Bin Laden down

[nslay]

Haha! That's funny!

[nslay]

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

I don't know why the media feel they are exempt from this simple rule. We've not been able to locate him for nearly decade. We thought we knew his location several times before. Hence, I have problems simply taking a reporter's word for it.

I'm also curious why we simply dumped his body into the ocean so quickly. Wouldn't there be autopsies and analysis to verify his identity? Wouldn't we also bring the body back to the US for further verification? The only people who have seen his body are the military. After all, this is the man who was the leader of an organization that conducted several terrorist attacks including 9/11.

That last detail wreaks of hoax until evidence suggests otherwise. Of course, no evidence has been provided. Whoever informed the press seems horribly irresponsible not to provide at least photos. But now that we have dumped his body into the ocean with the only witnesses being the military, even photos are questionable. There is no primary evidence what-so-ever. We can't even verify if its a hoax now. This is irresponsible and unscientific.

Doesn't anybody else take issue with that bit where we simply dumped his body into the ocean?

[Rule]

Wouldn't there be autopsies and analysis to verify his identity?

Apparently they have his sister's DNA, and DNA tests confirmed that whoever was killed was his sister's brother.

[iago]

I don't know why the media feel they are exempt from this simple rule. We've not been able to locate him for nearly decade. We thought we knew his location several times before. Hence, I have problems simply taking a reporter's word for it.

It wasn't he media who announced it, it was the president in an address last night.

I'm also curious why we simply dumped his body into the ocean so quickly. Wouldn't there be autopsies and analysis to verify his identity? Wouldn't we also bring the body back to the US for further verification? The only people who have seen his body are the military. After all, this is the man who was the leader of an organization that conducted several terrorist attacks including 9/11.

They took his DNA, and buried him in accordance with his religious beliefs. As I keep saying to people, we're supposed to be the good guys.

That last detail wreaks of hoax until evidence suggests otherwise. Of course, no evidence has been provided. Whoever informed the press seems horribly irresponsible not to provide at least photos. But now that we have dumped his body into the ocean with the only witnesses being the military, even photos are questionable. There is no primary evidence what-so-ever. We can't even verify if its a hoax now. This is irresponsible and unscientific.

Doesn't anybody else take issue with that bit where we simply dumped his body into the ocean?

The press doesn't have photos, the military does. They're debating releasing them.

Have you read any of the stories or watched the speech about what happened? If not, you should - it sounds like you're missing important bits.

[CrAz3D]

I like the buried at sea rationale. If he is somewhere on land, it might become a new target or attraction for nut jobs ... much like DisneyLand.

[nslay]

Wouldn't there be autopsies and analysis to verify his identity?

Apparently they have his sister's DNA, and DNA tests confirmed that whoever was killed was his sister's brother.

No third party verification. Where did they get the DNA? We'll never know for sure now.

[rabbit]

Wouldn't there be autopsies and analysis to verify his identity?

Apparently they have his sister's DNA, and DNA tests confirmed that whoever was killed was his sister's brother.

No third party verification. Where did they get the DNA? We'll never know for sure now.

His sister died in Boston not long ago.

Also, he was buried at sea in accordance with Islamic laws, which require a body to be buried no more than 1 day after death (buried part) and at sea because they didn't want his grave to become a shrine (at sea part).  At least that's what I've heard.

[nslay]

I don't know why the media feel they are exempt from this simple rule. We've not been able to locate him for nearly decade. We thought we knew his location several times before. Hence, I have problems simply taking a reporter's word for it.

It wasn't he media who announced it, it was the president in an address last night.

I'm also curious why we simply dumped his body into the ocean so quickly. Wouldn't there be autopsies and analysis to verify his identity? Wouldn't we also bring the body back to the US for further verification? The only people who have seen his body are the military. After all, this is the man who was the leader of an organization that conducted several terrorist attacks including 9/11.

They took his DNA, and buried him in accordance with his religious beliefs. As I keep saying to people, we're supposed to be the good guys.

I'm not convinced. We have a bad track record with humane treatment when it comes to terrorists and the military. I'd be somewhat surprised if we felt obligated to bury him in accordance to his religious beliefs.

Because there is no body, we can't verify that the DNA came from his body or from some other source, such as a hospital.

No third party verification. No peer review. No primary evidence. This stinks!

That last detail wreaks of hoax until evidence suggests otherwise. Of course, no evidence has been provided. Whoever informed the press seems horribly irresponsible not to provide at least photos. But now that we have dumped his body into the ocean with the only witnesses being the military, even photos are questionable. There is no primary evidence what-so-ever. We can't even verify if its a hoax now. This is irresponsible and unscientific.

Doesn't anybody else take issue with that bit where we simply dumped his body into the ocean?

The press doesn't have photos, the military does. They're debating releasing them.

Have you read any of the stories or watched the speech about what happened? If not, you should - it sounds like you're missing important bits.

There are no bits! We have an empty claim that we have killed one of the most difficult men to track.
Everything written is a bunch of hot air.

I'm skeptical. Anyone have any evidence that we really killed him?

It would be a dumb thing to lie about.  If they hadn't actually killed him, wouldn't Osama be ecstatic to go and release another video to erode US credibility?

If we're trying to locate him, maybe not.

This could be a political stunt for all we know. However, the Pentagon claims they have photos of his body and will release them eventually. Until then, all we have to go by are words.

[iago]

So what's the alternative?

1. That he's alive, and is going to say "nuh uh!"

2. That he's captured and being detained

3. That he was dead a long time ago

I'd say that 2. is most likely, but with wikileaks and everything I'm not sure they would take that kind of chance..

[nslay]

So what's the alternative?

1. That he's alive, and is going to say "nuh uh!"

2. That he's captured and being detained

3. That he was dead a long time ago

I'd say that 2. is most likely, but with wikileaks and everything I'm not sure they would take that kind of chance..

I really don't know. If we were to assume the claims were untrue, any of these 3 alternatives could be possible. Though with his supposed health problems, (3) might be more likely.

I have some hope that the Pentagon will at least release pictures at some point.

I just have trouble believing that we would quickly discard the body of one of the most notorious terrorist leaders because of his religious beliefs. This gesture is too good to be true! But it is entirely possible that criticism has galvanized the military to be more respectful of terrorists, even of Osama bin Laden! I would have thought the military would bring his body back for third parties to verify. Then they could bury him at sea. That's the responsible and scientific way to deal with someone so infamous.

If it's hoax, discarding the alleged evidence is a good way to prevent anyone from finding out.

[Sidoh]

They released some evidence:

http://imm.io/5mXI

Seriously though, who fucking cares.  I think it's disgusting that we're celebrating death.  I may have not liked the guy, but I don't think I'd want him dead.  What good does that do us?  It's not like there aren't hundreds of other like-minded individuals who are happy to take his place.

When I read the headline, all that went through my mind is:

AMERICA!  FUCK YEAH!
NOW LICK MY DICK AND SUCK ON MY BALLS

[CrAz3D]

I dont know if I read it in this thread, or another thread, but if he is alive, wouldnt he just release a new video saying "haha americans didnt kill me I still win body double!"

yeah....it was rule:

I'm skeptical. Anyone have any evidence that we really killed him?

It would be a dumb thing to lie about.  If they hadn't actually killed him, wouldn't Osama be ecstatic to go and release another video to erode US credibility?

and I dont very much care for nslay's response. Bin Laden has released many videos while we've been trying to find him.

[nslay]

I dont know if I read it in this thread, or another thread, but if he is alive, wouldnt he just release a new video saying "haha americans didnt kill me I still win body double!"

yeah....it was rule:

I'm skeptical. Anyone have any evidence that we really killed him?

It would be a dumb thing to lie about.  If they hadn't actually killed him, wouldn't Osama be ecstatic to go and release another video to erode US credibility?

and I dont very much care for nslay's response. Bin Laden has released many videos while we've been trying to find him.

Well, we'll see. Maybe he pre-recorded post-death videos to mess with our minds.

[Joe]

If they did a DNA test against his sister, wouldn't his brother also match? I'm no biologist but it can only check that the two specimens have the same parents, right?

[Armin]

This is the kind of the thing where if Republicans do it, people are ECSTATIC.  (e.g. Saddam Hussein).  If Obama does it, people go... hmm, whatever, lets find a way to criticize him for telling us this, because we don't like Obama. It's because the  "we want revenge" people are mostly Republicans (or against Obama anyway), and they will not like Obama no matter what he does.  They can take a piece of news that would normally make them really happy, and find a way to criticise it terribly if Obama's name is attached to it.  There's also the fact that Republicans are brilliant at PR and Democrats are not.  I am just speculating though, it will be interesting to see the general reaction.

All of this is plainly human nature, and republicans and democrats are equally human.