Osama bin Laden confirmed dead.

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Osama bin Laden confirmed dead.

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May. 1st, 2011 at 10:00 PM

WHOAH. Really?

President Obama live news conference starting any second now...

EDIT: It looks like the BBC has a story on it, too....

EDIT2: CONFIRMED. President Obama just finished his announcement.

HOLY CRAP.

Chris

( 20 comments — Leave a comment )

jeanineers

May. 2nd, 2011 03:09 am (UTC)

changes nothing...sadly

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mckitterick

May. 2nd, 2011 05:45 am (UTC)

I hope this changes lots of stuff - it's the closing of a chapter in history, the death of the figurehead of al Qaeda, which for all practical purposes means the death of the organization. Without his hundreds of millions of dollars, it's just a bunch of lunatic psychos running around trying to cause trouble.

Now if this could mean the end to our overseas adventures....

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tully01

May. 2nd, 2011 03:35 pm (UTC)

I wish it were so simple. UBL's money isn't the main funding for AQ/Taliban today. Narcotics is, the opium farming of the Khyber region. And the "burial at sea" biz will spawn numberless conspiracy theories. Killing UBL gives AQ/Taliban a new martyr figure. Unavoidable, but still true. Whether that overweighs the practical aspects of cutting the head off of that particular beast remains to be seen.

Of course, even if they brought his corpse to America and paraded it around Ground Zero for a week before cremating it with a MOAB or dissolving it in hog lard, we'd still have the conspiracy theories. So six of one ...

And dead is dead, and with UBL, dead is good. By US action is even better. Good riddance. Kudos to the Navy SEALs.

Now, on to Zawahiri and the rest of the leadership still breathing.

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mckitterick

May. 2nd, 2011 04:55 pm (UTC)

Drug money - lovely. I thought that was only the Taliban. You have to love how these religious fundamentalists who want to determine how everyone else lives are perfectly fine with breaking all their own rules and laws for their own gain.

I hear ya.

Gosh, can you imagine if this leads to all those other leader-types getting whacked? I don't often root for killing of any type, but monsters like these: Okay.

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tully01

May. 2nd, 2011 08:42 pm (UTC)

Drug money has always been the Taliban's main income, even when it was the Soviets they were fighting. Even for the brief time they held the Afghan government. Just another layer between them and the poppies.

The burial at sea with proper and minimal ceremony was a good idea, IMHO. If the attitude of my military friends is any indication, jubilation is momentary and the main feeling is grim satisfaction.

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curieuse

May. 2nd, 2011 03:15 am (UTC)

Important news. There is no doubt the 10th anniversary of 9/11 will feel different with this being the fact.

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mckitterick

May. 2nd, 2011 05:45 am (UTC)

That was very much on my mind during Obama's speech, too....

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graydown

May. 2nd, 2011 03:21 am (UTC)

Great! That means we can go home -- right? War's over, we won, hurrah hurrah, and all that?

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justaqt

May. 2nd, 2011 04:23 am (UTC)

psh, Right?
Like THAT will happen though. :P

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mckitterick

May. 2nd, 2011 05:47 am (UTC)

*hoping*

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mckitterick

May. 2nd, 2011 05:46 am (UTC)

Wouldn't that be great? But... alas. On the other hand, this could very well give Obama the political capital and excuse to pull out of the region to deal with the budget woes.

A guy can dream.

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queenmomcat

May. 2nd, 2011 12:17 pm (UTC)

Definitely dreaming over here too. Dunno how much of that dream will actually come true...

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itmightbemiles

May. 2nd, 2011 06:54 am (UTC)

Yeah, I hope this brings unprecedented change. I wish I was not as cynical about it as I am. At least Obama will probably come away from it looking pretty good. He needed this boost to help combat the local crazies.

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mckitterick

May. 2nd, 2011 06:58 am (UTC)

So true! Political capital: start spending!

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indicolite

May. 2nd, 2011 11:14 am (UTC)

I hope it brings change. Ethically, it bothers me that people are celebrating any human being's death, though. Perhaps some people's deaths benefit many, but I still think they should be treated solemnly rather than feted.

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bogwitch64

May. 2nd, 2011 02:12 pm (UTC)

Gosh, you know--that's how I felt when Sadam Hussein was executed, and I felt bad about that. How could I feel any sort of respect or what have you for such an evil person. But I think it's because that once, that person was someone's baby, and had all the potential for anything in his coming years. The path chosen might have been "wrong" in the eyes of many, most everyone--but he WAS someone's child once. Maybe I mourn the lost potential for good these men of power could have done, in other circumstances.

Meh...I don't know. But I do know what you mean.

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mckitterick

May. 2nd, 2011 04:59 pm (UTC)

Indeed. If anyone deserved to be whacked, it was this guy, but I don't believe in supernatural good or evil embodied in a person, so whatever he and his followers thought of him, he was just a sick, monstrous man.

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mckitterick

May. 2nd, 2011 04:57 pm (UTC)

I know, and I can't celebrate bin Laden's death, just commemorate it as the end of 10 years of awfulness. Glad they buried him in what is being argued as a proper Islamic ceremony at sea. The people running around woo-hooing made me uncomfortable.

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bogwitch64

May. 2nd, 2011 02:09 pm (UTC)

You were my "breaking news" source last night, just before I went to bed. I haven't seen any form of media outside of my LJ page in days (I'm at the beach.) Wow.

Maybe you should start up a new career as a newscaster!

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