# Obama announcing death of Osama bin Laden \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 2, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435 "2011-05-02T02:15:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/381 "2011-05-02T17:45:14Z")
The religious part of me is struggling with the idea of being incredibly happy someone is dead. Oh wait: “The godly will rejoice when they see injustice avenged. They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.” Psalms 58:10 (NLT) OK, I feel better now. ---
**Author:** ![Kiber](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiber/32/317_2.png) [@Kiber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiber)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/382 "2011-05-02T17:46:15Z")
I’ve always assumed that Bin Laden spent some of the last 8 years recording various videos along the lines of “I know the news reported my death by Jello Bomb - but as you can see, it’s not true.” Or "The recent claims by the Great Infidel to have tickled me to death are clearly wrong . . . . " It won’t surprise me to see a video pop up in the next week or two of Bin Laden denying reports of his own death. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/383 "2011-05-02T17:47:11Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I think the fear was that his fans would turn his grave into a shrine, not that his enemies would defile the body (which I’m sure would happen if he were buried in the US). some would make it a shrine, others might make it a dance floor or loo. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/384 "2011-05-02T18:05:23Z")
My boss’s best friend was in the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, and my boss bought the friend’s new car out of her estate as a sort of memorial/keepsake to remember her friend. She’s still driving it, and I walked past it in the parking garage a few minutes ago. I gave it a pat and said, “Got the fucker.” ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/385 "2011-05-02T18:09:05Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > CNN is talking to a couple of retired Navy Seals. They put small graphics up with each mans CV. One, Eric Greitens, was just astonishing: > > BA, Duke Univ > Rhodes Scholar > MA, **Ph.D.** Oxford Univ > CEO The Mission Continues > Awarded Bronze Star, > Purple Heart > > …so that would be _Doctor_ Bad-Ass Killing Machine to you. Oxford doesn’t give those out. **D.Phil** , if you please, CNN. ETA: Plus the MA is odd…shouldn’t that be an MSt? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/386 "2011-05-02T18:26:43Z")
Wow, interesting guy. Check out his Wikipedia entry: > **[Eric Greitens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Greitens)** > > Eric Robert Greitens (/ˈɡraɪtənz/; born April 10, 1974) is an American former politician who was the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until his resignation in June 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault and campaign finance impropriety. > Born and raised in St. Louis, Greitens graduated from Duke University in 1996 and received a doctorate from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, as a Rhodes scholar in 2000. During his four tours of duty as a U.S. Navy SEAL officer, he rose to the rank of li... ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/387 "2011-05-02T18:54:10Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > My boss’s best friend was in the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, and my boss bought the friend’s new car out of her estate as a sort of memorial/keepsake to remember her friend. She’s still driving it, and I walked past it in the parking garage a few minutes ago. I gave it a pat and said, “Got the fucker.” That is so awesome! > [@Duke](#): > > Oxford doesn’t give those out. **D.Phil** , if you please, CNN. > > ETA: Plus the MA is odd…shouldn’t that be an MSt? Well, the man himself appears to disagree with you. From his biography: > [@](#): > > Eric Greitens was born and raised in Missouri, where he was educated in the public schools. He was an Angier B. Duke Scholar at Duke University where he studied ethics, philosophy, and public policy. Selected as a Rhodes and Truman Scholar, **he attended the University of Oxford from 1996 through 2000. There he earned a master’s degree in 1998 and a Ph.D. in 2000**. His doctoral thesis, Children First, investigated how international humanitarian organizations can best serve war-affected children. He continues to study and teach public service as a Senior Fellow at the Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri and in the MBA Program at the Olin School of Business at Washington University. > [http://www.ericgreitens.com/biography](http://www.ericgreitens.com/biography) ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/388 "2011-05-02T19:09:58Z")
I have a D.Phil from Oxford myself, and I used to work for the alumni office at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford. Believe me, Oxford calls its terminal degree “D.Phil.” ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/389 "2011-05-02T19:41:12Z")
Presumably he translated the terms for an American audience. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/390 "2011-05-02T19:49:14Z")
Does the US government have any idea how long he was living in this compound in Abbottabad? The Wikipedia article says that the house was built in 2005. Is it possible that he’s been living there all this time, and not in a cave as we all thought? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/391 "2011-05-02T19:49:55Z")
Does he have a poster of Rasputin & a beard down to his knee? ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/392 "2011-05-02T19:51:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Does the US government have any idea how long he was living in this compound in Abbottabad? The Wikipedia article says that the house was built in 2005. Is it possible that he’s been living there all this time, and not in a cave as we all thought? We know that the CIA has been watching this building since at least August of last year, so he’s been there at least that long. Most likely he’d been there for several years. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/393 "2011-05-02T19:53:17Z")
Perhaps they built a cave under the house? ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/394 "2011-05-02T19:53:55Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Best quote so far about Osama bin Laden: > “Everyone knows that Obama’s birth certificate was one of Bin Laden’s horcruxes.” This made me laugh out loud last night. I had to explain it to my wife, though, as she only read the first three or four Harry Potter books and has no idea what “horcruxes” are. Speaking of odd connections your brain makes, while I’m on the subject of Harry Potter and bin Laden: - The first Harry Potter movie was released in November 2001. Two months after 9/11. - The last Harry Potter movie will be released in July 2011. Two months after Osama was killed. I know there’s no real correlation between the two, but still … ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/395 "2011-05-02T19:54:37Z")
Next they need to look for his minions in Costelloabad. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/396 "2011-05-02T19:58:24Z")
My dad has a DPhil from Sussex, but he always refers to it as a PhD. It’s the same degree, just a different abbreviation. I think insisting on DPhil would be like insisting on “Dr Greitens” instead of “Dr. Greitens”. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/397 "2011-05-02T20:15:52Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Google Maps has very detailed satellite photos of the whole area. I heard on NPR that the compound was within 100 yards of the military college. Search for Abbottābad, Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan on Google Maps and try your luck at picking it out. Massive fail on the part of Microsoft’s [Live/Bing/WhatEverWeCallItThisWeek maps](http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?q=&mkt=en-US&FORM=BYFD#JnE9LkJpbGFsK1Rvd24lMmMrQWJib3R0YWJhZCUyYytwYWtpc3RhbiU3ZXNzdC4wJTdlcGcuMSZiYj0zNC4yMDQ3MDY0OTE5NTExJTdlNzMuMzM3ODg4MjcwNjE2NSU3ZTM0LjA4MTY3MDk3OTQzNzklN2U3My4wNjgzNzk5MDg4MDAx) and [Mapquest](http://mapq.st/jhLnCr), both of which have terrible resolution. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/398 "2011-05-02T20:28:36Z")
As to the $25m reward: [http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/02/news/osama\_bin\_laden\_reward/index.htm](http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/02/news/osama_bin_laden_reward/index.htm) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/399 "2011-05-02T20:35:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > So has the Gerald Ford executive order against assassination been formally revoked? Doesn’t that only apply to heads of state/nations? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/400 "2011-05-02T20:37:09Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Google Maps has very detailed satellite photos of the whole area. I heard on NPR that the compound was within 100 yards of the military college. Search for Abbottābad, Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan on Google Maps and try your luck at picking it out. OK, I’m looking but haven’t been able to find the military college yet. There is a location identified as Government Post-Graduate College #1. Is that it? (And where’s the local Domino’s Pizza franchise? There is a college, so I assume that they’re ordering late-night pizza.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435.md?page=21)