Bin Laden is Dead

[Kompresshun]

What, like this one?

Brown Folk.

They all look the same.

Das racist

[Jesda]

What, like this one?

FINE FINE I'LL SHAVE

[OriginalWheelman]

I'm sure wikileaks will release any and all information related to this mission in a couple of weeks. Personally I think Tier One and the CIA should go after that guy next, but I digress.

You forget that wikileaks #1 supplier of military secrets is in jail right now.

[snwbrdr435]

While I do agree that Obama played a part in what happened, what pisses me off are all the people I hear saying "Obama got him and Bush couldn't" and how the NY times tries to say Bush's handling of it was incompetent because they didn't get all the information in the beginning of this investigation.

As i understand it we were extremely f*** close to getting his a** in the weeks following 9/11 only to be f*** over by the afghan "allies" we had who let him clear out before invading his mountain lair

[OriginalWheelman]

That probably plaid a role in the decision to not tell Pakistan.

Not to mention this compound wasn't even built until 2005 so OBL could only have been living there 6 years of the last 10 at most.

[dickie]

Didn't read any of the thread but I'll just leave this here:

[Encryptshun]

I agree 100% with Obama's decision to not release the photos. It would add zero value to the equation and would be resemblant of ye olde days where the heads of enemies of the state would be put on pikes at the top of the castle walls. Leave that sort of behavior to the jackholes we're fighting, as it only shows they have zero respect for life. It's gruesome and we're better than that.

Those who would prolong the "Osama is still alive" conspiracy theories would only look at those photos and claim they are faked anyway, so it doesn't matter. I'm disappointed that he was killed and not taken into custody, but considering the threat condition of that compound, I cannot blame the operatives for shooting first and asking questions later.

[AppleBonker]

But Chad, we financed that. We need proof. I also demand to see all intelligence gained from this mission as I financed that as well!

[IBCoupe]

Also, the moon landings. We financed the filming of that, right?

[AppleBonker]

Area 51 too. Heck, I'm walking right through the pentagon tomorrow. They can't stop me. I paid for it!

[IBCoupe]

It's mah government!

[Razi]

I'm down with Obama not releasing the photos.

The people that don't believe he's dead will say the photos are fake and keep on believing Osama is alive.

The people that do believe he's dead, will just nod their head and say they believed it anyways.

Osama's fan club will get angry and add it to their list of excuses to hate and attack America.

[alms24sebring]

Even if skeptics saw photots, they would claim photoshop. He made the right choice by not showing them

Today on the radio they said that there wasnt a huse firefight as was originally told, just a bullet or 2 and only 1 casualty I think (besides Osama). This is what I mean tho, why would the gov't lie about that? Does it make the US sound more heroic that we took evertbody out? why make it all dramatic when its really not. The US gov'ts are pathalogical liers from my POV, and it really pisses me off

[One Finger]

Wait wait wait... is this the proof you need?

[Chaotic_Warlord]

Even if skeptics saw photots, they would claim photoshop. He made the right choice by not showing them

Today on the radio they said that there wasnt a huse firefight as was originally told, just a bullet or 2 and only 1 casualty I think (besides Osama). This is what I mean tho, why would the gov't lie about that? Does it make the US sound more heroic that we took evertbody out? why make it all dramatic when its really not. The US gov'ts are pathalogical liers from my POV, and it really pisses me off

Please tell me your being sarcastic. You do understand how the system works right... Despite the absurdness of it the Government likes to give press conferences and tell the public any information that is not deemed as Classified as they get it. After action reports take about a week to get through, you have to go through a unit debrief, then a debrief with command, you write up your AA and it goes through the chain of command who take a black magic marker to anything that the general public doesn't need to know or shouldn't know, they give that copy to the Press Secretary and he spills it one little gem at a time until something bigger comes along or he runs out of copy to sell. It's a game and the average Joe goes along with it. It's been this way since WWII if not before, it's only been in the last several years that the general populace has started to severely question the government.

The real question is what kind of stealth helicopter they had to blow up because it wouldn't fire back up. Usually it's MH60's and Little Birds, but apparently the helo's they used for this mission were some sort of top secret new aircraft.

[alms24sebring]

I mean I can understand a Area 51 I guess, Ill let that slide. But this, IMO, isnt something crucial to keep from the public. It doesnt make a difference to me if it was a firefight or if it was quick and quiet with minimal death. So your saying that now that they think about it from the heat of the monent, it wasnt a small war, it was a quick mission? I dont believe the cover up and it doesnt matter. I just dont know what to believe anymore.

[AZhitman]

There were 3 other deaths I believe. Those photos are on CNN.

[alms24sebring]

yeah like they used his wife as a shield or some F'd up crap, and 2 guards ?? Stories are different from everywhere.

[Encryptshun]

What I really disagree with not taking advantage of the fact that they got a TON of intel off the computers in his compound that would have allowed them to track down and kill/capture the other ranking members of the network. They should have treated it like a well-run mafia investigation.

Once the news came out, anyone else who we'd want to capture or kill would have rabbited.

[AZhitman]

Uh, I think we're doing that now? I mean, we just got the stuff a few days ago.

As far as them all being "pre-warned" by the media, well, can't blame that on the media. It's not like Bad Guys 2, 3 and 4 can't figure out that American soldiers would have jacked every piece of media and evidence in that house after they whacked Bad Guy 1.

[Dittoz7]

Fck that all I want is a picture of that narly looking heli!

Looks soooo rad.

[Encryptshun]

I know we are probably following up on the leads from the scrub of the computer equipment, sure. And I'm not blaming the media -- I'm disagreeing with the decison to release any information about the op AT ALL until all the other leaders were either in custody or dead. It's like how a RICO case is carried out here. You don't pinch a mob boss and then let everybody know about it until after you've also pinched as much of the rest of the organization as you can get your hands on. Bin Laden sent couriers far away from his location to manually relay messages via phone or internet to his other cell leaders so they wouldn't be able to track a communication nexus on a map and pinpoint his location that way -- that means a substantial lag time in communication. So it would have been potentially days or weeks before any of his people even knew of the hit. Enough time to at least get the other 3 or 4 top members of Al Queda.

[AZhitman]

I agree 100%. I believe in witholding information when it's for the "greater good".

Unfortunately, there's a lot of politically-active people who think they know better, and always run around squawking for "full disclosure".

[AppleBonker]

Also, wouldn't it have been hard to keep this secret? We did carry out the mission in Pakistan. And we left part of a helicopter there. Pretty sure they're a little pissed about that (not that I care). But the news was going to spread that something major and covert went down if we didn't take credit for it. And who else would have the tech we left behind in the helicopter?

[Encryptshun]

That's also a good point, Adam, which would lead to a possible conclusion that the original mission priorities were to quietly secure the compound, the man, and the intel, but something went wrong and they had to settle for 3 out of 4. The only ones who will know are the ones who planned the op and the ones who carried it out.

[AZhitman]

Bingo.

Those guys are well-trained to rapidly click from Plan A to Plans B, C, D, and E without delay.

[AppleBonker]

Indeed. Still impressive that the mission is generally considered a complete success given the issues they did have. Talk about training for all possible problems...

[AZhitman]

Scuttling the damaged chopper on a second's notice to prevent reverse-engineering is complete badassery.

[AppleBonker]

Agreed. I doubt I'd be able to act cool and collected in that situation. I get flustered occasionally when things don't go my way at work. And my work rarely involves shooting people or, more importantly, being shot at. That factor ups the stress just a touch. While I can give credit for making a gutsy call, the decision doesn't seem quite as difficult when you know you're sending in guys who perform like this.

[RobPaulson]