# Osama bin Laden is Dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 2, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437 "2011-05-02T02:46:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/401 "2011-05-15T03:18:16Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > Amanpour in 2008: “Bin Laden is in villa in Pakistan” > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0MZhNQ5iaw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0MZhNQ5iaw) > > Question - how hard would it be to call Amanpour and ask to follow on the lead? Why wait 3 years? Because… “I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.” - G.W. Bush, 3/13/02 “I am truly not that concerned about him.” - G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden’s whereabouts, 3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02) The Republican were after stealing Iraqi oil and killing as many as they could to get it. Why go after a fanatic terrorist lunatic? If they kept the villain alive the scared drones would still support their horror movie. It took a decent human being to become President and refocus the intelligence efforts to dealing with the real danger. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/402 "2011-05-15T04:00:40Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > The Republican were after stealing Iraqi oil and killing as many as they could to get it. Why go after a fanatic terrorist lunatic? If they kept the villain alive the scared drones would still support their horror movie. > > It took a decent human being to become President and refocus the intelligence efforts to dealing with the real danger. I agree with the first paragraph, but Bush would have been delighted to take credit for capturing or killing Bin Laden. However one spells it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/403 "2011-05-15T04:14:57Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I agree with the first paragraph, but Bush would have been delighted to take credit for capturing or killing Bin Laden. > > However one spells it. > 🙂 I don’t feel like looking for the sources for a cite, but more reports are coming out about the secret dealings with Cheney and the dictatorial regime that resulted Bin Laden being able to escape capture. The Bush drone was only parroting whatever the blood thirsty jackals were telling him to say. He was incapable of establishing policy, one way or another. By the way, the Republican cesspool has been claiming credit for Bin Laden’s capture since the news hit. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/404 "2011-05-15T04:44:37Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > I don’t feel like looking for the sources for a cite, but more reports are coming out about the secret dealings with Cheney and the dictatorial regime that resulted Bin Laden being able to escape capture. Well, the next time you happen across such a source, why don’t you bebop in here and post the link? ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/405 "2011-05-15T04:58:43Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Well, the next time you happen across such a source, why don’t you bebop in here and post the link? Look through last week’s “The World” show on NPR and a Columbia U. professor appearing on a show. Shortly after the invasion in Afghanistan, Cheney stopped the military’s efforts to capture Bin Laden because some Pakistani military personnel were in Bin Laden’s camp, and Musharraf asked the US to let them evacuate their people first to avoid an international embarrassment. Cheney pushed to let the Pakistanis fly planes in the areas Al Qaida was hiding to evacuate their own, and the Pakistanies evacuated _everyone_, the Al Qaida people included, and very likely Bin Laden. The drone puppet Bush then came out with the “we don’t care where Bin Laden is” at a later date. Dates and other details are on the radio show. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/406 "2011-05-15T05:16:26Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > Look through last week’s “The World” show on NPR and a Columbia U. professor appearing on a show. > > Shortly after the invasion in Afghanistan, Cheney stopped the military’s efforts to capture Bin Laden because some Pakistani military personnel were in Bin Laden’s camp, and Musharraf asked the US to let them evacuate their people first to avoid an international embarrassment. > > Cheney pushed to let the Pakistanis fly planes in the areas Al Qaida was hiding to evacuate their own, and the Pakistanies evacuated _everyone_, the Al Qaida people included, and very likely Bin Laden. > > The drone puppet Bush then came out with the “we don’t care where Bin Laden is” at a later date. > > Dates and other details are on the radio show. Link? Look, I don’t doubt for one second that the Bush administration lost a sense of urgency in hunting for bin Laden, and I’ll readilly agree that they fucked up Tora Bora. (Which is no, to my knowledge, overly supplied with airstrips.) I do not, and I will not, agree that the Bush administration was complicit in his escape. (The bullshit invasion of Iraq was, in my opinion, the primary reason for the loss of urgency.) Regardless, the search was still underway. The intelligence thread that finally led to the killing of bin Laden was captured under the Bush administration. It was patience and perserverance under both the Bush and the Obama administrations that led to his killing a fortnight ago. Obama made the call for the raid, and he deserves all due credit for it. It was a risky and gutsy call. That doesn’t mean that Bush wouldn’t have killed him too; Bush would have, though probably by means of dropping a nuke on Abbotadad. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/407 "2011-05-15T05:30:12Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > That doesn’t mean that Bush wouldn’t have killed him too; Bush would have, though probably by means of dropping a nuke on Abbotadad. Bush terminated a CIA team that was assigned to hunt for Bin Laden. It also had a code name that I don’t remember, which came out on reported news the last few months. Check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/408 "2011-05-15T05:38:18Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > Bush terminated a CIA team that was assigned to hunt for Bin Laden. It also had a code name that I don’t remember, which came out on reported news the last few months. > > Check it out. _sigh_ Link? Look, all I asked you for was that the next time you ran across such a story, that you come here while you still had it fresh in your mind, and post a link to it. I didn’t ask you to regurgitate stuff you’ve read in the past that you can’t remember the details. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/409 "2011-05-15T06:01:22Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > _sigh_ > > Link? > > Look, all I asked you for was that the next time you ran across such a story, that you come here while you still had it fresh in your mind, and post a link to it. I didn’t ask you to regurgitate stuff you’ve read in the past that you can’t remember the details. Dude, This a discussion forum. It’s rude to expect others to do research for you. If you think my claims are bogus then disregard them. I have a responsibility to myself to present information that I honesty deem as true or verifiable. The rest is up to you. Unless you vote for Republicans, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/410 "2011-05-15T06:20:33Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > If you think my claims are bogus then disregard them. I have a responsibility to myself to present information that I honesty deem as true or verifiable. > > The rest is up to you. Yes, it is. Your claims are not verifiable. Much like this one . . . In fact, I have voted for Republicans. I’m fairly certain that the last time I did so was in Virginia in 1990 when John Warner was running for re-election against a Libertarian. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/411 "2011-05-15T06:45:22Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > In fact, I have voted for Republicans. I’m fairly certain that the last time I did so was in Virginia in 1990 […] The Republican Party has _never_ supported anything, _ever_, that was not in the interest of the financial gain of the top 5% of the population, in addition to _all_ corporate interests that include the war industrial monster that Eisenhower warned everyone about. Killing hundreds of thousands of civilians to gift their oil to oil corps is their reason for being. These are the people that wanted the boogie-man alive so that he is fulfilling his purpose for the media sponsored movie that kept the scared masses glued to their TV – after watching reality shows that is. The Republican complicity in supporting terrorism is a historical fact. Reagan armed Bin Laden, and his cronies armed, paid and protected Bin Laden’s friends for decades. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/412 "2011-05-15T06:50:44Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > This a discussion forum. It’s rude to expect others to do research for you. That’s not how it works here. You’re expected to use facts to back up your statements, and **Frank** is well within his rights to ask you to do that. I’m aware of the CIA’s bin Laden unit being shut down (although I am pretty sure it was restarted later on), but many of your other comments are crying out for a citation. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/413 "2011-05-15T07:00:16Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s not how it works here. You’re expected to use facts to back up your statements, and **Frank** is well within his rights to ask you to do that. I’m aware of the CIA’s bin Laden unit being shut down (although I am pretty sure it was restarted later on), but many of your other comments are crying out for a citation. He can ask me as much as he wants. As can anyone else. If he thinks my statements have any possibility of being untrue, or if I don’t present immediate proof for it, then it’s up to him to ignore my post or do his own research. How did you substantiate that Bin Laden’s hunt was “restarted later on” ? You didn’t, but I’ll take your word for it. As I said, it’s an internet online discussion forum. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/414 "2011-05-15T07:08:22Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > The Republican Party has _never_ supported anything, _ever_, that was not in the interest of the financial gain of the top 5% of the population, in addition to _all_ corporate interests that include the war industrial monster that Eisenhower warned everyone about. Huh. That includes the Republicans supporting the cotton industrial monster during the Civil War? If you think I’m a supporter of the Republican Party as it has existed in my lifetime, you’ve got another think coming. Ask anyone on this board; do your research. If you think I’m going to support your posts that include such comments as “I don’t feel like”, and “don’t remember”, you’e got another think coming. Ask anyone on this board; do your research. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/415 "2011-05-15T07:14:12Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Huh. That includes the Republicans supporting the cotton industrial monster during the Civil War? […] I referring to the Republican Party of the past 50 years. They have established a common M. O. in this time that defines them in modern times and this is how people should evaluate them – with their positions in the past 50 years. Wake up. Republicans are always supporting exploitation and abuse for monetary profit. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/416 "2011-05-15T07:19:49Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > The Republican Party has _never_ supported anything, _ever_, that was not in the interest of the financial gain of the top 5% of the population, … > [@Naxos](#): > > I referring to the Republican Party of the past 50 years. No, you weren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/417 "2011-05-15T07:28:07Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > If he thinks my statements have any possibility of being untrue, or if I don’t present immediate proof for it, then it’s up to him to ignore my post or do his own research. I agree: posters should ignore you if you don’t back up your posts with facts. And you’re refusing to back up your posts with facts. This isn’t what the SDMB is about. It’s a discussion forum, but the concept of Great Debates is not that everybody foams at the mouth and posts whatever vitriol they please; it’s that posters make reasoned arguments and support them with facts. For the record, the CIA disbanded its bin Laden unit in 2005, but (per NPR) [“folded into the larger counterterrorism unit.”](http://www.npr.org/2011/05/07/136084843/mission-accomplished-for-cias-special-bin-laden-unit) [Some of the intelligence used in the raid that killed him dates as far back as 2007](http://articles.cnn.com/2011-05-03/world/bin.laden.courier_1_al-qaida-members-al-qaeda-leader-tora-bora?_s=PM:WORLD), which implies that intelligence was being sought earlier. I agree the Bush administration put the search for bin Laden on the back burner after it didn’t get him in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/418 "2011-05-15T07:42:25Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I agree: posters should ignore you if you don’t back up your posts with facts. > > […] Thanks for your post. I’m not as patient as you are. I expect people to be reasonably informed. If the are not, and they still support Republicans, it’s up to them to justify their rejection of reality. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/419 "2011-05-15T09:21:45Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > Thanks for your post. I’m not as patient as you are. > > I expect people to be reasonably informed. If the are not, and they still support Republicans, it’s up to them to justify their rejection of reality. > > Thanks again. Dude– You are not helping our side. Signed, The Liberals. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437/420 "2011-05-15T12:49:40Z")
7:00 on Sunday morning and I’m [searching](http://www.npr.org/templates/search/index.php?searchinput=bin+laden&sort=match&tabId=pCasts)NPR…I need breakfast. I don’t see a program called “The World”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-bin-laden-is-dead/580437.md?page=22)