Bin Laden Dead

[Superluminal]

In my view, referring to (and treating) a criminal act as an act of war was a huge mistake.

This wasn't your typical criminal act. It was carried out by a terrorist group with global reach. They had the backing and protection of a soveriegn country. Little bit over sheriff Roscoe's head.

[Мастер]

The news folks are reporting that US forces were ready to fight the Pakistanis, had the latter shown up. Story here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13343497

[Arneb]

Arneb, I state the obvious; the Muslim population is not a monolithic block.

It may be obvious, but the conequences may not be. I'd wager there is a large chunk of the Arab population who would actually respect the US (and the West in general) for a gesture of calm strength, like giving even someone like OBL due process etc. He would have had his day in court, and my, what a writhing snake he would have turned out to be. Devastating for him, grand for the US. Drawing not-quite-apt analogies again, I'll note that the mere existence of the Nuremberg trials have helped this country a lot in overcoming the Nazi. There was a long incubation time, but meanwhile, the trials have become part of the political cultural substance of this country.

The educated, the moderates, the normal human beings realize that what OBL did/caused/advocated was monstrous, did enormous harm to the world, including Muslims. His end was swift and merciful. I think they will not object.

That is probably what it comes down to. And I can not object. A man of OBL's credentials could hardly expect to be treated gently, and this was an extremely daring operation whose participants had two objectives to consider: 1, get Geronimo. 2, get out alive. Taking him along alive was obviously very much an optional feature.

The militant anti-Muslim fringe, will not object.

The militant anti-west/civilization fanatics who call themselves Muslim, pretty much only respect force and terror. (Try explaining truth and justice to a religious robot who is prepared to strap dynamite to himself … or a retarded child … and detonate in a crowd of innocent civilians.)

Yes, nothing the West ever does will dissuade them from their hatred.

Not intended as a cheap shot, Arneb, but how many could you, would you justify? 10,000? 1,000? 100? 10? 1??

None taken. But I stick with my previous opinion that Islamic terrorists are currently resource-limited, not pretext-limited. They haven't blown up trains, churches, Christmas markets, etc., in the USbecause they were unable to, not because they lacked a (in their mind) "plausible" reason. Therefore, giving them a "reason" by holding OBL captive in the US (or gitmo) doesn'T make a difference. A terrorist kills when he can kill, and will find a pretext. So if we see hooded people slashing the throats of American journalists (or health care workers) again, that will be because they had the opportunity to do it, not because OBL was killed or held captive or because the NY authorities didn't allow a mosque near ground zero.