I read the news today oh boy! Page 368

Quote: Tim Walker @ May 2 2011, 11:54 AM BST

'Crowds gathered outside the White House in Washington DC, chanting "USA, USA" after the news emerged.'

Compare and contrast with news reports we've seen over the years of crowds of "foreigners" allegedly chanting "Death to America" etc...

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Allegedly? There's plenty of video, much of which predates 9/11. There's a huge difference between spontaneous outbursts of a handful of citizens and government-organized rallies. Iran's parliament actually erupts in cries of "Death to America! Death to Israel!" so you should withhold your criticism until you see your parliament or our congress doing the same.

but his role (if he indeed had much of a role) in the September 11th 2001 attacks was over-stated from the outset.

His role was self-stated and unquestionable unless you're a raving conspiracy theorist.

And how many thousands of completely innocent people (of all nationalities, colours and creeds) have died as a result of the US's 10 long year quest for "closure"?

The number pales (by several orders of magnitude) in comparison to the numbers of people killed by Bin Laden's followers and fellow Islamist supremacists. They were killing people long before 9/11 and will continue to do so for decades, if not centuries. And we'll keep killing them as long as they continue to do so.

Aparently he was living in a giant walled compound of conspicuos size.

700 meters from the main military academy in Pakistan.

will dig up a link so

1 Was the intelligence not so great and wasted huge resources torturing senile goat herds and school kids

2 Was he being kept on ice till the right moment

I go with column 1.

Quote: Kevin Murphy @ May 2 2011, 1:40 PM BST

July 2006:

"The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials confirmed Monday."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/washington/04intel.html

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From the same story: "Agency officials said that tracking Mr. bin Laden and his deputies remained a high priority, and that the decision to disband the unit was not a sign that the effort had slackened."

Word is already going around that the identity of the "trusted courier" who eventually led to Bin Laden's hideout may have come from a Guantanamo inmate. That should make some heads spin.

Quote: sootyj @ May 2 2011, 1:45 PM BST

Aparently he was living in a giant walled compound of conspicuos size.

700 meters from the main military academy in Pakistan.

will dig up a link so

1 Was the intelligence not so great and wasted huge resources torturing senile goat herds and school kids

2 Was he being kept on ice till the right moment

I go with column 1.

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The U.S. has been saying for years that he was hiding in northern Pakistan with at least moderate assistance by figures in Pakistan and the Pakistani government has always denied it.

Intelligence is exceedingly difficult to gather in hostile regions where tightly knit communities instinctively shun outsiders and modern forms of communications. Reports say that Osama was located after the identity of his trusted courier was discovered; it's difficult to track someone down if he only communicates via pieces of paper that are passed from hand to hand.

I was just looking at Google's satellite imagery of the town where Bin Laden was hiding and noticed that they have a place called Lady Garden Park.

700 meters though, 700 meters.

There's whole countries where he's massively popular and there are no to hardly any foreign troops.

I suspect the real 10 year delay is the ISI are pretty much a terrorist organisation. And the US didn't want to piss them off (especially as they were influential in the Pakistani nuclear program).

Easier to shoot a squirrel and ignore the big grizzly watching you...

Quote: Matthew Stott @ May 2 2011, 12:36 PM BST

I don't know about you, but I was desperate to get Lily Allen and Rob Lowe's reaction to Bin Laden's death.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a317353/osama-bin-laden-death-celebrity-reactions.html

Thank the Lord for Digital Spy!

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In fairness the Simon Pegg comment is rather good

Actor Simon Pegg: "There's a slight sense in the more sensationalist media that the world just completed a particularly tricky video game."

Quote: DaButt @ May 2 2011, 1:59 PM BST

Word is already going around that the identity of the "trusted courier" who eventually led to Bin Laden's hideout may have come from a Guantanamo inmate. That should make some heads spin.

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So Bin Laden was completely reliant on a courier who was known to atleast one person being tortured by the Americans for 5-10 years. And he didn't change them.

either AQ is so utterly incompetent that it's ridiculous they were ever a threat

or

this story like most of the stuff to come out of Guantanomo is bullshit,

Quote: DaButt @ May 2 2011, 1:27 PM BST

Obama didn't have any more to do with it than did Bush. The nation's intelligence community and armed forces deserve 100% of the credit. Bonus points if you can prove that Obama did anything that Bush didn't do during his time in office. Mega bonus points if you can prove that it was done without the benefit from any of the activities that Bush was reviled for: Guantanamo inmates, "enhanced" interrogations, phone taps, CIA spooks, military death squads, etc.

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Poor old DaButt. The president he despises will go down in history as the man who brought Bin Laden to justice. And help himself get re-elected in the process.

Quote: DaButt @ May 2 2011, 1:17 PM BST

Not even close. George H. W. Bush was riding a crest of enormous popularity after the Gulf War in 1991 and was soundly defeated the following year. The 2012 election won't be about birth certificates, dead terrorists or wars in Afghanistan/Iraq/Libya, it'll be about the economy and government spending. The party which makes the most convincing promise to cut spending will be victorious.

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Oh, I love an argument over politics. I watched Clinton play the Sax on Arsenio in 1992. The Rileys even went to Houston the same time the Republicans were in town for the Convention. It was too close to call all the way through the campaign.

Sound defeat? Remember this side of the Pond we look at actual votes cast. On those terms we have Clinton 43%, Bush the elected 38% but of course twenty years back we also had Mr Perot who collected 19% of the vote. Okay turn the popular vote into the distortion you get via the Electoral College and its looks like Clinton buried Bush but Perot damaged him.
I'll give you the point on the economy. Read my lips, no new taxes is a pretty dumb thing to say just before you out taxes up but we're in a different situation. 1992 was after twelve years of Republican government. Now we're three years into Democratic times. Not sure whether the US really wants the GOP back in the White House just yet.
Two other points. This recession is, apart from our Coalition who want to blame the previous Labour government for everything from the Black Death onwards, is being laid at the feet of the bankers. Your bankers in the US. And that is how Obama will play it. He's trying to fix it but the vested interests won't let him.
The other difference which I promise you will not be forgotten by many in the South. Obama got off his backside and got to visit the disaster areas in Alabama in short order. Duyba's undoing and the end of any Republican hopes in 2008 was Katrina and the perception that it didn't matter to the people in DC.

I just want them to think of a better chant than

"USA,USA,USA"

Add some more words would be a starting point.

You are gay! You are gay! You are gay!

Go away! Go away! Go away!

Probably something better than even that.

I wasn't suggesting words.

I see.

Quote: chipolata @ May 2 2011, 2:23 PM BST

Poor old DaButt. The president he despises will go down in history as the man who brought Bin Laden to justice. And help himself get re-elected in the process.

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I don't despise the president; I merely think he's doing a lousy job. That doesn't mean I'm not happy when something goes right and something went very much right yesterday in Pakistan. Either president had next to no role in the hunt for Osama. Thousands of soldiers and intelligence specialists did all the work and they were doing it long before 9/11. All that work eventually paid off.

As I said earlier, this won't have even the slightest impact on the upcoming election. Gas prices, runaway government spending and unemployment are the issues which will decide who resides in the White House in 2013.

Quote: KLRiley @ May 2 2011, 2:28 PM BST

Not sure whether the US really wants the GOP back in the White House just yet.

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Did you pay any attention to the 2010 elections?

This recession is, apart from our Coalition who want to blame the previous Labour government for everything from the Black Death onwards, is being laid at the feet of the bankers. Your bankers in the US. And that is how Obama will play it. He's trying to fix it but the vested interests won't let him.

Americans aren't angry about the recession. They're angry about runaway government spending. The government has been spending money that it doesn't have for far too long. Both parties have done it and the one which offers the most believable promise to cut spending will win the election.

The other difference which I promise you will not be forgotten by many in the South. Obama got off his backside and got to visit the disaster areas in Alabama in short order. Duyba's undoing and the end of any Republican hopes in 2008 was Katrina and the perception that it didn't matter to the people in DC.

People in the south also remember that Obama took 2 weeks to visit the region after the oil spill disaster. I've made many trips to New Orleans (and I'm heading there again in two days) and the residents who I've spoken to have all been much unhappier with the local (city/parish/state) response than with Washington's response.

Sometimes you wonder if you are really reading something . .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-13264139

What the hell?
You're right, I've never read anything quite like that!
That is some excuse.

If he gets away with it I shall be forced to give up on this planet and find a new one.