# Bin Laden's body: now what? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 2, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441 "2011-05-02T03:18:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/1 "2011-05-02T03:18:52Z")
If, as it seems (this is just before the POTUS speech), bin Laden is dead (:p) and we “have possession of his body,” what are we supposed to do with it? Perhaps it will be announced in the coming weeks… ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/2 "2011-05-02T03:20:53Z")
Cremated and his ashes dumped into the ocean far offshore out of the back of a C-130. ---
**Author:** ![MattProle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed8c4c/32.png) [@MattProle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MattProle)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/3 "2011-05-02T03:22:12Z")
This is history folks. Oh, and it appears b \> s. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/4 "2011-05-02T03:22:51Z")
National tour so we can all take turns shooting it with various guns until there is nothing left to shoot/stab/maim/butcher ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/5 "2011-05-02T03:24:27Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Cremated and his ashes dumped into the ocean far offshore out of the back of a C-130. Fed to a dog so they can be shit out later. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/6 "2011-05-02T03:24:30Z")
Bayonet practice. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/7 "2011-05-02T03:30:00Z")
a former ally… ---
**Author:** ![bahia\_hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@bahia\_hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahia_hombre)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/8 "2011-05-02T03:30:16Z")
Let the 9/11 victims’ families and Daniel Pearl’s family decide… ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/9 "2011-05-02T03:30:17Z")
Set on fire and hung from a bridge, amirite? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/10 "2011-05-02T03:32:15Z")
ooo ooo another one… Keep it in cold storage until we find a way to bring back the dead…then bring him back and kill him over and over for the rest of time ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/11 "2011-05-02T03:33:49Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Cremated and his ashes dumped into the ocean far offshore out of the back of a C-130. This is SOP? For whom as a class? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/12 "2011-05-02T03:37:34Z")
Buried in a national monument, so that the American people can walk by and spit on his grave. Oh, and have the body wrapped in bacon grease so that he can’t get into Islamic after-life. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/13 "2011-05-02T03:44:28Z")
Hang it in chains in Lower Manhatten and let it rot in the Sun. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/14 "2011-05-02T03:54:04Z")
We’ll have to wait for his long form death certificate to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/15 "2011-05-02T04:00:44Z")
Yeesh. If history is any precedent, same thing we did when we whacked Saddam’s psycho offspring. Poke it with a stick for a couple days and then turn it over to his family. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/16 "2011-05-02T04:00:57Z")
Traditionally, aren’t we supposed to quarter it and send a piece to each of the four corners of the kingdom? (With the head on a pike at the White House, of course) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/17 "2011-05-02T04:03:41Z")
As I’ve said, how about the “[Mussolini Treatment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mussolini#Mussolini.27s_body)”? ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/18 "2011-05-02T04:17:15Z")
Honestly what is the point of revenge on a corpse? He was targeted and eliminated after a decade long but successful search. Maybe a small amount of wind may be taken out of Al-Qaeda’s sails. Maybe not. A little justice has been exacted in response to a terrible crime. Why not keep it civilized. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/19 "2011-05-02T04:20:38Z")
All snark aside, this really is an interesting question: what WILL be done with the corpse? I assume that the family he has that is still in good graces with the rest of the world won’t want it. Probably buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in East Nowhere, Montana or cremated, and the ashes scattered/tossed in an undisclosed location, are my best guesses. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441/20 "2011-05-02T04:23:08Z")
Yeah, more seriously, I’m guessing cremation. You don’t want to create a pilgrimage site. It’s the Hitler dilemma. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bin-ladens-body-now-what/580441.md?page=2)