Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Would you prefer it if Osama Bin Laden had been caught alive instead?

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread		 This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » General Discussion Donate to DU
 
Electric Monk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:06 AM
Original message
Poll question: Would you prefer it if Osama Bin Laden had been caught alive instead?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
Ohio Joe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:07 AM
Response to Original message
1. No, I'm good - nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DJ13 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:07 AM
Response to Original message
2. The whole truth about 9/11 died with him
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
themadstork Donating Member (797 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:08 AM
Response to Original message
3. Wasn't really an option
How would we take him? Dude was always going to go down shooting. Makes him a martyr and he avoids interrogation and being used as an intelligence source. There's no reason for him to do otherwise.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
leftstreet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:09 AM
Response to Reply #3
5. He wasn't in a cave, he was in a fucking mansion. They had phones, right?
Have your lawyer call mine kinda thing
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
themadstork Donating Member (797 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:13 AM
Response to Reply #5
10. Yeah. I'm sure he would have worked the whole thing out over tea.
He's either going to run or fight. What does he gain by surrendering? It'd be degrading for his movement.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
leftstreet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:18 AM
Response to Reply #10
20. How do you think he stayed alive for 8 years? You think he didn't cut deals?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
themadstork Donating Member (797 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:28 AM
Response to Reply #20
30. How would a deal ever benefit him strategically?
He's important as a symbol. Groveling to the US and cutting a deal so he can rot in jail his whole life makes him look weak. Why would he want to negotiate with us?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
leftstreet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:59 AM
Response to Reply #30
35. You think he didn't 'negotiate' to stay alive for 8-10 years?
You honestly think he could go undetected THAT LONG by the combined forces of the worlds intel agencies?

:shrug:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
joshcryer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 01:01 AM
Response to Reply #35
36. He had hundreds of millions of dollars. It is very easy to buy silence.
The fact that he was in an upper echelon neighborhood in Pakistan means that a whole bunch of creeps were on his payroll.

Doesn't mean he wouldn't die for the cause.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
themadstork Donating Member (797 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 01:25 AM
Response to Reply #35
37. Are you implying he was cutting deals with us? With allied intel?
What are you getting at? You still haven't explained how he could have cut a deal with us that would benefit him.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
fishwax Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:13 AM
Response to Reply #5
13. lol -- just come down to the station for some routine questioning
You'll be back home in no time. Only--you probably shouldn't leave town without letting us know ...
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Poll_Blind Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:09 AM
Response to Original message
4. Finding out the truth about the funding of 9/11, for instance, would be incredible.
PB
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
leftstreet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:12 AM
Response to Reply #4
8. Would have been a helluva trial n/t
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bigwillq Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:10 AM
Response to Original message
6. Doesn't matter.
He's dead. That's the way it was meant to be.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
RaleighNCDUer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:12 AM
Response to Reply #6
9. meant to be by the powers that be.
There's a lot of people who don't want any answers.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bigwillq Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:16 AM
Response to Reply #9
17. And one who didn't want to give them up.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
dkf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:11 AM
Response to Original message
7. I would have preferred whatever caused less turmoil.
I'm not sure what that is right now.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ProudToBeBlueInRhody Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:13 AM
Response to Original message
11. Sure
I've always wanted to see him executed by dumping him into the chummed waters of the Red Triangle and eaten by Great Whites.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
EFerrari Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:13 AM
Response to Original message
12. Yes, and for a lot of reasons that aren't even about him.
Not the least of which, this country seems to be losing touch with how our own justice system is supposed to work.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
themadstork Donating Member (797 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:16 AM
Response to Reply #12
18. I hate the "targeted kill" drone bombings as much as anyone. . .
But the guy engaged us in a firefight. It's a legit kill. Our judicial system would say, Go team.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
EFerrari Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:57 AM
Response to Reply #18
34. If the Pentagon said so, it must be true.
:)

I'm glad he can't hurt anyone else, how's that?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
themadstork Donating Member (797 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 01:30 AM
Response to Reply #34
39. At this point what basis is there to suspect otherwise?
I don't trust them blindly but it's a narrative that seems to fit. For a figurehead like him going out a martyr is exactly the right call.

If other facts arise then yeah, we can talk about the sham we've made of the judicial system. But right now this seems completely legal.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
joshcryer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:20 AM
Response to Reply #12
23. So how many seals should we have sacrificed trying to catch him alive?
Only for him to put a bullet in his brain if we got close enough?

Lordy, the failure to recognize how tyrants behave and to place all the blame on the US is just typical.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
CaliforniaPeggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:14 AM
Response to Original message
14. I think it's better that he's dead...Why?
I think they would have tortured him is why.

This way there's none of that, and no brouhaha over where the trial would be held.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
RiseInside Donating Member (16 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:14 AM
Response to Original message
15. I've changed my mind
After hearing the news my first reaction was to wish he had been brought in alive and taken to trial. Then I have read some of the pro's and con's and come to the conclusion that having him in custody may have been worse than when he was in full power. I honestly do not see a guy who believes so strongly in what he he has fought for giving up his secrets.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cherokeeprogressive Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:15 AM
Response to Original message
16. I would have killed him myself. n/t
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Lyric Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:16 AM
Response to Original message
19. It could never have worked. Taking him alive (with a certain execution to follow his trial)
would have left his insane followers with literally NOTHING to lose. We'd have seen innocent "westerners" kidnapped and murdered all over the world until we agreed to release him. We already know that he has followers who were more than willing to die for their "cause", and we already know that those followers are also more than willing to kill innocents in pursuit of the same.

Imagine the horror of a radical Al Qaeda group kidnapping hundreds of Americans, Brits, Australians, and Canadians--women, men, and children--and threatening to behead one every single day until he was released.

There are some people who are too dangerous to be prisoners.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
MadMaddie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:19 AM
Response to Reply #19
21. That's what I was thinking about too.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
somone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:19 AM
Response to Original message
22. The asshole needed to be DEAD
Period.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
joshcryer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:21 AM
Response to Original message
24. Of course it would've been awesomer to catch him alive, but that was never a likely outcome.
Anyone who believes otherwise is delusional.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Dark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:23 AM
Response to Original message
25. I'd prefer it so he doesn't become a martyr. But, hey, the fucker's dead, and I'm OK with that.
nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
fujiyama Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:23 AM
Response to Original message
26. Please, oh please tell me
the logistics of capturing him alive! I'd love to hear it. I'm sure thousands of others trying to get him over the last several years would too.

There was no way in hell he was going to be captured alive.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
TransitJohn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:24 AM
Response to Original message
27. He deserved the same as McVeigh got.
As far as I'm concerned. But, I'm against state execution, so I think they both should've gotten life imprisonment.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
immoderate Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 01:28 AM
Response to Reply #27
38. I'd agree if he was captured.
But he wasn't going to give up.

--imm
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
EmmettKelly Donating Member (105 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:25 AM
Response to Original message
28. Actually I would have prefered to see him spend the
rest of eternity going through TSA airport screenings. But maybe that's just me.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mvd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:26 AM
Response to Original message
29. Taking alive is always better. But I don't believe..
Edited on Mon May-02-11 12:27 AM by mvd
he would have surrendered willingly, so this was probably the only option. Bear in mind that I don't think Bin Laden's death makes everyone safe, and America has not been the perfect peacemaker - but it should help the President be elected and maybe help end the wars.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Liquorice Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:28 AM
Response to Original message
31. No, he would have been put to death anyway. nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
provis99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:33 AM
Response to Original message
32. catch him alive, put him in a pillory, and let every American have their whack at him.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
johnaries Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 12:56 AM
Response to Original message
33. Yes, but only so he won't be viewed as a "martyr".
As for his guilt, he not only admitted it, he GLOATED about it. That case is closed.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SmileyRose Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 01:35 AM
Response to Original message
40. Doesn't really matter - the man was going to die sooner or later.
Dispatched to the great beyond by his own hand or that of someone at his side is my guess. I can't explain why I feel that way, but I just don't picture him letting himself be taken alive.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Common Sense Party Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 01:36 AM
Response to Original message
41. Why? So we can NOT have a trial for him, like Khalid Sheik Muhammed?
No, thanks.

The bastard was BEYOND guilty, and he died using a woman as a human shield.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Electric Monk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 04:15 PM
Response to Original message
42. Hmm, poll results so far aren't as lopsided as I thought they might be. nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
glen123098 Donating Member (419 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 04:21 PM
Response to Original message
43. Everyone deserves a fair trial, including Osama.
But the fact is, it wasn't possible this time. He was involved in a 40 minute shoot out and even took a human shield.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Lucinda Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-02-11 04:25 PM
Response to Original message
44. Alive. n/t
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sat May 11th 2024, 03:59 PM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » General Discussion Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC