Just to be Clear… oSama is Dead, not oBama… (Update: Yon says “Break the Cult”)
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here. Or by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]
Update: Michael Yon writes on his facebook page:
Break the Cult —
High resolution photos of bin Laden with a bullet in his head should be released at once. We cannot allow bin Laden to become a permanent cult figure. The cult of Saddam in Iraq (Saddam had a strong cult) was badly damaged by the photos/videos of his death. This is not about another battle that we are now going to fight. The battle to break this cult[.]
Agreed.
There is lots to laugh and cheer about tonight, including this victim most likely of autocorrect gone wrong:
In an attempt to release the news of Osama bin Laden’s death quickly late Sunday night, MSNBC correspondent Norah O’Donnell accidentally reported on Twitter that “Obama” had been “killed” instead.
“Obama shot and killed,” Norah O’Donnell posted on Twitter, citing NBC Chief Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski as her source.
I have no malice in laughing at her mistake. No dyslexic can think less of a person for a typo. But it is funny, especially imagining the heart attack it must have given her Twitter followers. Still, joking aside, a hearty congratulations to everyone involved, including, yes, the President. No mere political disagreement would have dampened my desire to see this guy get taken down, or would begrudge that it was oBama who did it.
I only have three regrets:
1) that it didn’t happen closer to 9 years ago (it was a long time coming—too long, imho);
2) we didn’t catch him alive (not that I care about his life, but I wanted us to put the screws on him to find out what he knew); and
3) it was Navy Seals who reportedly got them and not the Marines (my Dad was a Marine after all).
By the way, there are mixed reports about when it happened. Be skeptical of any claim that it happened within the last 48 hours. If they were smart they kept the news from getting out as long as possible to take advantage of any intelligence they did gain from his papers and effects.*
Also, they should absolutely show the body. I’m not saying I am particularly interested in seeing it, but it should be available to be seen. There are many terrorist sympathizers who won’t believe it until they see it. And even then some won’t believe it.
Fox news right now is showing people gathering at the White House and cheering. If I didn’t have to wake up early tomorrow, I would be joining them right now.
Also the State Dept. is warning in a breaking news email that there is a greater chance of anti-American violence in the wake of this. The radicals will be angry, of course, and the good Muslims will be cheering. Bin Laden had a lot more innocent Muslim blood on is hands than innocent non-Muslim blood.
And I was tempted to post the video of Bin Laden’s confession video to remind us what an ___hole he was (and you can watch it here if you are inclined to watch it), but I felt I would rather remember the victims.
We don’t know what your name was, but God knew it when He called you to Heaven, and we are pleased you got some justice. The war isn’t over yet, but this was a great victory in it.
——————-
*And yes, this is one of those examples where I think secrecy is fully justified. You cannot run the kind of operations we must run against AQ on the front page of the NY Times.
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]
Reuters is reporting that Obama gave Pakistan weapons technology on April 21st. Also, I would like to know how Osama managed to build a “mansion” inside a compound while the Pakis claimed they didn’t know where he was.
“Global” travel alerts for ALL Americans and a warning of higher terrorist alerts for all Western nations.
retire05 (2d538e) — 5/1/2011 @ 10:20 pmI think the reverse would be true, the Pakistanis supplying Bin Laden, btw, don’t forget the Times burned the network of the operatives who helped free their reporter,
narciso (79ddc3) — 5/1/2011 @ 10:29 pmAaron, President Obama himself claimed it was within the last 24 hours:
Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.
It seems like a stupid thing for him to lie about if it weren’t true.
aphrael (9802d6) — 5/1/2011 @ 10:33 pmCongratulations, US Navy.
As well as the rest of the US Military. They have all taken Al Qaida apart. They did so quickly and I think pretty effectively many years ago, and I’m glad they never gave up hunting Osama.
The bottom line is that Osama is dead, and that’s worth whatever obnoxious Bush bashing we’re in store for. Whatever silly attempts to tell me how Obama made this a priority are fine too. I wouldn’t trade Osama’s death for a few points in the polls. I know I shouldn’t even think about politics, but that’s been on my mind since Obama started his speech with a little credit seeking. It’s worth it to me.
This is a good day for Muslims, since Osama killed quite a few of them.
Dustin (c16eca) — 5/1/2011 @ 10:33 pmaph
I think he has every reason to keep it secret and yes, even to lie about it. the moment AQ knows he is dead at our hands, they would know all intel in his hands was compromised. The longer we can keep them from knowing, the better.
And lying today to make it sound like we just killed the guy makes them think that we are going to report this stuff immediately in the future.
Truth is a casualty of war, although not necessarily in a bad way.
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 5/1/2011 @ 10:38 pmIs anyone relieved to hear:
The United States is treating Osama bin Laden’s body in “accordance with Islamic practice,” a White House official says.
Asked how bin Laden’s body will be treated, a senior administration official told reporters on a conference call that “we are ensuring that is handled in accordance with Islamic practice.”
Arizona Bob (aa856e) — 5/1/2011 @ 10:42 pmHow to trade the death of Osama Bin Laden
I think the guy what dashed this off must’ve graduated top of his class at douche college
That’s very impressive.
happyfeet (760ba3) — 5/1/2011 @ 10:54 pmI don’t have all the facts but Aaron acted stupidly…………Lol
DohBiden (15aa57) — 5/1/2011 @ 10:56 pmdoh, um for what?
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 5/1/2011 @ 10:57 pmjust kidding.
DohBiden (15aa57) — 5/1/2011 @ 10:58 pmhappyfeet, that’s pretty amazing.
Though I want to note that Obama specifically mentioned Panetta in his speech. and Panetta’s goal over the next few years will be to shrink the DoD. That’s probably aided greatly if his reputation is bolstered by this event, as well as a notion that the war on terror is over (which I don’t think Obama did much to disabuse).
I have no idea what that means for the economy or some douche’s hedge fund. Probably nothing good, but then, if this administration wanted a better economy, they would drill for oil.
I guess I have a hard time just saying ‘yay’ at this excellent news, and leaving it at that. Can’t stop wondering what is around the next bend (though I think you’re right that someone looking for personal profit in this situation is a douche).
Dustin (c16eca) — 5/1/2011 @ 10:59 pmAs I have always said…..We are [not] at war with islam we are at war with um eh ah er oh um duh uh um ah.
[Corrected following author’s indication of a typo. Hey, its not as bad as O’Donnell’s screw up! Heh. –Aaron]
DohBiden (15aa57) — 5/1/2011 @ 11:02 pmDoh, ftfy…
Aaron
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 5/1/2011 @ 11:06 pmCool.
DohBiden (15aa57) — 5/1/2011 @ 11:12 pmSo he was hiding out in a compound in Abbottabad, eh?
Imagine how many bad guys we could pick up if we now search all the compounds in Costelloabad…
d. in c. (ac417f) — 5/2/2011 @ 1:26 amLove it… Who’s on first!
Texas Mom 2012 (cee89f) — 5/2/2011 @ 6:17 amThere were some whacky comments about some Fox local station whose crawl briefly read “Obama bin Laden” being some sort of proof of the bias of Fox …
So that an MSNBC correspondant also misspelling is amusing.
SPQR (26be8b) — 5/2/2011 @ 6:53 amAbbottabad, Abbottabing, Abbottaboom…
Scott Jacobs (46e187) — 5/3/2011 @ 6:20 am