Bin Laden is dead, official

[Skybird]

Obama rules no photographic evidence for the claim that Osama was killed shall be published.

Very big mistake, no matter whether sentimental piety or inappropriate respect for precious Muslim sentiments is the reason. That Obama is a bit dumb on Islamic issues and pays respect were nop repsect is deserved, we know since his Cairo speech at the latest. But this mistake now he will feel. It will haunt the US.

Some of us may believe but none of us knows whether Osama got killed two nights ago, or not. We only know that it would be of opportunistic use for Obama's administration if the claim would be believed.

Very very big mistake.

[MaddogK]

Interesting- CIA denies capturing then killing Bin Laden, AND taking OBL's son on chopper.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540...98456#42898456

[Freiwillige]

This thing has been haywire from the beginning. First he was armed and fought and used a woman as a shield, then he was unarmed and did not use a woman as a shield. If he was unarmed why couldn't they capture him alive???

I think he was probably armed and fought back they just don't want to sell that image because it makes him look like more of a martyr to his people, hence the story change.

And also if we can see images of be-heading's and people falling to their death on 9-11 repeatedly why cant we see this ass with a well deserved .223 lobotomy?

[krashkart]

By golly, this is shaping up to be a real mess, isn't it? The conspiracy theories will definitely live on for many generations after this.

Sure wish the White House would make up their minds and settle on one solid account of what really happened.

[tater]

This has been planned for months, and they didn't think to have a media plan in place?

I think he was unarmed, actually. I think the story was fragmented at first, different people latching onto different things instead of simply waiting on an after action report. Everything about the way the administration has handled this has been ham-fisted.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by krashkart

By golly, this is shaping up to be a real mess, isn't it? The conspiracy theories will definitely live on for many generations after this.

Sure wish the White House would make up their minds and settle on one solid account of what really happened.

Indeed. Why the sudden change of story? That's what fuels the conspiracy nuts. Like with 9/11, small details changed over time and conspiracy guys jumped right at them.

Just release the video of the raid, or atleast the photo. There's no sense in keeping them so to not piss of the muslims. Osama's supporters are already pissed I would think.

[tater]

It's gonna come out anyway. Congress critters have seen them, an FOIA will happen.

I seem to recall the huge outcry from Western media (and some on these very forums) when Al Jazeera and others repeatedly published images of butchered Americans who were shot, their bodies burned and then hung from a bridge by Islamist insurgents.

Seems like some trophy photos are ok depending only upon who the victim is and who did the killing. Succumbing to such hypocracy is prevelent on Internet forums but should be avoided as goverment policy as far too much is at stake.

Publishing the money shots lowers America to the level of the extremists, keeping them out of the media is entirely the correct thing to do.

Conspiracy nut jobs and the tinfoil hat crowd will believe whatever they want to believe regardless of any and all evidence to the contrary so the claims that photo proof must be in the public domain is bogus and just aims at the sensational.

Bin Laden's execution was a fine piece of work, the US government should not adapt the media feeding frenzy that has become the jihadist stock and trade.

[August]

http://socyberty.com/issues/white-ho...ama-bin-laden/

I don't know how true any of this is but if so it's downright scary:

The president had been instructed by Jarrett to inform Mr., Panetta that he would have sole discretion to act against the Osama Bin Laden compound. Jarrett believed this would further delay Panetta from acting, as the responsibility for failure would then fall almost entirely on him. What Valerie Jarrett, and the president, did not know is that Leon Panetta had already initiated a program that reported to him –and only him, involving a covert on the ground attack against the compound. Basically, the whole damn operation was already ready to go – including the specific team support Intel necessary to engage the enemy within hours of being given notice. Panetta then made plans to proceed with an on-ground assault.

This information reached either Hillary Clinton or Robert Gates first (likely via military contacts directly associated with the impending mission) who then informed the other. Those two then met with Panetta, who informed each of them he had been given the authority by the president to proceed with a mission if the opportunity presented itself. Both Gates and Clinton warned Panetta of the implications of that authority – namely he was possibly being made into a scapegoat. Panetta admitted that possibility, but felt the opportunity to get Bin Laden outweighed that risk. During that meeting, Hillary Clinton was first to pledge her full support for Panetta, indicating she would defend him if necessary. Similar support was then followed by Gates.

The following day, and with Panetta’s permission, Clinton met in private with Bill Daley and urged him to get the president’s full and open approval of the Panetta plan. Daley agreed such approval would be of great benefit to the action, and instructed Clinton to delay proceeding until he had secured that approval. Daley contacted Clinton within hours of their meeting indicating Jarrett refused to allow the president to give that approval. Daley then informed Clinton that he too would fully support Panetta in his actions, even if it meant disclosing the president’s indecision to the American public should that action fail to produce a successful conclusion. Clinton took that message back to Panetta and the CIA director initiated the 48 hour engagement order.

At this point, the President of the United States was not informed of the engagement order – it did not originate from him, and for several hours after the order had been given and the special ops forces were preparing for action into Pakistan from their position in Afghanistan, Daley successfully kept Obama and Jarrett insulated from that order.

[tater]

We're not talking about a butchered corpse. It's proof that he is dead given an insane following known to believe crazy conspiracies. Hitler's body was not to be had, so there were conspiracies about him as well. It's an entirely different situation.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/photos-show...194758961.html

BTW, the dead guy in this photo was at least armed with a squirt gun.

[Jimbuna]

[flatsixes]

I'm no fan of Obama, but as an American it pains me this thing starting to slip away from the administration. I know that the demands of media require that the story get out there before it's been fully vetted and scripted, but this one was too big to have been put out half-baked.

Day 1: "Ladies and gentlemen, bin Laden is dead. That's all we have at the moment."
Day 2: "Yep. He's still dead, but I can't give you the details just yet."

Days 3 through 21: See Day 2.

Day 22; "Osama who?"

[tater]

That stuff august pointed to is indeed crazy. It would explain the administration being caught flat-footed on what to say, when they should have has everything "in the can" before the trigger was even pulled.

[krashkart]

Originally Posted by August

http://socyberty.com/issues/white-ho...ama-bin-laden/

I don't know how true any of this is but if so it's downright scary:

I read about something similar that happened during the JFK administration. I think it was regarding an attempt on the life of the then-president of South Vietnam. JFK didn't know what was going on until after the fact -- and once he found out he was really, really upset about it. His staff had managed to get his approval over the phone without actually telling him what they were up to. Sneaky buggers.

[heartc]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Obama rules no photographic evidence for the claim that Osama was killed shall be published.

Very big mistake, no matter whether sentimental piety or inappropriate respect for precious Muslim sentiments is the reason. That Obama is a bit dumb on Islamic issues and pays respect were nop repsect is deserved, we know since his Cairo speech at the latest. But this mistake now he will feel. It will haunt the US.

Some of us may believe but none of us knows whether Osama got killed two nights ago, or not. We only know that it would be of opportunistic use for Obama's administration if the claim would be believed.

Very very big mistake.

I agree with Skybird here, as far as the PR are concerned.
I just don't get it. It's like they are TRYING to feed the nuts. First, drop him overboard within hours, then don't produce any pictures to the public. WTF?
And what's all this talk about "proper muslim burial" etc. when the official line has been all along that he is *not* representative of Islam and rather a perversion of it? Why then treat his body like he was a holy man?? Wtf is this ----. Totally unnecessary. And remember: When Saddam was captured, and then later on killed, the "Arab street" needed those pictures to see that things had indeed happened.
Otherwise, for all the nuts, foreign and domestic, it's "pics or it didn't happen". Not that the hardliners would take a picture for proof, what's with photoshop etc, but for "the man on the street", you would still minimize the conspiracy ---- a lot more.

Actually, as of now, the only thing that keeps the conspiracy theorists from gaining wide-spread approval is the fact that Al-Quaida themselves have pretty much confirmed the death of the dear leader. At least I didn't yet hear any opposite claims, and they are threatening revenge etc. But if the US keeps handling the PR like this, they (the bad guys) themselves might get doubts about it and change the party line lol.

What a ---- up. PR-wise.