Expect to hear more and more of these involuntary gags. If his body had been handled according to “Muslim custom” he would have been buried in the earth (not at sea) with his head towards Mecca.
Another fantastic bit of news is the announcement “DNA tests had been carried out, confirming his identity” which have now morphed into “DNA tests will be carried out”. Presumably in a government facility, in the US.
I am personally fully convinced bin Laden has been dead for years. Whatever he was killed in an air raid or he died of illness, it matters not. Whatever he died ten years ago or six months ago, it matters not. He had outlived his usefulness as public enemy number one and was time to kill him off. It’s time to create new boogeymen: anyone want to take a guess who they will be?
Yes pretty strange, if true. What is the DNA test they did good for if they don’t have the body anymore? Why dump it so fast?
We have since got the photo of the body, which I was complaing about earlier, but still they are handling this much differently than when the sons of Saddam Hussein were killed (and displayed almost like trophies). Recall the videos of their sewn up, prettied up bodies that they were prominently showing on television. And they were much, much smaller fry as far as Joe Sixpack out there was concerned.
Am I the only one disgusted by Lew’s and Jeff’s response? A known mass murderer is killed and they start bantering around conspiracy theories and they complain that he wasn’t brought to trial? Like WTF?? Is this some sick joke?
Wow, Clayton you just may be right. Perhaps I spoke too soon. I was under the impression that the U.S. had his body in possession, but this “buried at sea” stuff sounds extremely fishy. I am not a conspiratorial guy either, so that’s saying something.
I’ve been to 5 Muslim funerals. Not a single one was at sea. The tradition is for a person to be wrapped in cloth and put into the ground. Technically in the U.S this is illegal, so they wrap people in cloth, put people in a light casket with dirt inside.
If the person dies at sea and is in fear of decaying at sea, or not being buried within 24 hours it is acceptable to place them in a clay container or tie a rock to their feet and drop them in the water. This can also be done if there is a chance of people digging up the body and taking body parts, etc.
I don’t think it’s disgusting at all. If bin Laden is a mass murderer what exactly does that make Obama/Bush/Blair etc.? No one has the right to send military into a foreign nation-state without their knowledge and illegally execute a suspect without anything resembling a trial. That’s assuming he was killed in the last 24 hours…not sometime in the last decade.
Regarding the Muslim burial, from the anonymous quote it seems the “traditional Muslim custom” is referring to the burial within 24 hours, not the sea burial which is justified (as people have said) by preventing a “shrine” for Muslims to visit.
Just as a side note… do you think it has ever been easier to be patriotic than as an american? I mean “U S A! U S A!” How easy is that? Lazy americans…
Blueline, unfortunately it’s not a matter of “if.” It was my first thought when I heard the news last night. This seals the deal for his re-election.
It’s funny: lately I’ve had the feeling Obama would get re-elected despite his horrible track record and clearly statist agenda. I just didn’t know how they’d pull it off. Well, now I do. Not only did he give his birth certificate to verify his qualification for the presidency and make many conservatives look bad, he found and killed freaking bin Laden…something the Republicans couldn’t do for 8 years, although they did get Hussein.
I think the sheeple, as you put it, will flock all over this and give Obama a pass in every way he’s tricky. Get ready for four more years of “hope and change.”
You make no sense. Go read the Dhammapada and the Tao Te Ching and try to tie it in to modernity as usual, Laotzu del Zinn; at least you have interesting comments then.
What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Aye?
An “appeal to authority fallacy” is going to be a whole lot more amusing when said authority is the state.
“and they start bantering around conspiracy theories and they complain that he wasn’t brought to trial? Like WTF?? Is this some sick joke?”
What conspiracy theories exactly? Benazir Bhutto - BBC, Fox News etc.. are also conspiracy theorists then? That’s your claim?
Is this some sick joke?
Yes.
“[Killing bin Laden] sent a loud message to the world: Mess with the U.S. and we’ll bankrupt ourselves trying to find a few dozen men. So if you’re the kind of terrorist comfortable with suicide missions and want to bring down the U.S. economy, please come on over and attack us again. As an added bonus, we’ll trample on our own citizens’ civil liberties, humiliate and sexually assault them in airports, and completely ignore our own Constitution, so you’ll have effectively destroyed our freedoms AND our prosperity.” — Wes Messamore
