# Why WASN'T Osama Bin Laden Armed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 5, 2011, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820 "2011-05-05T06:48:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/61 "2011-05-05T19:46:14Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > There were children in the compound. Maybe they slept near Osama and he didn’t think it was safe to keep a gun in the room with them. Nice try, NRA. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/62 "2011-05-05T19:51:30Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > What’s contrary is your statement that they didn’t care about the details. I didn’t say that. I said the details don’t matter to us. We don’t care if he was armed or not. We don’t care if he fought back or not. We only care that he’s dead. We would not react differently if any of those details changed. And by “we” I mean most Americans. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/63 "2011-05-05T19:57:25Z")
He was armed. He had two arms. ---
**Author:** ![Raintitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e99b99/32.png) [@Raintitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raintitan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/64 "2011-05-05T20:30:29Z")
Now that it appears a canine unit was on the scene, I would have liked for him to have been chased for several miles screaming for mercy or help as the dog ripped his pajamas to pieces until his appropriate demise. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/65 "2011-05-05T20:49:51Z")
> [@Raintitan](#): > > Now that it appears a canine unit was on the scene, I would have liked for him to have been chased for several miles screaming for mercy or help as the dog ripped his pajamas to pieces until his appropriate demise. He had a bunch of Euros sewn inside his pants. That and 2 phone numbers. There are 2 guys furiously deleting numbers today. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/66 "2011-05-05T20:53:26Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I’m starting to think that we shot him in cold blood. And I’m ok with that. When you corner a rattlesnake, you shoot it in the head. I’m starting to lean towards this too. Also explains not releasing pictures of his corpse or holding a show and tell press conference on the Vinson. Contact gunshot wound to the back of the head is fairly unmistakable… And like you, I don’t have a problem with that. Although, you then forever lose the opportunity to learn what was rattling around his skull. Of course, that might be a feature, not a bug. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/67 "2011-05-06T01:24:19Z")
[QUOTE=Gray Ghost] Contact gunshot wound to the back of the head is fairly unmistakable… [/QUOTE] From what (little) I know of navy SEALs, they wouldn’t need to get that close to guarantee a kill. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/68 "2011-05-06T02:58:20Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Blackhawks or Chinooks. > Which story is told today? > Huh. Confusion reigns. For this question, at least, we have [external evidence](http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/aviation-geeks-scramble-to-i-d-osama-raids-mystery-copter/) (if you didn’t click on the link, there are photos of the wreckage from the chopper that crashed.) Best guess is it’s a heavily modified Blackhawk; it certainly isn’t a Chinook. ETA: if you _really_ don’t want to click on the link, the wreckage visible is a tail rotor, which Chinook’s don’t have. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/69 "2011-05-06T04:05:10Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Blackhawks or Chinooks. > Which story is told today? > Huh. Confusion reigns. > > There. I fixed it for you! Everything I have seen states that the initial force went in on two Blackhawks with two Chinooks on standby. When the one bird went down and had to be left behind, the Chinooks came in for the extraction. So, both were there. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/70 "2011-05-06T11:42:52Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Nice try, NRA. I was thinking that he forgot the combination to his child friendly gun safe or left the keys to his trigger locks in the other room. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/71 "2011-05-06T15:55:01Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > I’m starting to lean towards this too. Also explains not releasing pictures of his corpse or holding a show and tell press conference on the Vinson. Contact gunshot wound to the back of the head is fairly unmistakable… > > And like you, I don’t have a problem with that. Although, you then forever lose the opportunity to learn what was rattling around his skull. Of course, that might be a feature, not a bug. It was an assassination. But he was not a rattlesnake. He was a human being. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/72 "2011-05-06T15:56:56Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > It was an assassination. But he was not a rattlesnake. He was a human being. A rattlesnake couldn’t do a fraction of the damage he did. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/73 "2011-05-06T17:17:23Z")
It doesn’t matter to me whether he was armed or not. Paraphrasing William Munny, after decorated the World Trade Center with the corpses of three thousand Americans he should have armed himself. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/74 "2011-05-06T17:20:34Z")
What if he didn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/75 "2011-05-06T17:47:39Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > I would have told everybody that he soiled himself and begged for mercy before being shot by one of his own men who was disgusted by his cowardice. Or better yet, shot by the woman in the room with him. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/76 "2011-05-06T17:52:56Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What if he didn’t? Then saying he did was an error in judgement, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/77 "2011-05-07T04:33:43Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Cite? > > Not saying it’s not true, but I’ve never heard this, and always assumed that McVeigh’s main motivation was that he was pissed about Waco. I appear to be wrong. I’m not sure what I was remembering. The point would remain, however, that there are potentially tens of thousands of people in the US who say that they’re going to overthrow the nation or whatever else, but in reality just rob the occasional bank or armored car then go back to their fort in the middle of nowhere, drink beers, shoot guns off, and trade their daughters around. Even people with radical political ideas still have a basic grain of sanity in the back of their mind. They might not admit it to themselves, but they realize that they aren’t going to be able to overthrow the US government (or in OBL’s case, cause it to back down) and attempting to seriously engage it in battle is just going to get you killed. Whereas, if you just get out there beating your chest, impress some women and other men with how macho you are, set up camp somewhere remote, then you get to live as a miniature king. Sure, to keep the troops devoted to the cause, every once in a while you have to go on a raid or whatever, but anything beyond that is unnecessary. The really insane guys are rare. The head of a particular clan of extremists is probably just as happy when those ones _do_ go out and get themselves killed. When they stick around camp, they’re constantly trying to convince everyone else that it’s time to go out there and start fighting for real – which doesn’t help anyone, particularly not the head honcho. Unfortunately for OBL, he couldn’t distance himself from what the crazies of his group did. I doubt that he grieved for all of the Americans who died on 9/11, but I’ll bet that he later regretted that he’d encouraged the guys who were too _in_ to the whole terrorism thing to go off and get themselves into trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Hennessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hennessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennessy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/78 "2011-05-07T04:46:17Z")
Why wasn’t Osama paranoid to the point of killing himself before caught? ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/79 "2011-05-07T04:53:22Z")
> [@Hennessy](#): > > Why wasn’t Osama paranoid to the point of killing himself before caught? Cowardice. ---
**Author:** ![Hennessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hennessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennessy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820/80 "2011-05-07T05:39:03Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > Cowardice. I thought it was plain dumbness yet I hear he is so smart… He has to be dumb to not have fear when the whole world wants him dead… It doesn’t add up to me, I think he had to of had some good conn[prot]ections. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-osama-bin-laden-armed/580820.md?page=5)