The Announcement of the Death of Osama Bin Laden

May 2nd, 2011
Last night reports broke out and President Obama confirmed they were true when he announced to the nation that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. It's been a time of celebrating for Americans from the moment the news broke out. A team of Navy Seals are to thank for their bravery and skills in the attack as well as a HUGE THANK YOU to all our service men and women who have been fighting in this war against terror! Finally the man responsible for orchestrating the 9/11 attacks has received justice.

I am thankful for the closure that this brings to so many Americans and survivors of that day but esp. for the families of those that lost their lives!!

Rejoicing after a decade: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_bin_laden

Closure. Finally, something that many Americans had given up on.

Here are a few of the thoughts I've had or heard today.

1.) Why would they "bury the body at sea"?

We all know that had it been reversed, they would be parading the body thru the streets for weeks. Personally, I think that is revolting however, we should at least be able to see videos of the body being carried out or brought at least to our soil to be burned or disposed of. Per radio reports this morning the reasoning comes from the Muslim tradition of burying their dead at sea. CBSNEW€S posted this today, "Pentagon officials said Monday that bin Laden's body was be handled in accordance with Muslim traditions, which include strict rules on burial taking place within 24 hours after death." (See that article here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/02/501364/main20058795.shtml ) To this my reaction is w/out hesitation, WHY? Why would we worry about HIM and HIS religious traditions when we have THOUSANDS of people who have been waiting OVER A DECADE for this moment?

I agree with this question that this is the wrong thing to do and does give rise to suspicion over whether or not he truly is dead.

http://www.yahoo.com/_ylt=AtyAE0QU02ESV26fhu1CQ5ibvZx4;_ylu=X3oDMTN0dnVqNGhmBGEDMTEwNTAxIG5ld3MgYmluIGxhZGVuIHhvBGNjb2RlAwRjcG9zAzEEZwNpZC04Nzk5MARpbnRsA3VzBGl0YwMwBHBrZ3YDNjAEcG9zAzYEc2VjA3RkLXhvBHNsawNyZWwtdGl0bGUEdGVzdAMzNTEEd29lAzEyNzc2NzEx/SIG=122oma21u/EXP=1304424456/**http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_bin_laden_burial

Per reports, they did take DNA from the body to dispel any rumors but really, that's not going to work. People want to SEE proof.

2.) Why haven't they released the photos?

Naturally you would think if there are photos, they would be shown. Also on the news radio broadcasts this morning, is the fact that no decision has been reached as to whether or not the photos will be released to the public. I am not one that thinks the public always needs to know everything, but this, needs to be shared.

3.) This does not mean that this is the end.

Obviously. Bin Laden has not even been leading al-Qaida for years and terrorism will continue to be a national threat. The United States has issued a Travel Warning to all American Citizens abroad but let's not be ignorant to the fact that terrorists are not just "abroad" they are in our borders and can attack any time that they choose. This goes for more than just America, al-Qaida groups can be found around the globe.You can not help but wonder what the retaliation to Bin Laden's death will be.

http://www.yahoo.com/_ylt=AjBFh3cGqv1Ak3ZJUMOUTGCbvZx4;_ylu=X3oDMTNvaDA2dWViBGEDMTEwNTAxIG5ld3MgYmluIGxhZGVuIHhvBGNjb2RlAwRjcG9zAzEEZwNpZC04Nzk5MARpbnRsA3VzBGl0YwMwBHBrZ3YDOTkEcG9zAzMEc2VjA3RkLXhvBHNsawNtb3JlBHRlc3QDMzUxBHdvZQMxMjc3NjcwNA--/SIG=152c63t7h/EXP=1304447002/**http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110502/ts_yblog_thelookout/could-bin-ladens-death-could-increase-risk-of-domestic-terrorism-attacks

According to NBC last night, within the next 60 days the first group of American soldiers is anticipated to be pulled out and brought home due to this.

4.) It's not really his body, they used "facial reconstruction" to make us think that the it was Bin Laden living there.
This came straight from a conspiracy theorist's mouth!! lol I don't even know what to say to that other than, that would be why we took DNA from the body to test and also I'd like to say, that would be insane.

5.) Why if he was in a house 8x's the size of all other houses in the city, with a huge thick brick wall and barbed wire across the top, did we just think to look for him there now?

Apparently the house was built in 2005, but Bin Laden did not move in until 2008. Enter U.S. surveillance...oh about.... 6 months ago. I agree, this is odd. I would also think that we would have our eyes on movement in Pakistan while looking for him however, you have to remember that Pakistan was not willing to help at all. With that hindrance also is the fact that we did not just go in and take over the city lol I'm not sure what people think goes on, but not that. Just to show how unwilling Pakistan and it's people were to help, I should mention that there was a 25 million dollar bounty on Osama Bin Laden's head that was being offered. I know if it were American's and there was a possibility that a wanted terrorist, a murderer of hundreds of men, women, and children was at large in our country AND there was a huge bounty on his head, DOG wouldn't even get the call before there would be hundreds of people searching the hills and mountains. At least, I would hope so. A reporter for FOX News stated that the Pakistan government was not informed of the U.S. plan to attack. There's a reason for that. Fox also reported that since 9/11 the U.S. has given about 2 billion dollars a year to Pakistan. That's slightly more than that 25 million dollar bounty... Our relationship with Pakistan has changed a lot in recent years. As much as I hate to take from Wikipedia..I'm going to. Simply because they put it simply and quickly:

"Prior to the September 11 attacks in 2001, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were key supporters of the Taliban in Afghanistan, as part of their "strategic depth" objective vis-a-vis India, Iran, Russia and to try to bring stability to Afghanistan after years of civil war following the Soviet withdrawal.

After 9/11, Pakistan, led by General Pervez Musharraf, reversed course under pressure from the United States and joined the "War on Terror" as a U.S. ally. Having failed to convince the Taliban to hand over bin Laden and other members of Al Qaeda, Pakistan provided the U.S. a number of military airports and bases for its attack on Afghanistan, along with other logistical support. Since 2001, Pakistan has arrested over five hundred Al-Qaeda members and handed them over to the United States; senior U.S. officers have been lavish in their praise of Pakistani efforts in public while expressing their concern that not enough was being done in private. However, General Musharraf was strongly supported by the Bush administration – a common theme throughout Pakistan's relations with the U.S. has been U.S. support of military dictators to the detriment of democracy in Pakistan.

In return for their support, Pakistan had sanctions lifted and has received about $10 billion in U.S. aid since 2001, primarily military. In June 2004, President George W. Bush designated Pakistan as a major non-NATO ally,[1] making it eligible, among other things, to purchase advanced American military technology.

Pakistan has lost thousands of lives since joining the U.S. war on terror in the form of both soldiers and civilians, and is currently going through a critical period. Suicide bombs are now commonplace in Pakistan, whereas they were unheard of prior to 9/11. The Taliban have been resurgent in recent years in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have been created internally in Pakistan, as they have been forced to flee their homes as a result of fighting between Pakistani forces and the Taliban in the regions bordering Afghanistan and further in Swat. In addition, the economy is in an extremely fragile position.

A key campaign argument of U.S. President Barack Obama's was that the U.S. had made the mistake of "putting all our eggs in one basket" in the form of General Musharraf. Musharraf was eventually forced out of office under the threat of impeachment, after years of political protests by lawyers, civilians and other political parties in Pakistan. With President Obama coming into office, the U.S. is expected to triple non-military aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion per year over 10 years, and to tie military aid to progress in the fight against militants. The purpose of the aid is to help strengthen the relatively new democratic government led by President Zardari and to help strengthen civil institutions and the general economy in Pakistan, and to put in place an aid program that is broader in scope than just supporting Pakistan's military."

Regardless of what people may say or think, the death of Bin Laden does not mean we will stop funding them. There are still more terrorists out there and al-queida members that they can help apprehend.
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/world-alert-u-kills-osama-bin-laden-210350782.html

A couple of interesting things about the attack that killed Bin Laden according to NBC? One cowardly terrorist member used a woman as a human shield during the gunfire and All hard drives on the computers in the house? They were taken out and smashed to pieces.

Today's THV, How the attack happened: http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/155734/288/How-the-attack-on-Osama-bin-Laden-happened

Really I was not surprised to hear where he was "hiding". You have to think of his mentality. He is such a proud, narcissist of a human being there is no way that he would be living in a hole or in a bunker in the ground. This is one of the most evil, self-entitled men of history - It's only natural that he would be living in a huge house near the "West Point of Pakistan" surrounded by his most loyal followers.

So what were your first thoughts when you heard the news? Did you watch it or were you sleeping and have to hear about it the next day??
Do you believe it? Or are you unsure?
I would love to hear everyone's reactions!