Osama bin Laden DEAD

[Silver Rider]

I don't care what ANYONE says but I am very satisfied that Osama bin Laden is dead. I would like to think that almost every American is over-joyed with the news of his death. I know there are some people on this site who disparage people like me because I am very vocal about being a Proud and Loyal American. (You know who you are).

With that being said, I am also Proud of the CIA and the Special Forces (Navy SEALS) who carried out this 'historic' operation. Very Proud that bin Laden was killed by Americans.

Just like September 11, 2001 is an important date in American history, so is this new date, May 1, 2011.

LONG LIVE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!

You are fortunate.

When they became young adults, their father asked them to volunteer for suicide missions. When Omar protested, bin Laden was quoted as replying: "You hold no more a place in my heart than any man or boy in the entire country. This is true for all my sons."

It was then, Omar recounted, that he "finally knew exactly where I stood. My father hated his enemies more than he loved his sons."

msnbc.msn.com

[Pagey_17]

Great to hear should have happened a long time ago though. They always knew he was in NW Pakistan but botched the response via invading sovereign nations.

Good for the US which has largely been in limbo since the attacks on Sep 11. Plus you have a shuttle launch to look forward to so is this the resurgence of the United States?!!!

[cate]

Great News, but don't become to complacent... There will always be another Radical to take his place.

Sadly we still need to be very careful..

[Magic Fills the Air]

Justice at last, but the war goes on.

He was 'buried at sea', rather his body was dumped in shark infested waters I hope!

[Kiwi_Zep_Fan87]

On hearing the news this afternoon, I pretty much thought of the saying "Ding-Dong, The Bastard Is Gone!" Good riddance!

But unfortunately, on a grim and cautious note, there is a high probability of acts of "revenge" so to speak. We really need to be careful now, because who knows what might happen?!

This whole "terrorism" movement is so wide-spread that it is just shocking! We just need to keep on fighting! I consider this as a major breakthrough though! But there are more rats to flush out, that's for sure!!

Edited May 2, 2011 by Kiwi_Zep_Fan87

[tom kid]

A symbolic victory with intangible benefits.

[JTM]

Good news indeed.......................I suppose that makes it a certain Barry O will get his second term as U.S Prez

[Anjin-san]

Navy Seal Team 6! Kick ass,then take names!

Pakistan has a lot to answer for,...

KB

[SteveAJones]

This column by Leonard Pitts Jr. was published in The Miami Herald on Sept. 12, 2001, and received an extraordinary response from readers worldwide. I thought it would be appropriate to post it here today.

We'll go forward

from this moment

By LEONARD PITTS JR.

It's my job to have something to say.

They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering.

You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.

What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed.

Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.

Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.

Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together.

Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae - a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse.

We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though - peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God.

Some people - you, perhaps - think that any or all of this makes us weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals.

Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning, and we are in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel.

Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable final death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the history of the United States and, probably, the history of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before.

But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice.

I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with dread of the future.

In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure al- lowed this to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined.

You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On this day, the family's bickering is put on hold.

As Americans, we will weep; as Americans, we will mourn; and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.

So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of.

You don't know what you just started.

But you're about to learn.

Edited May 2, 2011 by SteveAJones

[mstork]

Navy Seal Team 6! Kick ass,then take names!

Pakistan has a lot to answer for,...

KB

well said on both counts. The Seals are the badasses' badasses. And Pakistan is the worst "ally" one could imagine.

[mstork]

This column by Leonard Pitts Jr. was published in The Miami Herald on Sept. 12, 2001, and received an extraordinary response from readers worldwide. I thought it would be appropriate to post it here today.

We'll go forward

from this moment

By LEONARD PITTS JR.

It's my job to have something to say.

They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering.

You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.

What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed.

Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.

Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.

Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together.

Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae - a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse.

We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though - peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God.

Some people - you, perhaps - think that any or all of this makes us weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals.

Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning, and we are in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel.

Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable final death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the history of the United States and, probably, the history of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before.

But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice.

I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with dread of the future.

In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure al- lowed this to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined.

You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On this day, the family's bickering is put on hold.

As Americans, we will weep; as Americans, we will mourn; and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.

So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of.

You don't know what you just started.

But you're about to learn.

Thanks Steve, hats off to the writer.

[Electrophile]

It only took nearly 10 years. In any event, killing Bin Laden isn't the end of radical Islamic terrorism. He was just one head of the hydra, and when you cut it off, another grows back in its place. I echo Lake of Shadows sentiments about being worried about reprisals. They will happen. We need to be prepared. All this did was make him a martyr to that cause, no matter how much he deserved to be fish food.

[Reggie29]

well said on both counts. The Seals are the badasses' badasses. And Pakistan is the worst "ally" one could imagine.

They certainly did kick arse and it shows that with cooperation, patience and planning anything is achievable.

To be fair on the Pakistanis they have had their share of troubles with political assassinations, radicals and al quaeda suicide bombings going on and they have aided the west maybe not as much as some expect but they helped kill him, so take it easy on them.

There are a lot of decent and innocent people living under difficult circustances every day in Pakistan.

Unlike the freedom we have and hold dear and sometimes take for granted.

Be ever vigilant!

[mstork]

It only took nearly 10 years. In any event, killing Bin Laden isn't the end of radical Islamic terrorism. He was just one head of the hydra, and when you cut it off, another grows back in its place. I echo Lake of Shadows sentiments about being worried about reprisals. They will happen. We need to be prepared. All this did was make him a martyr to that cause, no matter how much he deserved to be fish food.

I hear you but they are out to attack us anyway. Every day since well before 9/11, that has been their focus. We can't worry about so-called "martyrs". We need to be smarter about securing our nation at home and take the fight to Bin Laden's followers wherever they are.

[mstork]

They certainly did kick arse and it shows that with cooperation, patience and planning anything is achievable.

To be fair on the Pakistanis they have had their share of troubles with political assassinations, radicals and al quaeda suicide bombings going on and they have aided the west maybe not as much as some expect but they helped kill him, so take it easy on them.

There are a lot of decent and innocent people living under difficult circustances every day in Pakistan.

Unlike the freedom we have and hold dear and sometimes take for granted.

Be ever vigilant!

I'm not knocking the Pakistani people at all, just their government. There's a good reason we didn't tip them off about this operation until it was over.

[Walesdad]

Great news,WELL DONE U.S.A.

[Reggie29]

I'm not knocking the Pakistani people at all, just their government. There's a good reason we didn't tip them off about this operation until it was over.

From the reports I've seen and heard the Pakistan government were aware of the impending attack and helped gain the intel on where he was and permitted use of their air space.

If it weren't for the government allowing the US into the country the attack would have been a tad more difficult to launch.

Regardless, it's a win for the good guys and makes for a nice change!

Edited May 2, 2011 by Reggie29

[TheStairwayRemainsTheSame]

I think the world is more unsafe now then it was when he was alive..

They claimed they weren't harboring terrorists, evidently they were now he's gone they'll spark an outrage on the world just watch. 9/11 will happen again thats for sure.

If my theory is correct things have only gotten worse

[ally]

Great news,WELL DONE U.S.A.

Yep, justice served !

[mstork]

From the reports I've seen and heard the Pakistan government were aware of the impending attack and helped gain the intel on where he was and permitted use of their air space.

If it weren't for the government allowing the US into the country the attack would have been a tad more difficult to launch.

Regardless, it's a win for the good guys and makes for a nice change!

I've seen numerous reports from varied media sources today. All reported that the US did not tip off the Pakistanis until it would have been too late for them to do anything about it.

[Anjin-san]

Hi all,

I've seen numerous reports from varied media sources today. All reported that the US did not tip off the Pakistanis until it would have been too late for them to do anything about it.

Correct.The Navy Seals don't operate that way:

Richard Marcinko

The Pakistanis have a lot to answer for.

I hope every terrorist around the world is soiling themselves,...

KB

[Jason Smith]

Fantastic news, We all have to work together now and watch our neighbers even closer than before, Well done U.S.A special forces....NICE ONE!

[Reggie29]

I doubt whether they would have divulged the operational plan but some bloke on CNN said the Pakistanis were notified and gave flight approval.

Who cares anyway the bastards dead!?

[cryingbluerain]

It only took nearly 10 years. In any event, killing Bin Laden isn't the end of radical Islamic terrorism. He was just one head of the hydra, and when you cut it off, another grows back in its place. I echo Lake of Shadows sentiments about being worried about reprisals. They will happen. We need to be prepared. All this did was make him a martyr to that cause, no matter how much he deserved to be fish food.

A bittersweet victory. Definitely not the end of the war on terrorism. At least 471 Taliban inmates recently escaped from Afghan prison...

[Bong-Man]

Trump and Bin Laden in the same week ? Thank-you Sir !!