Even before we knew the details surrounding the death of Osama bin Laden, his demise was being hailed as the “end of an era.” The Global War on Terrorism, which we’ve been fighting for the last decade in several theaters simultaneously, has been defined in terms of catching and killing this iconic figure. Now that he’s dead – with the US reportedly in possession of the body – can we declare victory and go home?
Of course not. You didn’t think the Powers That Be would let us get off quite so easily, now did you?
In his speech to the nation, the President twice cautioned that this doesn’t mean the end of the fight, and the pundits have followed through, declaring that “of course” the battle isn’t over. Aside from all the chest-thumping and victorious howling rising from the crowds, and the politicians who delude them, the sudden absence of this devil figure — this looming spectral threat perpetually lurking somewhere in the shadows – leaves a gaping hole in the rationale for our eternal “war on terrorism.” A new devil will no doubt be found, but there aren’t many credible candidates, or at least none with the penumbra of menace surrounding the founder of al-Qaeda.
Bin Laden’s demise delivers a smashing blow to al-Qaeda – and, perhaps, a fatal one. For the succession to the leadership is now up for grabs, and this is one situation the jihadists have never had to face. Beheaded, the organization could very well be torn apart by an internal struggle, with various factions vying to claim the al-Qaeda franchise.
Even as we hear the familiar chants of “USA! USA!” and the talking heads on television assure us that this is the proof that we’re still No. 1, the political implications of this event do not bode well for the War Party.
A war-weary American public is preoccupied with issues of internal decline, and is no longer so easily frightened. The idea that we have to keep fighting in Afghanistan to destroy a leaderless and demoralized organization is not going to resonate. Al-Qaeda faces not only the death of its leader and founder, but the discovery of a massive organizational headquarters, no doubt filled with intelligence about the terrorist network, in effect has sounded al-Qaeda’s death knell. Sure, they may launch new attacks in an effort to show they’re still a force to be contended with, but these amount to the death rattle of the organization, as it splinters and falls to pieces.
What’s interesting is that the compound where bin Laden was hiding wasn’t in Waziristan, the “tribal” wildlands of Pakistan, but rather in Abbottabad, which is being described as an affluent suburb of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. Although the President credited the Pakistanis with providing the initial tip that led to bin Laden’s death in a raid by US Special Forces, the fact that Abbottabad is known as a military town, the prime base of the Pakistan security forces – and that bin Laden was hiding in their very midst – is bound to cause friction between the two countries. The logical question is: how could the Pakistanis not have known? After all, the compound where bin Laden had taken refuge wasn’t exactly unobtrusive: eight times bigger than any structure in the area, and surround by extraordinary security – a high wall topped with barbed wire, no doubt manned by guards – it would have been hard to miss.
All that aside, however, the death of al-Qaeda’s founder, the author and chief perpetrator of the worst terrorist attack in US history, marks the end of what was, essentially, a war of vengeance. With bin Laden gone, the target of our rage is gone, and the desire for revenge sated. Our leaders are already telling us that this is no time to relax our efforts, but the missing emotional charge of invoking the terrorist leader’s name will let much of the air out of War Party’s tires.
As a war-weary nation confronts the fact of its own bankruptcy, and faces internal problems the severity of which can no longer be denied, a war they told us was going to be “generational” at the very least is coming to an end – without anything really to show for it except the dead body of a single man, which we will now display to the world in a primitive demonstration of American power.
If the death of bin Laden can be counted a “victory” in the war on terrorism, then surely it is a Pyrrhic one. For all the chauvinistic posturing and the President’s invocation of the vaunted “unity” that supposedly blessed us in the wake of 9/11, the costs of pursuing and killing the terrorist leader have been dear. Bin Laden, in one of his messages, once boasted that he would bankrupt America, and indeed his prophecy is in the process of coming true. In response to 9/11, we launched two major wars and several less obtrusive military operations, rampaging through the Middle East and reaching deeply into Central Asia. It took us ten years, and trillions of dollars, to track down and eliminate a single man. Although we eventually got our man, who was the real winner in this battle?
In response to the events of September 11, I wrote a column entitled “Kill ’em — and get out!” Well, now we’ve killed him — and it’s time to bring the troops home, now.
So the Amerikan Government finally got Obama BushLaden Bin Goldstein? Y'all believe that?
Well then, truyly a great day for the Empire, indeed.
And never forget, Amerika has alway been at war with Eastasia.
And besides that, all I know fer sure is the talking heads had one helluva a hard on tonight.
And they said this was a great victory for Oceania…er I mean Amerika and of course the American people.
But then they said be scared, be very scared because the War on Terra ain't over.
And they ended the story with the assurance that our big government will look after us all.
It's getting late. Good night, boys and girls and don't let the bed bugs bite. (The gummit ain't gonna protect you from them.)
Yup; antiwar.com believes that. The government says Bin Laden Did it, Antiwar.com says "we don't need to see any evidence in a courtroom, we'll just believe it!" The government says they killed Bin Laden, antiwar.com says "we don't need to see no stinking body, we'll take your word for it." Oh and they "dumped him at sea," how convenient and transparent.
The weight of evidence is that Bin Laden died in the winter of 2001 (he was sickly, on dialysis, and on the run, remember?) and he's been a propaganda ghost ever since then, just like Emmanuel Goldstein from 1984.
Bring the troops home? Don't be silly. They have to keep fighting until we bankrupt America. After all, it was Osama's dying wish.
"a massive organizational headquarters, no doubt filled with intelligence about the terrorist network"
Do you really think that Justin? I was under the impression AQ was all about thought leadership these days, perhaps some scattered suggestions on what to attack or what not. But even that role appeared to have been heavily diminished, replaced by mostly local concerns. I haven't seen anything coming out of BL's cave which couldn't have been done with some scattered notes, newspapers, some phones or couriers and a big vision as driver. In one of the interviews he more or less describes his role like that. The monster does not have a head, that's why it's such a monster. It's an idea, it's a code, it's about temporary operations but nothing to keep unto because it would have been tracked and hunted long time ago.
Seconded.
bring ’em home? not so fast! we got number one, now
we gotta get number two. just a feeeeeew more years.
then we’ll be safe.
but we can take a break today. we bumped off some
old geezer in his retirement home. (coincidentally
paving the way for the next godfather…)
It turns out that the USA was scammed for years by Pakistan’s Deep State. They were hiding Osama for years in the bosom of the Pakistani national security apparatus while collecting billions from Uncle Sucker while the pretended to search for him in the Northwest Territories. Here’s a map showing how close the bin Laden compound is to the Pakistan Military Academy:
http://isteve.blogspot.com/2011/05/breaking-news-…
Yippee ki yay and it.s all over, Send the soldiers home and quit spending my tax money on foolishness, Enough of this war crap.
Good. Now Obama's free to start some new wars. His critics won't have the "Shouldn't you finish the job with bin Laden before you drop humanitarian ordinance on Syria/ Yemen/ Iran/ etc.?" argument.
Yup
Bravo. Was about time.
Was about time to burry the ghost.
Was about time to bury the ghost.
Raimondo goes on at length essentially regurgitating much of the mainstream news fairy tales.
This is just a STAGED DISTRACTION.
Economy in ruins.
U.N. / NATO / Western powers shown to be illegal aggressors in Libya.
Declining poll numbers.
Natural disasters.
BP oil spills.
Hey! We got Osama!
Cue the chants and the gen-x ers climbing trees and hoisting flags.
"U! S! A! U! S! A! USA! USA! "
It's straight out of the movie Wag the Dog.
As good as Raimondo is at opposing war, he never gets the false underpinning of the fake "war on terror" which is the 911 lie. Anyone gullible enough to believe the government propaganda on 911 is either ignorant or a shill. Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth have revealed so much that the gaggle of gatekeepers (Amy Goodman, Raimondo, Chomsky) ignore. The only label I can honestly call it is pathetic. Other than that, he is a good writer and spot on in opposing war.
My prediction: This will give the U.S. government the excuse they've been needing to go to war with Pakistan now.
my thoughts exactly, unfortunately.
Or get ready for another false flag attack.
Americans and Israelis are the only large groups of people I can think of that openly rejoice at killing people. One man dies, a self-destructive culture of death continues, and I don't mean the "radical Muslim" blowback crew.
Really true. I am sick and angry at the seemingly joyous response to the first degree murder of several people. People act like it's a football game. Disgusting.
Buried at sea???
Yes, which just happens to be six hundred miles to the south of Abbottabad, where this corpse was allegedly created. I really don't understand why you find a problem here. (-:
U dummies: Osama Bin Laden died of Kidney failaure back in December 2001 and he never had anything to do with 911 attacks. PSSSST!–the real terrorists were Billy Goat Clinton, Junior Bush Aerial Sharon.
Next boogie monsters will be Donald Dump– againist the Muslims and to the West Donald Duck :^/
The pic they are circulating is obviously a fake. No, I mean obvious to anyone.
Afghanistan was never about the stated aims, which were largely information warfare; it was and is about undoing and keeping undone the Students’ (Talibaan) successful poppy prohibition of 2000, who are growing records crops for CIA again in order to buy the weapons and ammunition needed to defend themselves from U.S.-powered British empire. It is a vicious but lucrative circle from which Uncle Sam is unlikely to walk away.
How convenient – no live person to put on trial, and no body to prove the U.S. just killed him. Do you *really* believe this story?
If the U.S. had any concern about ‘security’, wouldn’t it be sensible to keep this secret, in order not to stir up the Pakistanis? In the world of Obama, puffing himself up at the beginning of *another* endless election campaign would be much more important than the fate of Pakistan…
And as always, no one ever questions the morality or legality of sending assasination teams into another country…
My guess…Washington knew where he was for a long time…..Word got out and they had to do something…….Radicals need Radicals…..To the beltway establishment he was more valuable alive…
As others here have pointed out, Washington knew that Bin Laden was dead for a long time (at least since 2002). They either knew about and cultivated or were directly responsible for installing a double in his place in order to keep the scam going with faked video tapes, carefully timed for release after each false-flag operation. Apparently, for God only knows what strategic rationale, it was decided that this double had outlived his useful shelf life and had to be terminated. Either way, it's all been more than enough to send the brainless ovine Amoricon masses into a celebratory frenzy.
Apparently they're using DNA from one of Bin Laden's sisters
"Bin Laden’s demise delivers a smashing blow to al-Qaeda – and, perhaps, a fatal one."
Come on.
A temporary setback, at most. How many times have we eliminated 'top leaders' of various organizations, only to have someone else step up to the plate within days, or even hours? Would the US grind to a halt if the POTUS were eliminated? No, somebody steps up and things continue according to a well-defined plan of action. So, too, do such organizations the likes of Al-Qaeda; so, too, do the organizations of homegrown militias right here in the US just itching for a 'Red Dawn' scenario to unfold.
I don't know, it's still pretty high. The markets jump and dip short-term, but obviously this will be worse for markets in the long run as it will ensure an Obama reelection. Markets don't like Obama.
Did anyone else notice that Gadafi had a hit sent against him too. Instead of a seal team making sure of their target, the NATO forces bombed the facility. Gadafi and his wife are alive but a son and grandchildren are dead instead. If OBL was dead years ago, this may be why they are releasing it today. I thought it was illegal to try to assasinate the head of another country, yet another war crime.
Oh, but to hear the talking heads on tv and radio, Gadhafi is not being targetted specifically. I guess they're just targetting the ground around him? Any way you slice it, the end result is that a father has lost a son and three grandchildren to US bombs and missiles- again. Do you think he might have a itsy-bitsy case against the United States about this? Do you think he just might- just MIGHT- be inclined to give the order for his people to fan out and cause some serious death and mayhem in the US in retaliation? What happens when Smalltown, USA, gets hit and hundreds die as a result of blowback from our killing this man's CHILDREN?? When we get hit by Gadhafi, it won't be an act of terrorism- it will be the act of a man getting some payback for the deaths of his children, pure and simple. You'd do the EXACT same thing if it were happening to you- but it's not, is it, so whatever happens to someone else is okay, right? Better be calling your sons and daughters, and hugging your grandchildren tight and be glad the bombs and missiles of the US aren't coming for you tonight. Not yet, at least.
Well Osama Bin Laden was nothing but an individualized excuse, like everybody else (beginning where? Jesus? Or at least Guevara, Allende, Hussein) who has been hunted down and executed by a solid international mob. We will probably allow it to happen again and again.
Killing UBL is like killing Schrodinger's cat or Elvis – I've heard so many stories of them being dead/alive I don't really care anymore.
One shot to the head while in bed…yes, this is a classic. Instead of a full inquiry about the body, the events, instead of lots of photos, etc, we have the body secretly dumped at sea!
OK: this sounds much more like a crime than a police action. Hiding the body is a tip off.
dissappointed by this article.
What a hurry to throw the corpse to the sea! Reportedly, they couldn't wait to fulfill what is claimed to be an islamic precept. Pious people!
Don't you know that it is written in the Koran, or at least between the lines of the Koran, that the body of a Muslim not only must be interred within twenty four hours, but also whisked away to the nearest ocean — which in this case, is 600 miles away?
"I find it very hard to believe that not one observant Muslim in Pakistan, Afghanistan, or OBL's homeland of Saudi Arabia- or any other nation in the Middle East- wouldn't accept his body for burial"
John, I doubt anyone bothered to ask. It seems they were in a real hurry to get rid of the evidence … oops, I mean the body. This whole 'burial at sea' episode is, to be generous, kind of odd.
I smell a rat…a very large rat…hard to miss the smell of the New World Odor…especially when you've been lied to over and over and over again….
http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/2011/05/sorry-but…
Osama died a martyr (as he saw it). As they say, he died with his boots on.
It cost a trillion dollars, and thousands of lives, to kill him.
Not much of a victory. To kill just one man.
Too bad they killed him rather than captured him, which would have been smarter and more useful. And too bad they sank his body so we can't see whether it was the tall skinny guy with the long nose who disclaimed 9/11 or the fat guy with the short nose who claimed it.
Justin is still scared to admit the truth that 911 was an inside job carried by intel ops and the Military-Industrial Complex. Instead he runs around saying that government lies about everything, except what happened on 911 when 3 high rise steel framed structures collapsed at virtual free fall speed as if there were NO underlying support structure, due to a few small fires. Preposterous belief in government lies. Time to wake up gatekeepers.
John, I think it's just a cover story that nobody would take the body. These people will say anything to cover their crimes, and no one can challenge them. It reminds me of stories about a Mafia hit. To get rid of the evidence, they dump the body in a very deep body of water, and say "He sleeps with the fishes."
This story is more than a little ridiculous. Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted fugitive, is allegedly shot and killed, but instead of displaying the body, or flying in family members to confirm identity, or any other of a number of things they could do to demonstrate the veracity of their story, they dump the corpse in the ocean??? Not even buried in the ground, where it might be exhumed for identification purposes, but dumped 600 miles away, in the nearest ocean to the town of Abbottabad, where the action allegedly occurred. This is BULL-fucking-SHIT!!! Is Obama trying to kill an already dead OBL, in order to destroy both the legend and the narrative of OBL? The narrative of OBL is nearly identical to the narrative of the Republican Party since 2001 (but form an opposite point of view), or is at least dependent upon it for sustenance. Look for the recently appointed CIA head Petraeus to confirm it, who the repubs won't even try to dispute, because they made such a hero out of him. Petraeus, of course, would suck Obama's (or Bush's, or anyone's) dick for a promotion, so he will probably confirm it.
The #1 primo most important 'kill' of the decade and they're not going to release photos. Hm. Interesting.
I'm not so much interested in the still photographs- it's so easy to photoshop anything these days- but what I DO want to see is the raw, unedited footage of The Raid straight from the helmet cams of those involved. I want to see exactly when OBL was found, and I want to see his method of being killed. Yes, I want the video evidence- we know it's out there and you can bet that Joe the Plumber isn't going to be satisfied with The Official Story until it's laid out step by step. We've already got photos being sold on the open market by Pakistani locals who- amazingly- were allowed into this super-secret compound before the bodies of the gardeners and all that were taken away- yet the American public isn't mature enough to see for themselves what went down?
I'm not so upset that the US government is playing fast and loose with the facts- well, okay, they're probably lying on a number of counts- these days I EXPECT to be lied to- but what I DO object to the most is that when I'm being lied to by my own government, they could at least have the decency to make it a good one, and at least a little bit believable after the first round of questions. So far, it seems no one can tell the same story twice.
As Arte Johnson used to say on Laugh-In (yes, I'm showing my age): "verry interestink"
"After releasing the evidence against Osama bin Laden and his followers – or whoever – we need to go in and take them out."
Nealy a decade and still no evidence. Does a trial by TV pundits now create instant justice?
I find the "or whatever" in this statement (I presume it was the Bushtard's), whether intentional or not, to be very telling. One has to wonder what the "whatever" consists of, presumably in the absence of any actual evidence of OBL's involvement in the events of 911.
So I take it, John, that you would not have proceeded to fly his lifeless body 600 miles to the nearest ocean to dispose of it?
I'm pretty sure there are observant Muslims in that neighborhood where the engagement went down. If they had been asked, I am positive someone would have performed the proper rites and buried OBL according to Islamic law- regardless of his actions in life. The one small problem is.. I have a sneaky feeling nobody was asked. Even if some of the locals approached the military on their own for that purpose, I am just as sure they were met with loaded guns aimed at them and more likely than not some rather unpleasant language. YA THINK?
I have a sneaking suspicion this "engagement" never happened at all! Or if it did, Osama wasn't there!
Oh, SOMETHING happened that night- a local was Tweeting about the raid as it was in progress, from what I've heard. The official story is that a helo was blown up after being damaged- I wonder if this is the CRASH that was Tweeted about?
Also, the story I've found here and there is that the team didn't even know it was OBL in the compound, that they just thought they had a 'high value' operative in their sights.
No photos, no video, no eyewitness accounts, no nothing- you'd think for the most important kill of the last twenty years SOMEBODY would have taken a snapshot or two?
The official story is that OBL was flown directly to the USS Carl Vinson for burial- why so soon? And if that's the case, where did the POTUS get the photos of OBL in a hangar in AFGHANISTAN?
Lots of things aren't adding up very quickly about this, and even the government can't keep it's story straight.
OHHHH my God!!!! I just saw Osama bin Laden swimming in San Francisco Bay!! Oh, noe — he's headed towards shore!!!!
Stage II of the "War on Terror" has now begun.
Prepare for blowback aka an internal hit job that will justify another 10+ years of war.
Chicago?
The oligarchs are going for endgame.
we spent 10 years tracking this man down, trillions of dollars gone and after all this we cant even confirm if its him or not? This is a huge Victory for all Americans, but at a different angle u have to question did we really win with all the resources wasted tracking down just 1 man and the trillions we have to spend for our troops in the near future.
Bravo, it was about time to bury the ghost.
When and how he died is not important. The warmongers must be laughing their caps off at how the anti-war community argue amongst themselves over such things while they busy themselves with the next stages of their plans. What a wonderful smokescreen.
Maybe we'll find out where the missing nuke from Minot AFB went now?
Osama is sleepin' with the fishes, Chicago style. That was the plan from the beginning.
Good riddance to bad rubbish. Lets get Ayman al-Zawahiri and finish off old Al Qaeda in its entirety.
Of course the plan has been to knock him off when it's politically convenient- my question (well ONE of my questions) is why now? And why in such a manner? The most important 'kill' of the past decade of war and it's all conveniently covered over in a matter hours?
Now another set of questions arise as well- what of the women and assistants who were 'detained and flown to a safe area' during and after the engagement? Were any of the Pakistani Army retirees in the neighborhood 'detained' because they might have information? How soon can we expect these people to be checked in at Gitmo and put on trial? Prep time for their trials should be minimal at most because, after all, they were caught red-handed in OBL's house! I, for one, am waiting with bated breath to hear their testimony- if they live long enough to make it ti trial. I hear that government-sponsored shadow prisons are notoriously dangerous places- you could slip and break your neck at any minute! Oh, wait- we ARE going to take all their clothes and have someone wake them up every five minutes during the night to make sure they aren't dead, aren't we? After all, if it's good enough for our own troops, certainly it's good enough for them, right?
Of course the plan has been to knock him off when it's politically convenient- my question (well ONE of my questions) is why now? And why in such a manner? The most important 'kill' of the past decade of war and it's all conveniently covered over in a matter hours?
Now another set of questions arise as well- what of the women and assistants who were 'detained and flown to a safe area' during and after the engagement? Were any of the Pakistani Army retirees in the neighborhood 'detained' because they might have information? How soon can we expect these people to be checked in at Gitmo and put on trial? Prep time for their trials should be minimal at most because, after all, they were caught red-handed in OBL's house! I, for one, am waiting with bated breath to hear their testimony- if they live long enough to make it ti trial. I hear that government-sponsored shadow prisons are notoriously dangerous places- you could slip and break your neck at any minute! Oh, wait- we ARE going to take all their clothes and have someone wake them up every five minutes during the night to make sure they aren't dead, aren't we? After all, if it's good enough for our own troops, certainly it's good enough for them, right?
Trillions wasted, 6000 American troops dead, 60,000 wounded, hundreds fo thousands of Afgani's and Iraqi's dead and millions wounded and displaced. All this so the most radical elements in Islam can now control most of the Middle East and Central Asia. The next wars will be in Iran Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan and the Persian Gulf. It will never end until the USA is a bankrupt shadow of it's former self.
The USS Carl Vinson carries a crew of (give or take) 3,200, with the Air Wing adding an additional 2,480.
Out of roughly 5,680 crew members on board the carrier, NOT ONE of them thought to whip out their cell phone or digital camera and take a few trophy photos of the burial of The Most Evil Man Since Hitler? Not one of them took a photo and shot it to their family in a quick email? Not one of them had a video camera on hand to record the event? You'd think that the death of TMEMSH would be of some importance to those sailors, Marines, and aviators who were there because of that man.
No, as a former Marine I know sailors have their problems (just kidding- got all the respect in the world for you guys) but a total lack of photographs- even jumpy, fuzzy ones- of the event is totally preposterous. That crew will eventually come home- what stories will THEY have of that day? Will they coincide with what we're being told presently? Will those Muslims on board who performed the proper Islamic preparations for OBL's body come forward with their story?
I smell a rat in this whole business, and I have a sneaky suspicion it's somewhere between the White House and the Pentagon.
Well, you see, John, it is no longer a great accomplishment to be The Most Evil Man Since Hitler. We have had at least three such TMEMSH, and one of them made the cut twice. First, there was Saddam Hussein, in 1991. Then there was Slobodan Milosevic in the mid-1990s. Then, come 9/11/2001, Osama bin Laden became the new TMEMSH. Then, lo and behold, a rival TMEMSH, a previous holder of the title, was brought forward — Saddam Hussein. The sharing of the tittle of TMEMSH could not, of course, be long shared, so Saddam had to die. This left OBL as once and continuing TMEMSH — until now. Waiting in the wings, though not yet anointed as TMEMSH, is Muammar Qaddaffi. So why go out of your wat to photograph the latest TMEMSH, when a new TMEMSH is likely to be wheeled out any minute now? Hitler must be spinning in his grave, with his life's work being compared to the dubious achievements of such pipsqueaks in crime.
Well, yeah, we have MQ standing by to assume the role of TMEMSH, but he's such a piker and may not last long enough to allow The Establishment to accomplish much of anything. I'm wondering who they have lined up to trump the Libyan dog-and-pony show when MQ manages to accidentally get himself killed in a rain of bombs and missiles that aren't targeting him.
I'm sure both Hitler and Stalin are screaming about all the noobs trying to steal their thunder; they just don't make Bad Guys like they used to.
As we said before…, He was killed military style.., a shot into his left eye and a shot to his heart.., this is a execution done by military.., that is to say.., the mission is kill you.., NOT capture you or injure you but to kill you is my mission.., they didn’t want him taken a life.., simply they would have been forced to put him through a trial process and he (OBL) would have said few things here and there and exposing few names here and there.., now there is no evidence and there is no one to be trialed for whatever.., so the war must go on. .., but one of the names would be one or two or even three of the Bush family memebers and for some stange reason I beleive that Tony Blair or even Bill Clinton would have been the second names.