Osama Bin Laden: Dead.

[Friendly Hostile]

Yeah, someone else will take his place, but it shows we will get them.

Sure.  It only takes two wars, nine hundred thousand lives and over one trillion dollars to "get" them.

[Kayo]

I'm going to have to agree with Super, etc.

Just because Osama is gone doesn't mean we can rest easy. Al Qaeda is still there; terrorism is still likely. I don't know if you think they can't just elect a new leader, but that isn't true. No matter what, terrorism is still a problem. While the murder of Osama definitely brings a lot of closure we've been looking for for most of 10 years, it doesn't mean everything is fine and peachy.

I'm a little worried Al Qaeda might try to pull revenge attacks on us, to be honest. War isn't over yet, and no matter how many people we kill, there will still be more people remaining who want to attack America. It doesn't go away.

[Cornwad]

I'm a little worried Al Qaeda might try to pull revenge attacks on us, to be honest. War isn't over yet, and no matter how many people we kill, there will still be more people remaining who want to attack America. It doesn't go away.

You shouldn't be worried. US homeland security was totally slacking back in 2000, and 9/11 was a wake up call. Al Qaeda is pretty much a chicken running around with its head cut off at this point, there's nothing really to be worried about. I'm not saying that the government shouldn't still be on its toes, and that there won't be any attempts at terrorism again, but you as a citizen have nothing to worry about from Al Qaeda as long as you're smart. There's not going to be another 9/11 from these guys.

You know who you should be worried about? Iran. And North Korea... and China.

[Kayo]

You shouldn't be worried. US homeland security was totally slacking back in 2000, and 9/11 was a wake up call. Al Qaeda is pretty much a chicken running around with its head cut off at this point, there's nothing really to be worried about. I'm not saying that the government shouldn't still be on its toes, and that there won't be any attempts at terrorism again, but you as a citizen have nothing to worry about from Al Qaeda as long as you're smart. There's not going to be another 9/11 from these guys.

You know who you should be worried about? Iran. And North Korea... and China.

Let me rephrase: I'm not worried that we'll be HIT, since I have faith in our forces, but I AM worried that they will TRY to attack us. Even if it's unsuccessful, no one likes having their home country under attack.

[Cornwad]

Let me rephrase: I'm not worried that we'll be HIT, since I have faith in our forces, but I AM worried that they will TRY to attack us. Even if it's unsuccessful, no one likes having their home country under attack.

If they do, I bet we won't even hear about it. It'll be stopped before anything actually happens. The real issue is what the world is going to do with Pakistan...

[Kayo]

If they do, I bet we won't even hear about it. It'll be stopped before anything actually happens. The real issue is what the world is going to do with Pakistan...

I don't even know about Pakistan anymore.

[BOREDFOREVER]

Hey

The war on terror isn't over.  Our national security isn't going to see a huge relaxation because of it.

Nor were the wars we have fought in the Middle East specifically for the capture/death of Bin Laden.  To say that they were is ignorant.  Osama's not the only terrorist, and al-Qaeda isn't the only terrorist organization. 

The death of Bin Laden is the fulfillment of the promise of a nation united in tragedy.  Did it take a decade for us to find him? Yes.  Will it end terror worldwide? No. 

But I'm still proud.  Because we didn't give up on that promise when it took longer than we thought.  We didn't give up when it got hard, and he all but disappeared. We didn't stop when a Republican left office and a Democrat took over with a very different outlook on foreign policy and national security.  We found the man who took credit for the death of so many.  I wish we had been able to take him alive, but I'm proud of the fact that instead of parading his body through the streets we honored the beliefs of Islam and made sure he received a burial within 24 hours of his death, a courtesy no terrorist would extend to someone of another religion.

We made a promise while we were still burying our own.  We could have said it was just in the heat of the moment, we could have turned away when we didn't get instant results, we could have backtracked when our lack of results began to look like a joke to so many others.  But we didn't.  We hunted that man to the ends of this Earth to fulfill a promise we made to the families of the men and women who died; the promise we made to honor their memory.

At the end of the day, we are relentless in our pursuits.

So, yes, once again, I am proud to be an American.  I do not celebrate this man's death, but the fulfillment of that promise that his actions would not go unpunished.

[Friendly Hostile]

While the wars fought were not done so in direct pursuit of him, those wars also wouldn't have happened without him either.  They were both sold on post 9/11 anger and emotion, with piss poor planning being done before hand, landing us in one of the worst foreign policy quagmires in our history.  Taking down Bin Laden, Al-Queda and the Taliban could have all been done in a far better fashion, with much less civilian bloodshed, and far fewer solider causalities.  We will never win this war.  You cannot eradicate terrorism.

And in the past couple of years, the American public hasn't given a flying intercourse  about Bin Laden.  I see no reason to be proud over the ultimately hollow victory.  The resulting costs to get us to this point are so unequivocal, I can't see how you can proudly say it was worth it. 

Is it good that we were able to provide closure and achieve a symbolic victory for those three thousand lost a decade a go?  Yes.  But I cannot be proud of nation, who is willing to engage in such a bloody and cruel path to achieve this victory, who has so willing turned her back on so many of her own principles and ideology, all in response to his actions.

[Matt]

This thread has become pretty LOL.

[BOREDFOREVER]

I can be proud of some things and not of others.  It's the benefit of complexity.  My feelings on the wars themselves and our sacrifice of civil liberties in pursuit of a security we will never gain are separate from the hunt for this man. 

You know as well as I do that our actions in the middle east are not points on a line ending with this mans capture.  It is a web of failures and victories all fueled by a spectrum of motivations.  I disagree that those wars would not have happened without him.  While the administration took advantage of our anger and fear to launch them early, these wars were part of a long reaching arc that stretches farther back then 9/11.

To say that the costs for hunting this man alone are unequivocal is to say that every action we have taken has been in his pursuit.  Or perhaps not.  Perhaps you believe that the loss of even one American life in action against a terrorist organization is too much.  That is certainly a valid opinion, just not one I share.

I don't agree with the idea that America had stopped caring about Bin Laden, and I'm not just referring to banjo-picking moonshiners who still wave the confederate flag.  Many of us still believed this man should be brought to justice.  Did we get frustrated? Yes.  Did we feel embarrasment at the time it was taking to capture him?  I'm sure.

The War on Terror will end about the same time The War on Drugs will end, when the America we know ceases to exist.  But I can still be proud that we brought this man to justice, that we promised ourselves and the world that we would do this, and we did. 

[Chris8492]

Well heres the deal, yeah Osama was killed by a special ops team, yeah yeah, everyone is celebrating an whatnot, but theres still terrorism out there. Reason why a lot of people are happy hes gone is because of 9/11 nearly 10 years ago. But heres the deal, there are many others that are following his footsteps, and not just his footstep, but terrorism in general. I'd say they better not light it until the fat lady sings because there is still a lot of work to be done against terrorism.

I wouldnt be surprised it isnt people around the world that are terrorist, heck there are "Sleepers" right now in our country if you ever heard of that before.  Terrorism can pop up out of nowhere sometimes when we dont see it, just its how people handle, terrorism is the act of trying to strike fear and terror into the minds of people, groups, countries, etc that they oppose, it is an act to bring down in fear.

[The Riddler]

You pretty much cannot fail harder than this guy did.

[Doodle]

Yesterday morning the local news anchor almost did something like that. He realized he said Obama and restarted the sentence, though.

[buttlord420]

[The Seventh]

My responses will be in bold.

While the wars fought were not done so in direct pursuit of him, those wars also wouldn't have happened without him either.  They were both sold on post 9/11 anger and emotion, with piss poor (I wouldn't say piss poor...it was the actions of our want to pull out, weakening our forces, combined with being forced to utilize the so-called "Rules of Engagement".  Sometimes I feel that those rules got in the way of things.) planning being done before hand, landing us in one of the worst foreign policy quagmires in our history.  Taking down Bin Laden, Al-Queda and the Taliban could have all been done in a far better fashion, with much less civilian bloodshed, and far fewer solider causalities.  We will never win this war.  You cannot eradicate terrorism.

And in the past couple of years, the American public hasn't given a flying intercourse  about Bin Laden.  I see no reason to be proud over the ultimately hollow victory.  The resulting costs to get us to this point are so unequivocal, I can't see how you can proudly say it was worth it.  (As has been said...maybe it's because we didn't want to dwell on it and have it blind us...or we just forgot about Bin Laden until now.)

Is it good that we were able to provide closure and achieve a symbolic victory for those three thousand lost a decade a go?  Yes.  But I cannot be proud of nation, who is willing to engage in such a bloody and cruel path to achieve this victory, who has so willing turned her back on so many of her own principles and ideology, all in response to his actions. (Our nation, like many, has been created from past bloodshed.  Another reason we did this is to help slow them down at the very least, show we won't sit idle as they destroy what we know around us.  Is it right?  Not in theory, yet these are also people we cannot negotiate with.  Sometimes, when diplomacy fails, a swift kick in the ass has to be done...)

Well heres the deal, yeah Osama was killed by a special ops team, yeah yeah, everyone is celebrating an whatnot, but theres still terrorism out there. Reason why a lot of people are happy hes gone is because of 9/11 nearly 10 years ago. But heres the deal, there are many others that are following his footsteps, and not just his footstep, but terrorism in general. I'd say they better not light it until the fat lady sings because there is still a lot of work to be done against terrorism.

I wouldnt be surprised it isnt people around the world that are terrorist, heck there are "Sleepers" right now in our country if you ever heard of that before.  Terrorism can pop up out of nowhere sometimes when we dont see it, just its how people handle, terrorism is the act of trying to strike fear and terror into the minds of people, groups, countries, etc that they oppose, it is an act to bring down in fear.

And this is why I'm against heavy gun regulation.  Forcing background checks I am definitely for, however.  Banning guns outright?  Might as well hand the criminals guns and let yourself get shot.

I can be proud of some things and not of others.  It's the benefit of complexity.  My feelings on the wars themselves and our sacrifice of civil liberties in pursuit of a security we will never gain are separate from the hunt for this man. 

You know as well as I do that our actions in the middle east are not points on a line ending with this mans capture.  It is a web of failures and victories all fueled by a spectrum of motivations.  I disagree that those wars would not have happened without him.  While the administration took advantage of our anger and fear to launch them early, these wars were part of a long reaching arc that stretches farther back then 9/11. (Yes, this is definitely so.  Like, for instance, the Iraq "war" (not technically a WAR because it wasn't declared by Congress, but w/e) wasn't the first time we've hit that region.  Operation Desert Storm, anyone?)

To say that the costs for hunting this man alone are unequivocal is to say that every action we have taken has been in his pursuit.  Or perhaps not.  Perhaps you believe that the loss of even one American life in action against a terrorist organization is too much.  That is certainly a valid opinion, just not one I share. (Yes, a valid opinion, because I can't change it.  I agree that we take the deaths during conflict too harshly.  As awful as it sounds, the Iraq war's losses were nothing compared to WWI or WWII.  Or Vietnam.  Yes, each loss hurts someone in some way or another, but losses are the reality of armed conflict, no matter how seemingly insignificant a conflict is or how well planned it is.  We got lucky during the raid.)

I don't agree with the idea that America had stopped caring about Bin Laden, and I'm not just referring to banjo-picking moonshiners who still wave the confederate flag.  Many of us still believed this man should be brought to justice.  Did we get frustrated? Yes.  Did we feel embarrasment at the time it was taking to capture him?  I'm sure.

The War on Terror will end about the same time The War on Drugs will end, when the America we know ceases to exist.  But I can still be proud that we brought this man to justice, that we promised ourselves and the world that we would do this, and we did. 

Okay, I feel finished here.  I'm ready for lambasting.