Osama bin Laden is dead

[YoshiEgg25]

I think that more important than Bin Laden's death is to know how many other died in the strikes. Particularly how many noncombatants.

Yeah, ABC and NBC have said that this was a ground operation, and he was killed in a mansion just outside Islamabad, Pakistan. He was shot and the body was recovered, with his DNA being matched.

[Jamisonia]

so we have his body.

what do they do with it now? i guessing they won't be doing a proper burial that respects his culture.

Unfortunately the burden of proof is very high for us. We'll have to drag the body throughout the Middle East to prove he's really dead. Otherwise it won't be the psychological blow it needs to be. Even if bin Laden wasn't really the main leader of al Qaeda anymore, and even if some other guy stands up to take his place, the psychology of a kill like this it what's important.

[jfrost]

Thanks, Yoshi. It's less bad of a situation than I thought. Though I'd also like to know if there was sufficient reason for killing him on the spot, such as fighting back or something. Unless that was the case, I think it's hardly clear that he should be killed. It certainly won't destroy Al Qaeda.

[AmishSamurai]

[the7k]

I think they would have preferred not to kill him, as it would have been much better for him to give information and stand trial.

However, you can't always go for a capture in the middle of a firefight.

[Flake]

Oh gosh, I am so glad that we were working with Pakistan's own CT forces on this one. I was really worried that we'd violated Pakistan's sovereignty killing Bin Laden. THAT would have made things even worse - but having them on our sides for this one should work out to an all around win for the US and coalition forces and the loss of a major figure head to Al Qaeda.

[MrEco]

This made my day even better.

[Jrecee]

Where did they get the dna from to match it in the first place?

[emwearz]

Cant wait for the next episode of South Park

[Jrecee]

I find this image of a crowd cheering after hearing of his death very interesting. Not saying I'm not with them, but it's interesting to compare the shot to similar ones taken around the world, of people cheering the death of americans, or other events which we see from another perspective.