He reportedly died peacefully of disease + natural causes, not coalition bombs.

I'm not convinced, that would be more likely to be intentional misinformation/misdirection. If he'd been dead for so long there would've been very little real gain to be had reporting his death now.

The case went cold for a long time, if the reports on the BBC are to be believed, people became aware of where he might be around a year a go but as these sort of things take time progress was slow, and, the weren't sure he was inside the compound until they got inside.

The only way for these reports to be proven false would be for AQ to provide proof that OBL died years ago, which they wouldn't even if they could. They could release another OBL video, but again this could be forged easily so would prove nothing.

People will have to take the story on face value, either believe it or not.

ok, so who will be the next scapegoat for American false flag policy?

If he'd been dead for so long there would've been very little real gain to be had reporting his death now.

This kind of domestic good will isn't really "very little"

I reakon Obamas second term is secured now

The only way for these reports to be proven false would be for AQ to provide proof that OBL died years ago[/quote]The only way for today's reports to be proven true would be for the US to show us the body, which they apparently have already buried at sea... Convenient...
Too bad that he'll never get to be tried by an American court for 9/11 now as well, having instead been assassinated.

While I agree that it would have been better to try that bastard, I'm gonna paraphrase Jon Stewart and say there's one less homicidal cave-dwelling dickface sharing the planet today, and that can't be bad news.

So can we drop the pointless airline security measures and the civil liberty violations now?

The only way for today's reports to be proven true would be for the US to show us the body, which they apparently have already buried at sea... Convenient...
Too bad that he'll never get to be tried by an American court for 9/11 now as well, having instead been assassinated.

Well, it could be argued that it's better in the long run to kill him (reports suggest OBL opened fire on the team so got shot, as opposed to assassinated) rather than end up with the long drawn out affair they had with Saddam with people getting kidnapped and murdered in an attempt to either secure his release or affect the out come of any trial, though he'd have never got a fair trial anyway.

There are several good reason why he might have been buried at sea.
1 - No marked grave to become a shrine to his followers and no chance of people "stealing" his body
2 - There is a certain time frame that Muslims should be buried with in

He praised 9/11 , did you expect the US to let him get away with this? They've sent a message to naughty men everywhere that they can be found and dealt with and that the US is capable of playing the long game.

"HURRR DURRR, HE'S DEAD, HURR DURRR!"

He praised 9/11 , did you expect the US to let him get away with this? They've sent a message to naughty men everywhere that they can be found and dealt with and that the US is capable of playing the long game.

All of which will mean nothing to the next wave of anti-American extremists who are recruited as a direct result of the death of this "martyr". Someone else will step into his shoes and the "war" will carry on as before because US troops are "occupying" [insert name of country here] or supporting their enemy.

All this announcement is is a Fox News sized sound bite. It's as meaningful as George W announcing "the War in Iraq is over". No one with half a brain believed him then no one that isn't a Fox News viewer will believe that Osama's death makes any difference. All the US has done is killed the monster they made in the first place (but the mad dog has bred and its offspring are everywhere). General Noriega, Saddam Hussain, and Osama. All either trained by or funded by the US and all turned around to bite the US. Even if this was actually "one less enemy" America will simply replace him by creating a new enemy through their foreign policy.

[quote name='Smeagol' timestamp='1304329668' post='4805330']
He praised 9/11 , did you expect the US to let him get away with this? They've sent a message to naughty men everywhere that they can be found and dealt with and that the US is capable of playing the long game.

All of which will mean nothing to the next wave of anti-American extremists who are recruited as a direct result of the death of this "martyr". Someone else will step into his shoes and the "war" will carry on as before because US troops are "occupying" [insert name of country here] or supporting their enemy.

All this announcement is is a Fox News sized sound bite. It's as meaningful as George W announcing "the War in Iraq is over". No one with half a brain believed him then no one that isn't a Fox News viewer will believe that Osama's death makes any difference. All the US has done is killed the monster they made in the first place (but the mad dog has bred and its offspring are everywhere). General Noriega, Saddam Hussain, and Osama. All either trained by or funded by the US and all turned around to bite the US. Even if this was actually "one less enemy" America will simply replace him by creating a new enemy through their foreign policy.
[/quote]

True 1 dead extremist has achieved nothing other than making Americans feel good, I can't see his death recruiting any more extremists than the Wests ongoing operations in places like Afghanistan. The radical elements of the religion of peace were angry yesterday, I doubt they'll be much more angry today. OBL was little more than a figure head for the "idea" of AQ.

It's more telling that they managed to carry out an operation with a firefight that lasted 40 minutes so close to a Pakastani Military Academy without any involvement from Pakastani agencies.

Honestly. What makes this moron so special beyond the attention you put onto him? He's (was?) no more than a pawn between us. If not, ask Sheldon. He can hack the pentagon and tie a nuke to his chest over a card trick.

I bet he could also hijack an airplane given enough psychological pressure.

Your enemy is dead = good.
Are you safe from yourselves = no.

[color=#1C2837][size=2]All this announcement is is a Fox News sized sound bite. It's as meaningful as George W announcing "the War in Iraq is over". No one with half a brain believed him then no one that isn't a Fox News viewer will believe that Osama's death makes any difference[/quote]

Nobody's claiming its over. President Obama made it very clear in his speech that anti-terrorist operations will continue. This might make him a Martyr, but Al-Qaeda have lost a key figure. Osama bin Laden was crucial to them as a figurehead, as a symbol of defiance against the west, and as somebody to organize and mobilize them. With him alive they could feel untouchable, feel like they have beaten their enemies. Now that he's dead I think they might sleep a little less soundly.

[color=#1C2837][size=2]General Noriega, Saddam Hussain, and Osama. All either trained by or funded by the US and all turned around to bite the US. Even if this was actually "one less enemy" America will simply replace him by creating a new enemy through their foreign policy. [/quote]

The US may have made some mistakes during the careers of such people, but Osama bin Laden's US training came before he started his holy war against the west, how were they supposed to know? And as for Hussein, don't try to claim he was somehow 'America's fault'. The US did not train him to commit genocide.

The news of Bin Laden's demise is not the end of anything, but it is a significant and welcome achievement. As a Brit, I applaud the US and their allies in Pakistan who made this operation possible, and have now rid the world of one of its worst citizens.