Usama bin Laden is dead

[robertlouis]

This was out of respect for the Muslim practice of burial within 24 hours of death (same as in Judaism) and also, they say, so as not to create a place which would become a shrine for radical islamists.

So respect for islam and a covert critique of its radical distorters. Makes sense to me.

Is there a tradition of burial at sea within Islam though? I understand all the rationale for the US forces doing so, just hope that it has been done in strict accordance with the appropriate ritual.

And for anyone who says it doesn't matter, I've been listening to radio reports from Pakistan, which was already a powder keg and may now simply be waiting to explode.

[Prospero]

Not sure if there is a burial at sea tradition but at least the US observed the need for a swift internment. No parading of his corpse in the way that US bodies are often displayed such as in iran or Somaiia. That is a lot of respect for a man hugely instrumental in the mass murder of 9/11.

[Prospero]

This as a quick reference is what Wikepedia says: "The sacred texts of Islam prefer burial on land, so deep that its smell does not come out and the beasts of prey do not dig it out. However, if a person dies at sea and it is not possible to bring the body back to land before decay, burial at sea is allowed. A weight is tied to the feet of the body, and the body is lowered into the water. This would preferably occur in an area where the remains are not immediately eaten by scavengers. Also, if an enemy may dig up the grave to mutilate the body, it is also allowed to bury the deceased at sea to avoid mutilation."]

[iamdrgonzo]

FBI says, it has “No hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11”

By Ed Haas

06/18/06 "Muckraker Report " - June 6, 2006 – This past weekend, a thought provoking e-mail circulated through Internet news groups, and was sent to the Muckraker Report by Mr. Paul V. Sheridan (Winner of the 2005 Civil Justice Foundation Award), bringing attention to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist web page for Usama Bin Laden.[1] In the e-mail, the question is asked, “Why doesn’t Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted poster make any direct connection with the events of September 11, 2001?” The FBI says on its Bin Laden web page that Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998 bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. According to the FBI, these attacks killed over 200 people. The FBI concludes its reason for “wanting” Bin Laden by saying, “In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorists attacks throughout the world.”

On June 5, 2006, the Muckraker Report contacted the FBI Headquarters, (202) 324-3000, to learn why Bin Laden’s Most Wanted poster did not indicate that Usama was also wanted in connection with 9/11. The Muckraker Report spoke with Rex Tomb, Chief of Investigative Publicity for the FBI. When asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on Bin Laden’s Most Wanted web page, Tomb said, “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.”

Click the link for article: http://www.informationclearinghouse....ticle13664.htm




Murder of U.S. Nationals Outside the United States; Conspiracy to Murder U.S. Nationals Outside the United States; Attack on a Federal Facility Resulting in Death


USAMA BIN LADEN


Date of Photograph Unknown
Multimedia: Images
Aliases:

Usama Bin Muhammad Bin Ladin, Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin, the Prince, the Emir, Abu Abdallah, Mujahid Shaykh, Hajj, the Director
DESCRIPTION

Date(s) of Birth Used:

1957 Place of Birth:

Saudi ArabiaHeight:

6' 4" to 6' 6"Weight:

Approximately 160 pounds Build:

ThinOccupation:

Unknown Hair:

Brown Eyes:

BrownComplexion:

OliveSex:

MaleNationality:

Saudi ArabianScars and Marks:

None knownRemarks:

Bin Laden is the leader of a terrorist organization known as Al-Qaeda, "The Base". He is left-handed and walks with a cane.

CAUTION

Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world.
REWARD

The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Usama Bin Laden. An additional $2 million is being offered through a program developed and funded by the Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association.

CONSIDERED ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS


If you have any information concerning this person, please contact your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.
Field Office:New York
June 1999
Poster Revised November 2001

The link: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/usama-bin-laden

[robertlouis]

The manner in which Osama bin Laden has died will suit him most of all, after 9/11 he was most commonly photographed holding a gun, not the Qu'ran, and made it known he would 'never be taken alive' -to his fanatical supporters, he died as he lived, fighting the Americans to his last breath. It would have been better had he been arrested in his pyjamas, not for the public humiliation, but as evidence of the man's vulnerability, just as the 'invincible' Saddam Hussein was arrested in a hole in the ground and looked defeated notwithstanding his dishevelled hair and appearance. Fanatics will be preparing their 'revenge', and most likely in Pakistan where they live and breathe, and possibly using targets in India in the medium-term.

The death of bin Laden does not shut down as-Qaeda, but it does burst the balloon of invincibility, and it comes at a time when, across the Arab world, ordinary people are fighting against the same kind of one-eyed, one-party politics that produced bin Laden. Since 1918, the Arabs have been defeated on the battlefield, even Suez was merely a hollow victory because the British left the field rather than being beaten. The Arabs have had enough of family firms, brutal dictators, false promises, fixed economies, fanatical dead-end politics: if bin Laden's death is well-timed, one hopes that for the majority of Arabs, it is one more step towards a different kind of politics, and one that we should support.

My thoughts are with the victims, 'thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears'...

He was found in what's been described as a "luxury compound", near a city in what has been described as Pakistan's main holiday playground for the wealthy. That's hardly the portrait of the ascetic living a holy and subsistence life that's always been painted in the past.

So there's a hope, however slight, that some of the kids all over the world who have been fanaticised into following his example might now see him as a hypocrite living in comfort and reconsider their stance.

It's not much, but it's better than nothing

And there are reports of several retaliatory suicide bombings already in Pakistan, where the government is on a loser either way - if they knew, they are complicit in the death of a muslim hero, if they didn't, they are incompetent and weak in the face of yet another US incursion into their sovereign territory. Be sure of it, if Pakistan topples in the direction of Iran, the west will really be in the shit - they already have nuclear capability.

[Prospero]

"Be sure of it, if Pakistan topples in the direction of Iran, the west will really be in the shit - they already have nuclear capability."

Well it won't be in the Iranian model - they're mainly Sunni in Pakistan (albeint many of them Wahabi or Salafi), not Shia. Plus the US is said to have contigency plans to seize and/or destroy Pakistan's nuclear weapons in the vent of a takeover by the radicals.
The great regional danger is from India should pakistan crack-up....

[robertlouis]

"Be sure of it, if Pakistan topples in the direction of Iran, the west will really be in the shit - they already have nuclear capability."

Well it won't be in the Iranian model - they're mainly Sunni in Pakistan (albeint many of them Wahabi or Salafi), not Shia. Plus the US is said to have contigency plans to seize and/or destroy Pakistan's nuclear weapons in the vent of a takeover by the radicals.
The great regional danger is from India should pakistan crack-up....

I agree with your regional assessment, but the world danger is the US going into Pakistan in that event, especially if an Islamist regime has already been installed. And with the Islamist party deeply invested in the ISI and the military establishment, this could be just the excuse needed for another military coup, but this time with a dedicated Islamist direction.

[Prospero]

That's true - but I think a regional war with india might kick-off sooner. What China might do in that event (bearing in mind their own little Islamist problem ) is intriguing.

[iamdrgonzo]

I agree with your regional assessment, but the world danger is the US going into Pakistan in that event, especially if an Islamist regime has already been installed. And with the Islamist party deeply invested in the ISI and the military establishment, this could be just the excuse needed for another military coup, but this time with a dedicated Islamist direction.

The US has been in Pakistan (etal) since the sun set on the British Empire.

[Prospero]

The sun set on our empire... damn I hadn't realised! Someone should have told Blair about that.