No Americans Were Harmed.

I'm not certain that this statement could possibly be true, given the history of our military over the past 10 years, but taken strictly in the context of President Obama's notification to American that Osama bin Laden was dead, I guess I'll leave that for another article.

“No Americans were harmed,” Mr. Obama said. “They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.” Muslim tradition requires burial within 24 hours, but by doing it at sea, American authorities presumably were trying to avoid creating a shrine for his followers. - New York Times, 5/2/2011

Well, I hope they have video of Osama being killed, because even my wife, who isn't the type to believe in conspiracies, said "If they don't have video, then Osama is still alive and the government is lying to us."

I agree in principle, but I disagree because I'm a Veteran myself, and I know in my heart what went on in the field.

Osama was not killed in a firefight as the slant put onto the words of President Obama above.  President Obama is a Constitutional Scholar and he doesn't parse words.

He said, "...After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden..." and that means a captive man was shot at point blank distance.  And this is why they won't have any video, and also why, even if Osama was brought to justice in word, there was no real justice done.  Justice, in the eyes of the world is either taking down a man fighting to kill his attackers (supposedly the good guys), or he's put into chains and taken to a court of law.  It appears that neither of these things occurred.

Now don't get me wrong, and there are two points here I'd like to make. 

Osama deserved to die as Al Qaeda is a ruthless organization likely to continue to take thousands of lives for no real purpose.  They aren't religious fanatics, at least at the top, but they are perfectly willing to use the religious fervor of their members to harm anyone, even while wasting the lives of those who believe.  And that's their problem.  They don't discriminate nor even try to create something new and simply have a misguided methodology to get a seat at the table.  They just kill indiscriminately, even those of their own religion, whether old men, women or children, which is forbidden by the Quaran.

So I am unconcerned that Osama bin Laden is dead.

I am concerned that the words President Obama undoubtedly deliberately used show me a picture of something I haven't thought about our military and government doing since Vietnam.  And that is point blank murdering an unarmed man, and then throwing his body out of a helicopter into the ocean.

And considering this was a group of Navy Seals, then undoubtedly the helicopters used were Marine, and the point of departure for the operation was from the Indian Ocean.

There were two reasons for this, but only one matters.  No information of this operation was absolutely known by anyone in Pakistan, therefore there could be no leaks.  There could be no such attack from Afghanistan because any information on the movements of troops or equipment would travel at the speed of light, whilst the helicopters have a slightly slower speed of travel.

And the obvious thing is "buried at sea" is a decided attempt to misdirect questions because you aren't buried at sea if your dead body is tossed out of a helicopter over the ocean.  You are fish food.

Buried at sea has a historical connotation of death under valorous conditions, and thus is a solemn undertaking with a great amount of respect for the dead.  We can be pretty certain that there was no respect for the dead in this case, and probably no one wanted any information about a 9mm bullet in bin Laden's brain, so his body had to be disposed of before getting back to the ship.  Otherwise other rules and regulations come into effect, along with official reports by officers not directly involved with the assault, and probably a coroner's report.

Again they can't have any video footage of just such events, or if they do, they cannot show them because the Muslim world would become incensed at such disrespectful treatment of the dead.

But there is video, of this I am certain.  It is just that we will never be able to see the video because what President Obama said, when taken literally, will show a captive man shot in the head, execution style at point blank range, his body thrown into the helicopter, and dumped into the sea before the helicopter got back to the ship.

I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but I listened to President Obama and heard him say exactly this.  When the media spins the story that bin Laden, an ill man needing dialysis every few days, was fighting to the death, then I have to wonder how gullible they are.  By this time, bin Laden probably couldn't even lift a weapon, much less try to shoot his way out of an assault by Navy Seals.  I'm just as certain that bin Laden thought he might get his day in court where he could continue his fanatical messages, and that itself suggests that my analysis is correct.

And still I am unconcerned that Osama bin Laden is dead.

Now can we get back to the job of continuing to bring down our force levels, get our Vets the help they need, and get the innocent people out of Gitmo and back home to their families?

Comments

[Adriana]

Hi Roger,
I am french-brazilian living in soutth brazil. I came here, because i wanted to know what americains think about the way ben laden was dead.
I liked very much what you' ve written,
Bye,
Adriana

[Ormond]

Roger - Why are you still using a dead blog on Salon for you signature at NYTimes?

I guess you know by now that the body wasn't thrown out of a helicopter, but I guess I followed the news feeds pretty closely, and I heard no one say the body was thrown out of a helicopter. Care to link your source?

[Roger W. Norman]

I don't have a source, nor did I suggest that I did. I do know military practices, and one wouldn't be a respectful burial at sea for the mastermind of an attack on the United States such as bin Laden pulled off.

I speculated, and I haven't seen any information yet which suggests I am wrong. But I could be. It just doesn't fit the military mold. To have summarily executed bin Laden and then given him what equates to a hero's burial at sea is contradictory, to say the least.

And you have to admit that the circumstances are still being released in contradictory terms, so I find this disheartening. I would prefer they either hold off until they have the correct information, or just say "hey, we killed him" and be done with it.

Monday's report said they only guessed that it might be a bin Laden stronghold and today the CIA had the compound under surveillance for several months.

I'm only pointing out how our government doesn't actually inform the public, and at this point you have accepted that he was respectfully buried at sea in the Red Sea, when it is likely that a chopper couldn't make the trip from the Red Sea and back. There had to be a naval ship in the Indian Ocean. Again, my speculation, but if it is true, then one has to wonder about the quality of the other available information in all of its contradictions.

Oh, and Salon held some 1000 pages of my Bush year blogs, which is why I use it. There's some pretty good stuff in there too, yes, even if I do say so myself.

Thanks for your reading and message.

Roger W. Norman