• Welcome to Smashboards, the world's largest Super Smash Brothers community! Over 250,000 Smash Bros. fans from around the world have come to discuss these great games in over 19 million posts!

    You are currently viewing our boards as a visitor. Click here to sign up right now and start on your path in the Smash community!

Osama bin Laden is dead!

El Nino

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jul 4, 2003
Messages
1,289
Location
Ground zero, 1945
I think you guys are a little off base. Godsmith said that he "always respected an honorable individual over a greedy one."

Nothing he did was 'honourable'
I can never decide if I respect or dislike the guy. None of us have ever met him in person, so I don't know if he was genuinely doing what he thought was best, or did it all for money and power. It makes no difference in some people's eyes, but I've always respected an honorable individual over a greedy one.
I take that to mean that it depends on whether or not bin Laden really believed in what he was doing, if he really thought that what he was doing was necessary, that, for example, more lives in the Middle East would be lost due to American greed and imperialism if no one took action, and therefore the lives lost in the process would be considered collateral damage. Or, if he was making a power grab for his organization and simply using language that spoke to the anger and outrage of people who suffered under the effects of U.S. imperialism, while he genuinely cared not for their cause. The first reason would be considered by some to be more honorable than the second.
 

Macmaster4k2

Smash Rookie
Joined
Apr 15, 2011
Messages
18
Location
Anacrime, CA
Its all perspective, there is no real wrong or right in this world, its all human conceptions. Anyways, i see it as another senseless killing. It only will cause more hatred in this world and only provokes more killings.
 

GoldShadow

Marsilea quadrifolia
BRoomer
Joined
Jun 6, 2003
Messages
14,463
Location
Location: Location
Its all perspective, there is no real wrong or right in this world, its all human conceptions. Anyways, i see it as another senseless killing. It only will cause more hatred in this world and only provokes more killings.
"Senseless" would be a store clerk who gets shot in a gas station robbery, a family of four that is killed by a drunk driver, a man murdered in a bar room brawl.

Killing a terrorist responsible for intentionally murdering thousands upon thousands of civilians does not fit the bill for "senseless" by any stretch of the imagination.
 

Macmaster4k2

Smash Rookie
Joined
Apr 15, 2011
Messages
18
Location
Anacrime, CA
"Senseless" would be a store clerk who gets shot in a gas station robbery, a family of four that is killed by a drunk driver, a man murdered in a bar room brawl.

Killing a terrorist responsible for intentionally murdering thousands upon thousands of civilians does not fit the bill for "senseless" by any stretch of the imagination.
Before i say anything else, let me clarify. I DO NOT support Osama in any way, he was a mass murderer in every way like Hitler BUT my point is, killing him wasn't the best way to approach to problem (in my opinion). I think by killing him, we lowered our own values to his own. he killed out of hatred, did we not do the same to him? its a vicious cycle that never ends, the U.S should of been the bigger man and taken him to international court where real justice could of been served. Interesting fact, Osama Bin Laden never took responsibility for 9/11. so how do we prove he did? Answer: going through the justice system where you got to prove he is guilty. Im not saying he didnt plan 9/11, I believe he did but i also believe in global equality, peace and justice.
 

Vinylic.

Woke?
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Messages
15,864
Location
New York, New York
Switch FC
SW-5214-5959-4787
You have to respect a strong enemy in order to defeat them.

I mean let's face it, the dude managed to kill 3000 Americans in one day, that's no small feat, morals aside.
I'd say it's true but i don't support the word "Terrorism".
 

GoldShadow

Marsilea quadrifolia
BRoomer
Joined
Jun 6, 2003
Messages
14,463
Location
Location: Location
Interesting fact, Osama Bin Laden never took responsibility for 9/11. so how do we prove he did? Answer: going through the justice system where you got to prove he is guilty.
Actually, he did, back in 2004:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/binladen_10-29-04.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2004/10/29/binladen_message041029.html
http://classic-web.archive.org/web/...findia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1550477.cms
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3966817.stm
 

Macmaster4k2

Smash Rookie
Joined
Apr 15, 2011
Messages
18
Location
Anacrime, CA
1. Thank you for sources :)
2. I still believe he should of been put to trial
3. somewhat irrelevant due to the fact that i stated that i believed he planned 9/11 and with your sources, it confirmed my belief
4. Whats your take on it? do you think it was right and that justice was upheld?
 

Mic_128

Wake up...
Administrator
BRoomer
Joined
Jun 19, 2002
Messages
46,180
Location
Steam
I think by killing him, we lowered our own values to his own.
Not really, that's like saying police were lowered to the criminals level when after murdering a bunch of people the criminal charges at a cop with a gun and gets killed. I doubt Bin Laden would have thrown his hands up when they charged in, unless it was to grab a gun/set off a boobytrap.

What lowered "your" own values was throwing wild street parties everywhere celebrating his death.
 

Teran

Through Fire, Justice is Served
Super Moderator
Premium
BRoomer
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
37,165
Location
Beastector HQ
3DS FC
3540-0079-4988
Nothing he did was 'honourable'
That's really pretty subjective.

But whatever let's not get into this before people start calling me Al-Gayda
 

-Jumpman-

Smash Champion
Joined
Nov 3, 2007
Messages
2,854
Location
Netherlands
Not really, that's like saying police were lowered to the criminals level when after murdering a bunch of people the criminal charges at a cop with a gun and gets killed. I doubt Bin Laden would have thrown his hands up when they charged in, unless it was to grab a gun/set off a boobytrap.

What lowered "your" own values was throwing wild street parties everywhere celebrating his death.
Actually, killing a man who isn't under US jurisdiction isn't justified.
 

GoldShadow

Marsilea quadrifolia
BRoomer
Joined
Jun 6, 2003
Messages
14,463
Location
Location: Location
1. Thank you for sources :)
2. I still believe he should of been put to trial
3. somewhat irrelevant due to the fact that i stated that i believed he planned 9/11 and with your sources, it confirmed my belief
4. Whats your take on it? do you think it was right and that justice was upheld?
1. No problem!
2. Fair enough.

Regarding my opinion, I think that in an ideal world, we wouldn't have to kill for justice, or at all, and that all problems could be solved in a more civil manner. However, since we don't live in an ideal world, I think that this was both necessary and just. The thing is, I think it would've been great if he'd been captured and put on trial and publicly humiliated for all the world to see (and by humiliated, I just mean that he would've been in custody/on trial/on TV). Barring that, the next best thing was to kill him, because unlike a police action, this was a military action, and a firefight had broken out, not to mention that he probably would have been difficult to capture (if he had access to a weapon, he surely would have started firing).

I'd rather not risk the lives of US troops in a firefight by telling them that they have to capture him alive; if they're in danger, they should be able to protect themselves, and that's exactly what they did. If Bin Laden was killed because of that, then so be it. Sure saves a lot of hassle in terms of court costs and time spent. Swift retribution for a lifetime of terrorist actions.
 

Teran

Through Fire, Justice is Served
Super Moderator
Premium
BRoomer
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
37,165
Location
Beastector HQ
3DS FC
3540-0079-4988
We're America, we can do whatever we want :mad:
Truth.

Just make sure you don't lose the power. Man if America's power ever completely slips, they are going to have hell to pay from every country in the world teabagging them for revenge.
 

Teran

Through Fire, Justice is Served
Super Moderator
Premium
BRoomer
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
37,165
Location
Beastector HQ
3DS FC
3540-0079-4988
There's more to power than nukes. I wasn't implying warfare wise with the teabagging.
 

Mic_128

Wake up...
Administrator
BRoomer
Joined
Jun 19, 2002
Messages
46,180
Location
Steam
he probably would have been difficult to capture (if he had access to a weapon, he surely would have started firing).
I'd wager if he had a gun and looked like he was going to be captured, he would have killed himself.
 

Teran

Through Fire, Justice is Served
Super Moderator
Premium
BRoomer
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
37,165
Location
Beastector HQ
3DS FC
3540-0079-4988
Wait a second they killed an unarmed Bin Laden?

Sorry I haven't actually followed any of the news and last post seems to imply that.
 

Teran

Through Fire, Justice is Served
Super Moderator
Premium
BRoomer
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
37,165
Location
Beastector HQ
3DS FC
3540-0079-4988
See now that's just zero respect.

Not from a humanitarian point of view (I'm not famous for that), but honestly isn't he just logically 10million times more valuable alive?

I mean first you get to parade him in front of the American public, torture information out of him, then kill him.

Yeah I dunno this whole story smells funny.
 

GoldShadow

Marsilea quadrifolia
BRoomer
Joined
Jun 6, 2003
Messages
14,463
Location
Location: Location
I think it's more complex than that.

Take this with a grain of salt, because obviously, I wasn't there nor have full details been released, but that is a very high-stress, high-risk, high-danger situation.

You're essentially running through a house at 1 am after having been fired upon by a courier, knowing that any of the two dozen people in the compound could be armed or have a bomb strapped to their chest, and you see bin Laden retreat into a room where there was apparently a weapons cache (mind you, this is probably all in complete darkness).

There's a lot of chaos, disorder, and danger in that type of situation, and quite honestly, it's very much a "shoot first, ask questions later" scenario unless you want to risk the life of every SEAL involved in the operation.

It's not as if they found him and all his cronies in a single room, asleep and unarmed. It was probably a room to room deal, lots of screaming, lots of flashlights and darkness, and the omnipresent danger of being shot at or blown up at any second.
 

El Nino

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jul 4, 2003
Messages
1,289
Location
Ground zero, 1945
The White House confirms that he was unarmed. It's also being reported that in an interview conducted by the Pakistani government with bin Laden's 12 year old daughter, she says that U.S. forces arrested her father first and then executed him in front of the family. Bin Laden lived with two male aides, who both had wives and children also living at the house. The U.S. and Pakistan are in disagreement whether or not bin Laden's 27 year old wife will be handed over to the U.S. for questioning. She was shot in the leg after she rushed the Navy SEALs in an attempt to defend her husband.

Edit: It's also being reported that no shots were fired at U.S. forces by anyone in the compound. This could explain why there were no U.S. casualties.
 

GoldShadow

Marsilea quadrifolia
BRoomer
Joined
Jun 6, 2003
Messages
14,463
Location
Location: Location
Once again, it's easy to pass judgment, but let's try to avoid that. For some reason, people seem to love the opportunity to demonize military actions and tactical decisions; just because some of them are bad and/or wrong, doesn't mean all of them are. Moreover, there are conflicting reports between the US and Pakistani sides. I'm certainly not saying we should blindly trust the US government (I think history has shown us that on several occasions), but I would take the US government's word over Pakistan's any day (especially considering the serious allegations that top Pakistani officials alerted bin Laden, at least in the past, to US forces movements).

First of all, it was well within the US and DEVGRU's rules of engagement, as this article says:

"The legal justification for killing bin Laden comes partly from the rules of engagement under which SEAL Team 6 was operating. It was acting under the authority of the CIA, which has fewer restrictions than the military. But even under the US military's tighter rules, his killing could be legally justified as long as bin Laden was not attempting to surrender. The SEAL team operatives reported that he was unarmed, but resisted them.

Scott Silliman, an expert on national security law at Duke Law School, stated that in his opinion "Under any operable rules of engagement, the issue [of unjustifiable killing] does not raise itself, simply because he was resisting or there was the perception they [the SEAL operatives] were being put in danger."
"
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2324024.html

Also, there were shots fired by Bin Laden's courier, with whom the US Special Forces returned fire:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110505/ap_on_re_us/us_bin_laden

Also, again, keep in mind the type of risks they faced; the woman referred to in this quote could very easily have had a bomb strapped to her chest:
"Another woman, believed to be bin Laden’s wife, was wounded in the leg when she rushed at members of the SEAL team."
http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/chambliss-has-questions-on-bin-laden-raid-20110505


Again, I'm not saying the decision was right or wrong (mostly because we honestly do not know enough at this point to conclusively say), but people are far too quick to jump at the throats of the guys who were on the ground.
 

Pluvia

Hates Semicolons<br>;
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
7,677
Location
Mass Effect Thread
Osama Bin Laden and the Navy SEAL team. While I'm not completely sure of Osama's reasons, I think it was mainly for Allah and his country, whereas the SEAL's proclaimed "For God and country" immediately after killing Osama. Out of all the things they could have said, out of all the reasons they could have chose, that was apparently the main reason they did it.
 
Top Bottom