Bin Laden dead

[GCG]

I can help feeling this all too neat

He was found in a compound, not far away from a mility compound, shot twice in the head, and buried at sea (according to 'muslim customs')
Shot in the head?  why?  surely they should have wanted to interrogate him extensively?
buried at sea?  According to Wikipedia it should be as follows:

Burial rituals should normally take place as soon as possible and include:[1]

    * Bathing the dead body, except in extraordinary circumstances as in battle of Uhud.
    * Enshrouding dead body in a white cotton or linen cloth.
    * Funeral prayer .
    * Burial of the dead body in a grave.
    * Positioning the deceased so that the head is faced towards Mecca (Makkah Al-Mukarramah).

Burial at Sea

If the death occurs at sea, and there is a fear of the decay of the body, the prayers should be recited, and the body lowered into the sea in a vessel of clay, or with weights tied to its feet. Additionally, if there is a concern about the exhumation and defiling of the body by an enemy, then it should be lowered into the sea in the same fashion.

In either situation, it should not be lowered to a point where it will be consumed immediately.

This is, however, a tradition, specific to each culture, and not found in the Quran. However, even in cases of drowning, all effort must be made to perform a burial in the ground.

if the case was, that the body would decay, if they had planned to off his ass, surely they would have made provision for a morgue or coldroom?  and, why trundle his body along on a boat, when they can put it on a plane or chopper, and whiz him to the states or safe place quickly?

they have allready identified the body, that it is definitely him, via DNA mapping.
According to CNN reports

Officials compared the DNA of the person killed at the Abbottabad compound with the bin Laden "family DNA" to determine that the 9/11 mastermind had in fact been killed, a senior administration official said

Also to identify bin Laden, a visual ID was made. There were photo comparisons and other facial recognition used to identify him, the official said. A second official said that in addition to DNA, there was full biometric analysis of facial and body features.

but, according to reports, he was show twice in the head, and the reason they don't show the dead body, is cause half his head is blown to shit
i know diddly about DNA testing, but i have a mate that works at Ampath, it for a regular paternity test, it takes two weeks minimum.  there seems to be about 4 different kinds of DNA testing, it according to the internet, it takes about 5 days to do.  do they carry around a DNA tester kit around on missions?  do you even get a kit to quickly test someone's DNA?
i would have found it more believeable if they had said, they used fingerprints.

the conspiracy theorist in me, finds this veeeeeery dodgy.

[Jacques]

Do the math. The potential costs of lying about this far outweigh the potential benefits. Not close to elections, no key votes in the House, etc. As for the DNA evidence: http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2011/05/how_dna_could_confirm_bin_lade.html

[ingwe]

I believe that the main reason for taking his body out to the aircraft carrier where the burial took place was to ensure that there is no actual grave that may serve as a rallying point. An area of the Arabian Sea does not appeal as much as a pile of sand and stones!

[Mefiante]

Not that pragmatism often makes it into politics, but a more practical conspiracy from the point of view of actually reconciling people and promoting peaceful coexistence among them would have been to do away with OBL quietly, without all the fanfare and behind a front of “plausible deniability.”  That way, the issue would have died softly, albeit without the decade-delayed retribution.  The world, after all, mostly has pretty much digested the events of 9/11 and moved on from them, so why concoct a fiction that opens up old wounds just for a brief moment of satisfied redress that so obviously works against the greater good?

'Luthon64

[st0nes]

I believe that the main reason for taking his body out to the aircraft carrier where the burial took place was to ensure that there is no actual grave that may serve as a rallying point. An area of the Arabian Sea does not appeal as much as a pile of sand and stones!

It also makes it difficult to dance on his grave.

[st0nes]

Oh, and by the way has anyone claimed the $25m bounty on OBL's head?  If not where can I download the application form?

[Michael Meadon]

If OBL wasn't really dead, he would've released a video of him holding a newspaper declaring his death. No way the Obama administration would be stupid enough to lie in a case like this.

[Mefiante]

It also makes it difficult to dance on his grave.

Unless you’re Barracuda Obama.

There’s a not-so-subtle irreverence at play here that will not be lost on Islamists.  Although details of the burial-at-sea are sketchy, it is doubtful that the Muslim prescriptions for such a burial were followed.  It’s likely that OBL’s body was simply weighted down and unceremoniously tossed overboard, which means the body will be consumed by various bottom feeders and carrion eaters.  The Qur’an  describes such creatures as “unclean.”

'Luthon64

[GCG]

Unless you’re Barracuda Obama.

whaaa ha ha ha.....  wait, what?

[Hermes]

Not that pragmatism often makes it into politics, but a more practical conspiracy from the point of view of actually reconciling people and promoting peaceful coexistence among them would have been to do away with OBL quietly, without all the fanfare and behind a front of “plausible deniability.”  That way, the issue would have died softly, albeit without the decade-delayed retribution.  The world, after all, mostly has pretty much digested the events of 9/11 and moved on from them, so why concoct a fiction that opens up old wounds just for a brief moment of satisfied redress that so obviously works against the greater good?

'Luthon64

I agree that doing it on the quiet might have been a more reconciliatory approach, but perhaps Obama's main concern is enhancing his own popularity among US voters.

[BoogieMonster]

Amen Hermes, I'm sure saying "Hey look I got the guy Bush couldn't" surely raises some support for Obama, and of course for the whole war effort, which has been suffering lots of "what the hell are we accomplishing here?" kind of questions.

In my mind the biggest problem by far in the region is not one whacky Muslim guy. They have much bigger issues that will only be made worse.

I also suspect having a burial site would've been a magnet for people to come and try "reclaim" his body. It just couldn't have ended well.

[Mefiante]

[P]erhaps Obama's main concern is enhancing his own popularity among US voters.

Well, we were talking about conspiracies around OBL’s death.  But yes, the thought had occurred to me also, though at what cost is this popularity achieved?  Obama strikes me as level-headed enough to avoid the need for such overwrought theatrics that only polarise people.  Then again, I’ll readily admit to the possibility that I’m underestimating the average intelligence of the US voter and the sordidness of US politics.

'Luthon64

[Majin]

We will never know the whole truth, we can only speculate.

[Tweefo]

Elton John's new hit single is "Sandals in the Bin".

[GCG]

Obama strikes me as level-headed enough to avoid the need for such overwrought theatrics that only polarise people. 

i had allways like obama.  i read his first book, and as much as that might have been a carefully created spin, i do feel he is an ok dude.  he hasnt been groomed for the part since birth, unlike bush and co.  i have thought him to be a guy who doesnt fall for bullshit.  but i think, at the end of the day, if he wants to stay in office, and achieve what he wants for his country, he realises that one needs to play with the moral boundries.  and his spin doctors would have told him the value of the osama kill for his re-election campaign.  i think, also, that once you are entrenched in the nitty gritty of the oval office, a lot of your pipe-dreams are lost to dissillusionment and start realities of running a country.
i wonder sometimes, if a president isnt merely a pawn, a spokesperson, for the machine that is the government.  how much say does the president actually have?