Osama Bin Laden Dead

It took nearly ten years, but they finally found and killed Osama Bin Laden. Apparently CIA intelligence found him hiding out in Pakistan and a team of SEALs was sent in after him. According to Foxnews.com:

The attack on the secret compound in Abottabad, Pakistan, was preceded by months of intelligence gathering and high-level meetings within the CIA. The agency discovered the compound in August while monitoring a trusted Al Qaeda courier. Nine months later, after rehearsing the raid for a week, a unit of specially trained SEALs stormed the compound and killed the Al Qaeda leader with a gunshot to the head.

It's a shame that, for their safety and that of their families, we'll probably never know those SEALs' names. I guess they'll have to be content with being the anonymous heroes for millions of Americans.

I hope those SEALs find a little extra in this month's paycheck

Given the circumstances, it was decided to bury Bin Laden's remains at sea. Since his burial place can't be turned into some perverse shrine or pilgrimage location, I think it's a great idea. At the same time, it seems absurd to me that President Obama found it necessary to insist that Bin Laden's body was being handled according to Islamic custom (wasn't Bin Laden's terrorism supposed to be considered "anti-Islamic activity" now?). Honestly, why was this even being emphasized? Are we afraid of reprisals or something? Al Qaeda was already killing Americans before we killed Bin Laden; are we afraid that now they're really going to try to kill Americans? I'm tired of Obama pandering to our enemies.

As it is, the burial at sea has plenty of Muslin clerics questioning it. One cleric, Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, said that the method of burial "runs contrary to the principles of Islamic laws, religious values and humanitarian customs." So, was Bin Laden's murder of thousands of civilians according to "the principles of Islamic laws, religious values and humanitarian customs"? Others say that the burial at sea disrespects the Muslim practice of pointing a body's head towards Mecca. What about the 9/11 hijackers or Bin Laden's suicide bombers? Those methods of death don't exactly leave one's corpse in the position to be pointing in any particular direction. Is it just me or do these radical clerics seem to be outraged by the wrong things? I think it's a safe bet that millions of Americans and Muslims who don't want Bin Laden to be associated with their religion don't really care how the murder's corpse was dispositioned.

One final thought: although Bin Laden's death is good news for the sane people of the world, anyone who thinks that this marks the end of terrorism by Al Qaeda or its ilk is hopelessly naive. That kind of fanaticism and hatred has existed since mankind was capable of expressing it and will certainly last until the Apocalypse.

The End