learned of Bill Wirtz' death. I guess that makes me a bad person.

Yeah, that's just spineless nonsense. I'm not dancing in the street, but I'm not upset that he's gone, either.

[pk500]

I think Mark Twain's line sums it well: "I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure."

[RobVarak]

I think Mark Twain's line sums it well: "I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure."

That quote's getting a lot of play, but I don't buy the premise. Find me a man who's never wished another dead and I'll show you a liar, IMO.

[greggsand]

One thing that struck me as either wrong or inaccurate is the story of the downed helo. WaPo reported that the team in that helo was tasked with perimeter security and the helo's tail rotor clipped a wall as it landed inside the compound. If the team's going to secure the perimeter of the compound, why deploy inside the walls?

Here's a satellite shot of the downed helicopter:

http://gizmodo.com/#!5798055/check-out- ... from-space

[Gurantsu]

From a friends post on Facebook:

"Osama Bin Laden is dead. It just goes to show you what Americans can acomplish when the Playstation Network is down!"

And again... rot in hell Bin Laden.

[Rodster]

The WH said they will release the death photos. One shows part of his skull blown away from a head shot right above his left eye.

[Naples39]

Officials described the reaction of the special operators when they were told a number of weeks ago that they had been chosen to train for the mission.

“They were told, ‘We think we found Osama bin Laden, and your job is to kill him,’” an official recalled.

The SEALs started to cheer.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/05 ... z1LJjwqXSb

I wonder how many SEALs needed a clean pair of pants after being told that this was their next mission.

[LAking]

I think Mark Twain's line sums it well: "I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure."

Apparently this quote is from Charles Darrow, not Mark Twain.
Also, there is some quote being mistakenly attributed to Martin Luther King. http://www.theatlantic.com/national/arc ... orn/238220

[toonarmy]

Kind of hard to keep all the information straight now. Today it was revealed OBL did not use a gun and did not use his wife as a shield after all. The whole deal of how much did Pakistan know, etc. seems to change hourly. The White House spokesman even admitted he was getting confused about some aspects of the information, lol. I know they will not release the video of the operation, but it would be cool if they would release some snippets.

[greggsand]

Kind of hard to keep all the information straight now. Today it was revealed OBL did not use a gun and did not use his wife as a shield after all. The whole deal of how much did Pakistan know, etc. seems to change hourly. The White House spokesman even admitted he was getting confused about some aspects of the information, lol. I know they will not release the video of the operation, but it would be cool if they would release some snippets.

This tells me they probably had no intention of taking him alive (and I have no problem with that). It prob would suit the White House to release everything they have asap. Big details like this (gun/no gun, sheild/no shield) will only fuel conspiracy lovers & grand-standers. I've already had a couple goofs I work with tell me they believe OBL is still alive somewhere. Oy.