Yes.

In britland in the 80s Maggie Thatcher and the tories only got their second term because she was in charge during The Falklands. Before that happened she was well on her way to a defeat, although that's probably not the best example seeing she was arguably the worst prime minister in history.:P

Yeah, the re-election claims because of this are absurd.

It was a bit more than "yes". As more details leak out, it's incredibly apparent that this was one of his toughest decisions in office. His cabinet was completely split on how to approach this. Whether by bombs, waiting to be more certain, ground forces, etc. According to the sources, they say they were 50-80% certain it was him in the compound. It was Obama's call to decide not only when, but how to do it. And that is a monster decision, because if Osama wasn't there, this whole situation could've mushroom clouded politically. It also seems pretty clear that once they got this tip, that he made this a top priority for his divisions, so that's another thing he has to call. While we've all agreed that Osama had no real operational duties, his face was so important. Diverting resources to finding this one man who many claim is "useless" in practical terms is a big decision for the Pres.

While most of the commendations must be given to the special ops folk, because this sounds like an incredible operation, due credit must be given to our head of state.

Watching a live stream of the raid. More sizes here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/5680724572/sizes/z/in/photostream/

Lol some one posted this on kotaku and it's totally true...looks like obama is holding a gaming controller beneath vision and is in gamer mode concentration

Perhaps they dropped his body in the sea because they don't want this man's grave (wherever it may be) to turn into a place of pilgrimage.

Perhaps they just shot him because giving him a trial would be a near impossible undertaking, what with the whole Guantanamo situation and all. Where should he go? The Hague? Any place he would stand trial would become a number one target for terrorists. And then I'm not even talking about making the case. Unless he'd outright confess, which I wouldn't even put past him to be perfectly honest.

Plus they'd have to keep paying for dialysis!

Times be tight, yo.

Of course all of those are reasonable considerations for burying him at sea (with ritual washing, mind you) but we aren't a reasonable public are we?

I think you'd have to be one douche bag seal to see osama and not kill him

Now I lay me down to sleep...one less terrorist this world does keep...with all my heart I give my thanks...to those in uniform regardless of ranks...you serve our country & serve it well...with humble hearts your stories tell...so as I rest my weary eyes...while freedom rings our flag still flies...you give your all, do what you must...with God we live & God we trust....AMEN9 minutes ago

Posted on fb. Thought it was neat

Wait a sec.. what's John Lithgow doing there?

QFT as far as I'm concerned.
*shrug*
I'm not surprised by the celebrations, but neither do they incite in me any feelings of 'f*** yeah'. I'm happy some US families got a form of closure, but it's not like the conflict is over, and it's not like a crapton of people from the otherside didn't die needlessly, too.

I pretty much agree with what Free has been saying, with the exception that I find nothing surprising about any of it.

Pretty much how I feel as well.

I'm more curious why Colin Cowherd is sitting next to Clinton.

I feel the same way about this as I felt about 9/11 at the time: "Wait, what happened? Oh. Well, okay."

It's not that I don't care, even though I probably don't care as much as everyone else. It's just that even in the big picture, this doesn't really effect me directly.

Hey look, it's Mentat!

http://aljazeera.com/news/asia/2011/05/20115241936984209.html

What the worlds saying

http://aljazeera.com/news/asia/2011/05/20115241936984209.html

What the rest of the world is saying

Yousuf Raza Gilani - Pakistani prime minister

"We will not allow our soil to be used against any other country for terrorism and therefore I think it's a great victory, it's a success and I congratulate the success of this operation."

Ehsanullah Ehsan - Pakistani Taliban spokesman

"If he has been martyred, we will avenge his death and launch attacks against American and Pakistani governments and their security forces."


Am I missing something here?

Yeah, the word "Taliban"

I just remembered this part of the last decade

There will always be morons whining about things like "oh no we are celebrating a humans death how barbaric!" blahblahblah

To those morons: Go spend a week in a taliban controlled town and come back with your bull**** drivel then. These *******s would kill you with no hesitation faster then you can blink, and you want to sit there and cry to the internet because we just did the world a favor? Go **** yourself. No seriously, go **** yourself.

Devil's advocate: The whole point is that we're supposed to be better than they are.

I'm not the least bit bothered that the son of a ***** is dead, and I don't really mind the celebrations either, but I don't think "look at the other guys" is the best way to defend them.

My friend just tried to show me pics of supposedly Bin Laden dead, it was obviously a photoshop job (and not a very good one) but he was convinced it was real.

see I really disagree with the entire premise that the "celebratIng" of his demise needs to be defended. I don't find anything inherently wrong with it in the first place.

Please note this was not particularly directed at you!

So do all the people killed on 9/11 come back to life now?

I think so. This map just finished, so CS:USA is busy loading the next map now.

I wish.

Anyway I feel like a lot of people think New York is having a party right now or that this fixes everything. I dont feel any happier but I suppose theres some amount of relief? I dunno.

These people going 'USA USA' and burning Osama portraits in the streets remind me of those images you always see of protesters in the Middle East burning Bush portraits and American flags.

Yeah well **** that guy.

As someone else said, it is the close of a big chapter that shaped our generation, and honestly, one of the first pieces of good news to come out of this mess in the Middle East in a long damn time. Am I jumping up and down and crying? No, but my feelings reflect that sense of closure.

I haven't seen any footage of people burning his picture, but I can't say I'm overly surprised by that. *That* I don't agree with.

I'm more of a 'glad the SOB is dead' persuasion. 9/11 affected me because my brother was in the armed sevice then. I had stood atop the wtc only 9 months before. It does close a chapter in my life. I won't clebrate the death of the man, but I'm not stopping other people. Who am I to judge, honestly?

I agree!

And that's my problem with it. I don't like it when we look like "them". Whether it's celebrating the death of a person or leftist union members protesting and rioting. We're supposed to be a shining beacon to the rest of the world, not a reflection of their own flaws.

Still haven't seen the long form death certificate either.

Who ****ing cares, the price of gas went down like 15 cents.

...according to whom?

Depending on your personal views our values or Divine Providence. Or Ronald Reagan. Take your pick.

Me. I'm not religious or anything like the people Wookie suggests I just, you know, think everybody should do that.

A shining example of a police state? Sure, whatever, but at least keep up appearances for what you claim to be.

I agree completely. I am glad he had the gonads to make the call, while also showing that the United States is a force to be reckoned with.

God bless the SEAL's and all troops. I cannot imagine the adrenaline and intensity they experienced during the raid and having pulled it off with no casualties.

How this unfolds internationally may be Obama's greatest test as President.

You know, the moment is kind of lost on me after about a decade of poking in the wrong holes, not to mention the collateral damage.

And where's the proof? Not that I'm expecting old Bin to give a press conference tomorrow, but it's a damn weird story.

I mean, great story about building a full-scale copy of the house for the special ops to train in and all that, but it sounds like damn good propaganda. I'm old enough to remember the first Gulf War, and this really reminded me of how we saw all this 'smart bomb' camera footage in full rotation on CNN, only to learn after the war was over that it hadn't been as clean as they said at all.