Naw I has to be intentional at some level. Obama is the POTUS's last name while (unless Arabs make their names like the Chinese or soming) Osama is OBL's first name.

Its not really appropate for a serrious news outlet to be refering to the subject of a story only by his first name.

I read it.

Your statement presupposes a secular country needs to engage in religious ceremony (period, much less for a war criminal).

IMO doing anything you'd not do for anyone else, is not "proper." If a muslim sailor died in ww2 on a ship, he had a flag draped, and was slid off the side like anyone else. If that was good enough for a ww2 sailor, it's more than good enough for OBL. In this case they gently lowered him into the water, unlike what was done with thousands of US sailors in the past.

If ANY other criminal would have been put in the morgue instead of rushed to burial within 24 hours, then OBL certainly should have. There was ZERO reason to bury him quickly, and many reasons to hold the carcass until we'd made sure everyone believed his death.

The doesn't destroy forensic evidence quickly in any other case. they did here. It was wrong.

Yeah, they'd do better to use "Mr. Obama" to refer tot he president, and "Bin Laden" for OBL. I think it's sloppiness.

Sort of unrelated, but have you hard of the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect?

I hear there's a new drink going around. It's called the Osama. It's two shots and a splash. :D

BTW, regarding "proper," what is the proper funeral practice for, say, an avowed Catholic who was in fact an unrepentant mass murderer? Do christian churches deny religious services ever based on the actions of the deceased?

Since Islam doesn't have a clergy, per se, what is their thought on the matter? "Proper" in US terms would therefore likely be to not give a religious burial to an unrepentant criminal.

Given he was not a Muslim according to any muslim that holds with the "hijacking Islam" meme, should he in fact not have been given a muslim burial since he was an apostate?

It really does come to theology as soon as you have a religious burial. Apostates don't get a proper burial, muslims do. You give him one, and you are de facto saying he's not an apostate.

On top of that, only supporters would care, right? Would a "moderate" muslim care how a mass murderer (and apostate) was buried?

Better to avoid the problem with an entirely secular burial. "we commit this body to the deep." <SPLASH> No washing it, no with sheet. Zip it in the bag, and dump.

A quick google shows that suicides, notorious unrepentant sinners, etc should be denied Christian services. Also, for Islam, "Apostates are denied a decent burial after their deaths, and the Muslims who participate in killing them are promised an eternal reward in paradise." Seems like if anyone actually believes Islam was hijacked they could easily label OBL an apostate, and claim he was denied burial for that reason. That would be entirely "proper." In fact, if he DID hijack Islam, then the only proper muslim burial would in fact be to DENY him muslim burial.

So giving him his muslim burial should in fact outrage moderates (who must think he is an apostate, else I don't think they are "moderate"), and only please islamists.

Again, better for a secular state to simply ignore the religion of her enemies in burial entirely.

No I never heard of it but I just googled it. Good point.

Only one of it's kind in the entire world. :yeah:

Osama Obama bin Pajama?

As an atheist my statement is about morality, not religion.

:yeah: Now all of this I can agree with, I don't care one way or another what respects were shown as long as respect was shown. And yes I do think it slightly strange that it was done so quickly. On the other hand if they didn't kill Osama and it is some kind of staged propaganda, it would be easy for him to deny the fact that he is dead. Maybe they feared that to keep his body would prompt threats and/or demands from groups or nations who were sympathetic to his cause.

Takes ten years to make, but it sure goes down easy, and with none of that funky aftertaste.

But it will probably result in one helluva hangover...

Just give thanks the Seals were more compitent than their politicians....If the US government couldn't keep Megatron under the sea, what hope do they have with Bin Laden?

I'm also an atheist, for the record.

The reason it was done quickly was Islamic law requires burial ASAP, within 24 hours, or even before that very sunset. Hence the "rush."

At a certain level, I'm fine with "respect," defined as not mutilating the carcass, etc. Forensics (full autopsy, etc) do not count as mutilation. A religious service, OTOH, is going too far in the other direction—particularly since him acting outside of Islam (the narrative for both Bush and Obama) pretty much casts OBL as an apostate. If so, "proper" muslim burial would in fact require NOT giving him a muslim burial.

Right now everyone should be pissed off. The AQ supporters would be anyone complaining that he didn't get a muslim burial because he was buried at sea. Anyone who is truly moderate and considers Islam actually "hijacked" by AQ should think him an apostate and should be pissed that they bothered to even try to give him a muslim burial.

I think bin Laden was arrested while in Pakistan and released on bail (bribe that is).

He made several trips in disguise from the compound reported by people left behind. Plus he had black hair dye in his bathroom for vanity, but yet no one knew he was there ...

Did you see where he had a fondness for Coke Cola and Pepsi having cases delivered in bulk to the compound.

All these years the intelligence was that Laden had some kind of problem and that he walked with a cane yet all of the medicine on his dresser was for common ills.

A tall man was seen walking and exercising in the compound by satellite. That man didn't need a cane.

A lot more information to come ... :yep:

No Osama death photos.

So the only images we have are of Obama, et al watching in the situation room. Cause it's about, you know, Obama.

There needs to be a FOIA request made. Sorry, but people have seen the images, if my employees in congress have seen it, why not ME?

Apparently a FOIA suit would likely win, too. The administration would literally have to contend that they were protecting the privacy of the bin Laden family to even fight it.

Gang that can't shoot straight strikes again. Apparently the sea burial has been planned for a long time should OBL be found, but no one thought about the requisite images for proof?