# 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:** 25
**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 6, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/481 "2011-05-06T05:00:21Z")
I hope this “Osama was not armed” bit is not going to be played up too much in the media. Hell, he might not have been armed, but who knows what he was doing. He could have been reaching for a weapon. He could have been doing something cagy. I’m not about to second-guess the boots on the ground, and I say if the Seal who shot him decided he needed shooting, then I’m fine with that. Bin Laden’s only real hope was to throw his hands up in the air immediately and shout: “You got me, boys! It’s a fair cop.” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/482 "2011-05-06T05:31:08Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Our top story tonight… Osama Bin Laden still dead! > > Anyone else expecting to hear this on the news every night? Now captioned for the deaf by Garrett Morris: OUR TOP STORY TONIGHT!!! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/483 "2011-05-07T14:02:51Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I hope this “Osama was not armed” bit is not going to be played up too much in the media. Hell, he might not have been armed, but who knows what he was doing. He could have been reaching for a weapon. He could have been doing something cagy. I’m not about to second-guess the boots on the ground, and I say if the Seal who shot him decided he needed shooting, then I’m fine with that. Bin Laden’s only real hope was to throw his hands up in the air immediately and shout: “You got me, boys! It’s a fair cop.” Yep. He did not put his hands up in the air or clearly surrender at all. He is an admitted mass killer. Shoot, shoot, and shoot again, like killing Hitler in Inglorious Basterds. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/484 "2011-05-08T15:45:45Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Now captioned for the **deaf** by Garrett Morris: > > OUR TOP STORY TONIGHT!!! To nitpick, he was the Headmaster for the School for the **Hard-of-Hearing**. Deaf isn’t funny, Hard-of-Hearing was. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/485 "2011-05-08T16:16:59Z")
If OBL was smart he would’ve chipped himself like dogs do. That way unless he was cremated he’s be sending signals from the grave 🙂 ---
**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 8, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/486 "2011-05-08T18:10:41Z")
They say Osama bin Laden was “resisting” even though he didn’t have a weapon. I’m the SEALs have made it clear to their higher-ups that he raised his arms in a very threatening manner and shouted what were presumably Arabic threats and curses at the SEALs, “Assar endu! Donkeelmi! Assar endu!” ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/487 "2011-05-08T18:57:57Z")
I remember watching a press conference where John Brennan said that the SEALs took into account the threat of Osama wearing a suicide-bomb vest. If that was the case, then they had to shoot him if he did not immediately surrender. ---
**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 9, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/488 "2011-05-09T03:33:04Z")
BBC TV says scepticism is growing in Pakistan regarding the bin Laden photos that have been released. They showed one guy swearing the man in the photo was his next-door neighbor, whom he named. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/489 "2011-05-09T03:56:38Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > BBC TV says scepticism is growing in Pakistan regarding the bin Laden photos that have been released. They showed one guy swearing the man in the photo was his next-door neighbor, whom he named. Wait, what? AFAIK, no OBL photos have been released. ---
**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 9, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/490 "2011-05-09T04:04:08Z")
Not of the body. But there are video stills showing him watching himself on TV. They found these on site and released some of them over the weekend. Many people are saying even these are not Osama. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/491 "2011-05-09T04:04:57Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Wait, what? AFAIK, no OBL photos have been released. Not photos. Not of bin Laden’s corpse anyway. But the administration did release videos yesterday that they had captured from his home. Some of them show Osama, with his hair and beard dyed dark, apparently rehearsing himself delivering messages. Another one, which has gained much attention, shows a grey haired-and-bearded Osama hunched over in front of his TV, watching news coverage of himself. ---
**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 9, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/492 "2011-05-09T04:25:38Z")
Ah, okay. Videos. I think I’ve only seen stills from them. But there is one guy out there saying it’s his next-door neighbor. I’m not sure why he thought his neighbor would have agreed to pose as bin Laden, but there you go. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/493 "2011-05-09T04:31:17Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Ah, okay. Videos. I think I’ve only seen stills from them. But there is one guy out there saying it’s his next-door neighbor. I’m not sure why he thought his neighbor would have agreed to pose as bin Laden, but there you go. Yes, I saw the videos on the news channels. But stills would have also been made from them for publication in newspapers and on the web. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/494 "2011-08-03T14:00:46Z")
**BUMP** Here is a video and interview that gives more details on how it “went down”, so to speak. That first SEAL who hugged the wife(to take the bomb) sounds like a real hero. They all are, of course. [How they killed Bin Laden](http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/08/02/exp.tsr.todd.bin.laden.raid.cnn) ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/495 "2011-08-03T19:28:52Z")
Here is the [New Yorker article](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/08/08/110808fa_fact_schmidle) by Nicholas Schmidle. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/496 "2011-08-10T04:31:11Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > Here is the [New Yorker article](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/08/08/110808fa_fact_schmidle) by Nicholas Schmidle. There’s some question about that account: [The New Yorker’s account of the bin Laden raid is amazing -– perhaps too amazing](http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/yorker-account-bin-laden-raid-amazing-perhaps-too-191013980.html) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/497 "2011-08-10T04:50:22Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > There’s some question about that account: [The New Yorker’s account of the bin Laden raid is amazing -– perhaps too amazing](http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/yorker-account-bin-laden-raid-amazing-perhaps-too-191013980.html) There are no questions about the account. Nobody’s accused him of getting facts wrong, misquoting someone, or inventing anything. The complaint is that you could read the article and get the impression the author spoke to the SEALs, which he didn’t. While he doesn’t name his sources, he does identify them by titles, and he didn’t say anywhere that he spoke to the SEALs. I’d have to reread the story to decide how I feel about that. I may have assumed he spoke to one or two of them but I suppose it’s common sense that he didn’t. The Yahoo headline (and the wording in your post, to some extent) both create the impression that some facts in Schmidle’s story are in dispute and that maybe he made up some of this incredible story. That’s a very serious thing to imply about a piece of reporting, and it’s not the case. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/498 "2011-08-10T05:10:16Z")
All right. Simmer down. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/499 "2011-08-10T05:45:56Z")
It’s not a personal thing, **Siam Sam** , and I’m not trying to be that heated about it. I’m just pointing out that the there are issues with the story, but the Yahoo headline kind of implies the author made things up, and that’s not the case. It’s a really bad headline. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-announcing-death-of-osama-bin-laden-edited-title/580435/501 "2011-08-12T02:55:47Z")
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