Obama to speak at 10:45 EST - Page 5

Deadlokd · #**101** 05-04-2011, 12:44 AM

CT, is it likely that they were encouraged to kill him rather than take him alive? Are..whoever did the raid...trained to shoot to incapacitate?

Jerome · #**102** 05-04-2011, 12:45 AM

YouTube - Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

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California Tanker · #**103** 05-04-2011, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deadlokd

CT, is it likely that they were encouraged to kill him rather than take him alive? Are..whoever did the raid...trained to shoot to incapacitate?

Your guess is as good as mine for the first question. My guess is that the "alive" bit wasn't ruled out if the opportunity arose, but no particular effort or risk should be taken to achieve that endstate. Killing him would be much less messy in the long term, and far easier to achieve unless he presented himself gift wrapped with a bow.

As to the second question, I doubt it. It's "threat/no-threat" as the default question.

NTM

California Tanker · #**104** 05-04-2011, 08:40 AM

As photographs are coming from the scene, the remnants of the helicopter that crashed is causing much discussion. Basically, nobody has a clue as to what sort of helicopter it was. Most of the fuselage was well destroyed to ashes (really) but the tail boom snapped off on the outside of the compound wall.

Best guesses are a form of 'stealthified' MH-60, but whatever it was, it was brought out from behind the curtain for this job.

NTM

The Man · #**105** 05-04-2011, 11:57 AM

Crumb · #**106** 05-04-2011, 04:11 PM

The pixels always give it away. :unnod:

California Tanker · #**107** 05-04-2011, 05:06 PM

Seriously, are they talking about this one?

It's been on the web since 2008. Practically as soon as the announcement of his death was made, the photo started circulating again, and if the reporters had bothered to have a gander on the various web fora, they'd have read in almost no time at all that it was a fake and what the original pictures were.

NTM

California Tanker · #**108** 05-04-2011, 09:08 PM

So, no photo.

White House: No bin Laden photo release - CNN.com

I'm OK with this. I'd have been curious to see it, but feel no need to. It's not as if he's going to be any more or less dead as a result, and I see no practical benefit to the release.

Still curious about the funeral cermony photos, though.

NTM

BrotherMan · #**109** 05-04-2011, 09:23 PM

Brace yourself. It's going to be like a comic convention: No (proof of) body means he isn't really dead.

Adam · #**110** 05-04-2011, 09:42 PM

I don't particularly care about the photo. BUT, unless there's some compelling reason NOT to release it*, then it should be released. I mean, the presumption should always be that any information that is not explicitly classified for a valid reason is available to the public. We own that photo.

Remember, no publicly released photo means no body, means HE'S NOT REALLY DEAD! A publicly released photo means I can tell it's fake because of the pixels, means HE'S NOT REALLY DEAD! He will live forever in our hearts, and in the smiles of children (except for those horrible KIDS THESE DAYS who do not even know who he is) and, whenever two of you gather in his name to throw away liquids or gels in containers larger than 2.5 oz, there he will be.

* - Like, I don't know, he has US state secrets tattooed on his forehead or something, and the bullets to the head didn't damage them to the point of illegibility.

Watser? · #**111** 05-04-2011, 09:48 PM

So what, nobody is ever dead anyway. Elvis lives, Jim Morrisson lives, Che Guevara lives, Jacques Brel n'est pas mort.

Jerome · #**112** 05-05-2011, 01:03 AM

Oops! Sen. Brown duped by fake bin Laden photo

Quote:

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown — who said earlier today he saw a picture of Osama bin Laden taken after the Sept. 11 mastermind was killed — fell victim to a fake photo of the al-Qaeda leader’s death that made the rounds after U.S. forces shot him on Sunday.

Jerome · #**113** 05-05-2011, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crumb

The pixels always give it away. :unnod:

They do, that pic is fake.

California Tanker · #**114** 05-05-2011, 10:41 PM

This seems to be the simplest timeline I've seen of how we got from there to here.

BBC News - Timeline: The intelligence hunt leading to Bin Laden

NTM

Janet · #**115** 05-05-2011, 11:21 PM

The timeline is good except for the fact they repeatedly say EST when it's actually EDT. They should fix that. I'm sure conspiracy theorists will jump on it if they don't.

Jerome · #**116** 05-05-2011, 11:47 PM

Osama bin Laden dead: Blackout during raid on bin Laden compound - Telegraph

Interesting timely video feed fail.

Leon Panetta, director of the CIA, revealed there was a 25 minute blackout during which the live feed from cameras mounted on the helmets of the US special forces was cut off.

A photograph released by the White House appeared to show the President and his aides in the situation room watching the action as it unfolded. In fact they had little knowledge of what was happening in the compound.

In an interview with PBS, Mr Panetta said: "Once those teams went into the compound I can tell you that there was a time period of almost 20 or 25 minutes where we really didn't know just exactly what was going on. And there were some very tense moments as we were waiting for information.

Watser? · #**117** 05-06-2011, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Al-Qaeda has confirmed the death of its leader, Osama Bin Laden, according to a statement attributed to the group and posted on jihadist internet forums.

BBC News - 'Al-Qaeda statement' confirms Osama Bin Laden's death

Ensign Steve · #**118** 05-06-2011, 07:00 PM

Hey, Adam! When did you get the gig writing for The Daily Show? :chin:

Adam · #**119** 05-06-2011, 07:28 PM

I guess that means he didn't drop any good loot. :sadcheer:

BrotherMan · #**120** 05-06-2011, 07:33 PM

A blemished dagger? WTF. THis is not epic quest loot. FCUK YOU BIOWAR.

Adam · #**121** 05-06-2011, 07:50 PM

Thank you for playing World of War on Global Terror!

Please be advised that a hotfix has been applied to all US realms making the Bin Laden Compound zone inaccessible. This zone contains unfinished content, including placeholder NPCs with low level loot tables. Obviously, neither the challenge nor the rewards in the zone as it currently exists are commensurate with the abilities or expectations of high level characters with end game gear, such as the Navy Seals guild. It was never intended that players would locate or enter the zone without clues found in the planned quest chain leading to the final confrontation with Osama Bin Laden.

This zone will again become available in our next major expansion The Burning Jihad, when it will be tuned to present an appropriate challenge to end game raiding guilds. At that time, Bin Laden's loot table will also be modified to contain truly epic items, including the rumored Submachine Gun of a Thousand Truths, as well as the Mysterious Birth Certificate, which will begin a new epic quest chain in which players will uncover the secret final boss of the expansion!

Look for The Burning Jihad wherever PC games are sold, just in time for the 2012 election season!

livius drusus · #**122** 05-06-2011, 11:05 PM

YouTube - President Obama on Death of...

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California Tanker · #**123** 05-06-2011, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam

I don't particularly care about the photo. BUT, unless there's some compelling reason NOT to release it*,

<snip>

* - Like, I don't know, he has US state secrets tattooed on his forehead or something, and the bullets to the head didn't damage them to the point of illegibility.

The official reasoning was so as not to provide an additional recruiting or propoganda tool for the opposition, not to try to insulate us from the horrors of war as Mr Steward considers.

As a rationale, it is not unfounded.

NTM

Jerome · #**124** 05-07-2011, 12:14 AM

D. Scarlatti · #**125** 05-07-2011, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by California Tanker

I'm OK with this. I'd have been curious to see it, but feel no need to.

My sentiments exactly. As for its gruesomeness, I'm sure I've seen worse* (and you probably have, IRL).

* e.g., 8x10 police glossies of (alleged, at the time) wife-homicide by boat propeller blades. Not pretty.