Africa Speaks Reasoning Forum

• Can US Offer Final Proof Of Osama's Death? (http://www.sott.net/articles/show/228014-Can-US-Offer-Final-Proof-Of-Osama-s-Death-)
  The circumstances surrounding Osama bin Laden's reported death raise urgent questions over how the US is so sure it got its man.

• Osama bin Laden killed in US raid on Pakistan hideout (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/02/osama-bin-laden-dead-pakistan)
  'Justice done' and body buried at sea, says US, after al-Qaida leader is killed by special forces at Abbottabad compound

• US forces kill Osama bin Laden (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/us-forces-kill-osama-bin-laden-2277847.html)
  Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the attacks of September 11 and the man who ever since has remained an elusive, shadowy presence at the centre of perhaps the world’s greatest manhunt, has been killed by special forces troops at a compound two hours outside of Islamabad.

• Obama: "At My Direction" U.S. Carried Out Operation Against Bin Laden (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/05/01/obama_at_my_direction_us_carried_out_operation_against_bin_laden.html)
  "Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body," President Obama said late Sunday evening.

• How it took years to find him but just minutes to kill him (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/02/how-osama-bin-laden-found)
  Contrary to speculation that Osama bin Laden was in a remote tribal area, he was instead found in an affluent suburb near Islamabad

• Chris Hedges Speaks on Osama bin Laden's Death (http://www.africaspeaks.com/reasoning/index.php?topic=7268.0)
  I know that because of this announcement, that reportedly Osama bin Laden was killed, Bob wanted me to say a few words about it … about al-Qaida. I spent a year of my life covering al-Qaida for The New York Times. It was the work in which I, and other investigative reporters, won the Pulitzer Prize. And I spent seven years of my life in the Middle East. I was the Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times. I’m an Arabic speaker. And when someone came over and told Jean and me the news, my stomach sank. I’m not in any way naïve about what al-Qaida is. It’s an organization that terrifies me. I know it intimately.

• Official: Bin Laden buried at sea (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110502/ap_on_re_us/us_bin_laden_burial)
  After bin Laden was killed in a raid by U.S. forces in Pakistan, senior administration officials said the body would be handled according to Islamic practice and tradition. That practice calls for the body to be buried within 24 hours, the official said.

• U.S. team's mission was to kill bin Laden, not capture (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/02/us-binladen-kill-idUSTRE7413H220110502)
  The U.S. special forces team that hunted down Osama bin Laden was under orders to kill the al Qaeda mastermind, not capture him, a U.S. national security official told Reuters.

• Bin Laden killing prompts Arab anger, relief (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/bin-laden-killing-brings-anger-relief-arab-world-111805526.html)
  Some Arabs mourned him as a holy warrior and martyr, while others saw him as a "pillar of evil" whose deadly attacks on the United States unleashed a backlash against Muslims across the world.

• White House Officials Debate Releasing Photographs of Bin Laden’s Corpse (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/05/white-house-officials-debate-releasing-photographs-of-bin-ladens-corpse-1.html)
  The Obama administration has photographs of Osama bin Laden’s dead body and officials are debating what to do with them and whether they should be released to the public, officials tell ABC News.

• Can US Offer Final Proof Of Osama's Death? (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20110502/twl-can-us-offer-final-proof-of-osama-s-3fd0ae9.html)
  US personnel have so far said they identified him by facial recognition, but have declined to say whether they used DNA analysis. Reports have also suggested that Saudi Arabia was asked to take bin Laden's body - but refused to do so.

• Musharraf: Bin Laden mission violated Pakistan (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/2/musharraf-bin-laden-mission-violated-pakistan/)
  Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Monday accused the U.S. of violating his country’s sovereignty by sending in special forces to kill Osama bin Laden. “American troops coming across the border and taking action in one of our towns, that is Abbottabad, is not acceptable to the people of Pakistan. It is a violation of our sovereignty,” Mr. Musharraf told CNN-IBN, an Indian news channel.

• Hundreds join Quetta rally to honour bin Laden (http://tribune.com.pk/story/161126/hundreds-join-first-rally-to-honour-bin-laden/)
  Hundreds took to the streets of Quetta on Monday to pay homage to Osama bin Laden, chanting death to America and setting fire to a US flag, witnesses and organisers said.

• Arabs Riot in Jerusalem Over Bin Laden's Demise, Hamas Angry (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/143848)
  Arabs in the village of Silwan, adjacent to the City of David neighborhood in Jerusalem, rioted Monday night in protest over the elimination of Osama Bin-Laden. The rioters were throwing stones at police and attempting to block roads.

• Wikileaks says US knew of Abbottabad lair from 2008 (http://en.trend.az/regions/world/usa/1870094.html)
  The United States probably knew by 2008 about Osama bin Laden's lair in Abbottabad, according to the anti-secrecy website Wikileaks on Monday, quoting from a leaked US cable, dpa reported.

• Bin Laden's luxury hideout raises questions (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110502/ap_on_bi_ge/as_pakistan_bin_laden)
  Osama bin Laden made his final stand in a small Pakistani city where three army regiments with thousands of soldiers are based not far from the capital — a location that is increasing suspicions in Washington that Islamabad may have been sheltering him.

• WikiLeaks: Osama bin Laden 'protected' by Pakistani security (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8488236/WikiLeaks-Osama-bin-Laden-protected-by-Pakistani-security.html)
  Pakistani security forces allegedly helped Osama bin Laden evade American troops for almost 10 years, according to secret US government files.

• Osama bin Laden dead – but no body. Now for an explosion of conspiracy theories (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100085976/osama-bin-laden-dead-now-for-an-explosion-of-conspiracy-theories/)
  Conspiracy theorists are an ingenious bunch, but at the moment the White House is making this ridiculously easy for them. Gideon Rachman says he gives it 24 hours before conspiracy theories about Osama bin Laden begin circulating, but they are already flowing vigorously. The Taliban says he’s still alive, for example.

• The Big Lie 101: Bin Laden Assassination Story Designed to Generate Fear (http://www.activistpost.com/2011/05/big-lie-101-bin-laden-assassination.html)
  In the midst of the mainstream media propaganda blitz, questions still abound regarding Osama bin Laden and his alleged death. Unfortunately, the majority of Americans are quite willing to believe virtually anything they are told about bin Laden, even if it contradicts what they were told previously. But, while many are busy dancing in the streets at the news of his “death,” others hopefully have some semblance of a long-term (and even short-term) memory.

• The Unfortunate Reality of Bin Laden’s Death (http://www.activistpost.com/2011/05/unfortunate-reality-of-bin-ladens-death.html)
  Many in America are cheering the reported death of Osama Bin Laden, as it has finally occurred after years of military action, trillions of American dollars and the deaths of thousands of our men and women serving in the military. Many believe it is justification for the expenditure and are vehemently waving their flags and cheering our President and our military in the fervor of renewed Patriotism. Prior to the news of his death however, some these same people were starting to demand our military budget be stripped and those monies dedicated to a seemingly losing battle be spent at home instead.

• Justice or Vengeance? (http://www.ips-dc.org/articles/bin_laden_justice_or_vengeance)
  In the midst of the Arab Spring, which directly rejects al-Qaeda-style small-group violence in favor of mass-based, society-wide mobilization and non-violent protest to challenge dictatorship and corruption, does the killing of Osama bin Laden represent ultimate justice, or even an end to the "unfinished business" of 9/11?

Piles and Piles of Corpses

Killing Osama, Resolving Nothing

By David Swanson
May 2, 2011 -  (http://www.counterpunch.org/swanson05022011.html)counterpunch.org

The plane I was on landed in Washington, D.C., Sunday night, and the pilot came on the intercom to tell everyone to celebrate: our government had killed Osama bin Laden. This was better than winning the Super Bowl, he said.

Set aside for a moment the morality of cheering for the killing of a human being -- which despite the pilot's prompting nobody on the plane did. In purely Realpolitik terms, killing foreign leaders whom we've previously supported has been an ongoing disaster.

Our killing of Saddam Hussein has been followed by years of war and hundreds of thousands of pointless deaths. Our attempts to kill Muammar Gadaffi have killed his children and grandchildren and will end no war if they eventually succeed. Our attempts to kill Osama bin Laden, including wars justified by that mission, have involved nearly a decade of senseless slaughter in Afghanistan and the rest of the ongoing global "generational" war that is consuming our nation.

The Taliban was willing to turn bin Laden over for trial both before and after September 11, 2001. Instead our government opted for years of bloody warfare. And in the end, it was police action (investigation, a raid, and a summary execution) and not the warfare, that reportedly tracked bin Laden down in Pakistan. After capturing him, our government's representatives did not hold him for trial. They killed him and carried away his dead body.

Killing will lead only to more killing. There will be no review of bin Laden's alleged crimes, as a trial would have provided. There will be no review of earlier U.S. support for bin Laden. There will be no review of U.S. failures to prevent the September 11th attacks. Instead, there will be bitterness, hatred, and more violence, with the message being communicated to all sides that might makes right and murder is the way in which someone is, in President Obama's words, brought to justice.

Nothing is actually resolved, nothing concluded, and nothing to be celebrated in taking away life. If we want something to celebrate here, we should celebrate the end of one of the pieces of war propaganda that has driven the past decade of brutality and death. But I'm not going to celebrate that until appropriate actions follow. Nothing makes for peace like ceasing to wage war. Now would be an ideal time to give that a try.

Our senseless wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Libya must be ended. Keeping bin Laden alive and threatening, assisted in keeping the war machine churning its bloody way through cities and flesh for years. No wonder President Bush was, as he said, not interested in tracking bin Laden down.

Ending the wars was our moral duty last week exactly as this week. But if the symbolism to be found in the removal of a key propaganda piece can be combined with the recent overwhelming U.S. support for ending the wars, to actually end the wars, then I'll be ready -- with clean hands and with no nasty gleam of revenge in my eye -- to pop open the champagne.

But let's return to the morality of cheering for the killing of a human being. A decade ago that would not have seemed as natural to a U.S. airline pilot. The automatic assumption would not have been that there could be no dissenters to that celebration. A decade ago torture was considered irredeemably evil. A decade ago we believed people should have fair trials before they are declared guilty or killed. A decade ago, if a president had announced his new power to assassinate Americans, at least a few people would have asked where in the world he got the power to assassinate non-Americans.

Is it too late to go back 10 years in time in some particular ways? As we put bin Laden behind us, can we put the degredation of our civil liberties and our representative government, and our honesty, accountability, and the rule of law behind us too? Can we recover the basic moral deceny that we used to at the very least pretend and aspire to?

Not while we're dancing in the street to celebrate death.

Imagine the propaganda that the U.S. media could make of video footage of a foreign country where the primitive brutes are dancing in the streets to celebrate the murder of a tribal enemy. That is the propaganda we've just handed those who will view bin Laden as a martyr. When their revenge comes, we will know exactly what we are supposed to do: exact more revenge in turn to keep the cycle going.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, but the blind people think that they still see. The world looks to them like a Hollywood adventure movie. In those stories, killing somone generally causes a happy ending. That misconception is responsible for piles and piles of corpses to which more will now be added.

David Swanson is a writer in Charlottesville, Va.

http://www.counterpunch.org/swanson05022011.html (http://www.counterpunch.org/swanson05022011.html)