Bin Laden

"Listen very carefully, I will say this only once!"

To take a line from a popular BBC tv series about occupied France, and a cowardly cafe owner.

So. The US has finally got its man. Apparently. Osama Bin Laden was finally tracked to a compound located close to Islamabad in Pakistan. However, the US did not give Pakistan prior warning, for fear that the Pakistani intelligence services would leak the threat to Bin Laden, giving him time to break out.

The US finally tracked him on the back of his fear of technology. mobile phones and the internet can easily be tracked and turned against you, so Bin Laden had to switch to using couriers to carry his message to the outside world. 

Unfortunately, the US finally managed to find one of these, and slowly followed him through the web built by Al Quaida to hide Bin Laden, until they finally pinpointed him. Another giveaway was the fact that here was a well-protected $1,000,000 compound that was well lived in, but with no telephone or internet lines running into it. Unlike all the other similar properties in the area.

So, President Obama then had a choice to make. Send in the missiles, or send in the Seals. He wisely opted for the latter. Sending in the missiles means that there is no chance of American lives being lost, but the massive chance of massive collateral damage with Pakistani homes being destroyed by American force, within 100km of the capital city! If anything, that would only have made things worse!

So, Obama went with the politically riskier, but potentially higher rewarding option of the Navy Seals. By sending in troops, he ran the risk of having American forces being captured either by Al Quaida, or the Pakistani forces, and paraded for the worlds media. However, by sending them in, they could eyeball Bin Laden, and make sure it was him, and either capture or kill him.

As it turns out, they ended up with the latter.

Bin Laden is now dead. 

I am not going to cry over it. Neither am I going to celebrate. The man has the blood of thousands on his hands, all in the name of his warped brand of Islam. And whilst I would have preferred him to face a court of law, that is fraught with problems. At least this way, he has to answer to a much higher power for his crimes. 

If Bin Laden was arrested an put on trial, he just becomes a cause celebre for lunatics around the world. Putting him on trial would just give him a platform to denounce the west, and spout of on his theories on life, etc. Also, for the duration of his natural life, his supporters will try anything to attack the US and spring him from jail. It is another thing for the US to have to watch out for with its watchlists, and other defensive measures.

By killing him, we dont get any of that. 

Also, the sea burial is a nice touch. One thing that the US gets slated for is mistreating Muslims, and disrespecting Islam. Yet here they are, performing all the correct Islamic rituals, and burying him about a day after his death. All within Islams tenets. Especially about the speedy burial.

Even more shrewd, was the choice of a sea burial. By burying him at sea, there is no grave for his supporters to rally to. There is no grave to act as a fulcrum for pilgrims to come to and pray, and more importantly, no grave for people to rally round and become even more radicalized.

Also, with the Americans following Islamic writ with regards his burial, hopefully it takes some of the fuel away from the fire under those who are susceptible to Bin Ladens message. Hopefully by respecting Bin Laden in death, the US has proven to be above Bin Laden, and even after the atrocities visited on the US and other nations by Bin Laden, the US can still act in a civil and respectful manner. This will, I hope, lessen the negativity aimed toward the US.

Is it a good thing he is dead? I dont care. Come judgement day, he is in a world of trouble. There is nothing we can do to match that. 

To make it worse for Bin Laden, we have to proceed to erase him from history. That is something even more insulting than his death. He would not have worried too much about becoming a martyr because then his name would then resonate through the ages as a beacon for Muslims all over! 

Just to make it even worse for him, we need to proceed to ignore the man. Erase him as much as we can from history. 

And therefore, I will proceed to do so. I have had my comment, and will proceed to say no more. He is dead, and gone. 

So, isnt the weather lovely today?