Slashdot Mirror
Porn Reportedly Found At Bin Laden Compound
Hugh Pickens writes "Reuters reports that a stash of pornography was found in the hideout of Osama bin Laden by the US commandos who killed him. The pornography consists of modern, electronically recorded video and is fairly extensive, according to the officials, who discussed the discovery with Reuters on condition of anonymity. Officials said they did not know if bin Laden himself had acquired or viewed the materials and it is unclear how compound residents would have acquired the pornography but a video released by the Obama administration confiscated from the compound showed bin Laden watching pictures of himself on a TV screen, indicating that the compound was equipped with video playback equipment. Officials familiar with evidence gathered during investigations of other Islamic militants said the discovery of pornography is not uncommon in such cases." Is it too cynical to mention that the US government has a vested interest in denigrating Bin Laden, and that he's no longer around to deny this claim?
I find the whole celebrating the execution of an old man in front of his family thing pretty distasteful.
Maybe the execution was necessary, the gloating is just sad.
I'm sure he got a 100 on the test and only missed the extra credit question.
If Bin Laden really was a "war combatant", as well as the rest of al-Qaeda and other terrorists, then they should have been treated as such under the Geneva Convention. Now, I don't know about needing to read him his rights, pretty sure you don't Miranda a war combatant, but it certainly raises the issue of Guantanamo and whether or not allegations of "detainees" being tortured in Iraq and the intentional killing unarmed Afghan/Iraqi civilians (which have been documented on multiple occasions) should be investigated and tried as war crimes.
And according to the latest revision of what happened (which I guess is subject to further change depending on what the White House/Congress wants to tell us), there was no firefight in the main building. DEVGRU isn't a bunch of groundpounders, so they're not going to be going in on a turkey hunt. That being said, bin Laden was shot in the chest and either once or twice in the head after that. He was not holding a weapon, but may/may not have been able to grab a gun, depending on who's telling the story. Here's the thing, though: can you honestly say you wouldn't shoot him even if he was unarmed and had his hands in the air? And can you say a SEAL wouldn't? Unless a helmetcam video ever comes out, we'll never know for sure.
Wait a minute, so you're saying it was wrong to shoot Bin Laden because he didn't get his day in court...? ...if you're an American, you should be ashamed of yourself.
The greatest thing about America - what makes the United States the greatest nation on the planet - at least according to what I was taught when I was growing up, was that nobody is above the law, that nobody is beneath the law, and that the Constitution and the court are the Great Equalizers. If the case against bin Laden was such a slam dunk, then make the case. Show the world why we remain the greatest nation on earth: that even for our most hated enemy we will follow our set laws and rules, that we will not abandon our beliefs and ideals because of some deranged lunatic of an old man, and that in a time of crisis we'll stand firm. That you think that an American should be ashamed to believe that - no, NO sir, you are the one who should be ashamed.