The Obama "To Make Important Statement" MEGATHREAD

[KRonn]

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/02/muslim-world-had-soured-on-bin-laden-since-911/?hpt=T2

By Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor

(CNN) – Though large swaths of the Muslim world cheered Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, there has been relatively little sympathy expressed for him from those quarters since his killing Sunday - a testament to the dramatic falloff in global Muslim support for the al Qaeda leader in the last decade.

While the spontaneous street celebrations that broke out in American cities like New York and Washington over the news of bin Laden's killing by U.S. Special Forces have not been repeated in the Muslim world, there has been praise for his death from some Muslim political leaders.

In Yemen, which has been racked by unrest in recent months as hundreds of thousands have demanded the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, bin Laden's killing has yielded a rare moment of political unity, with both Saleh's government and the opposition praising the development.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, meanwhile, hailed the killing as a "mega-landmark event," while certain quarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's newly emboldened opposition party, have also voiced support.

And while many other leaders from the Muslim world have so far been mum on bin Laden's death, virtually none have voiced overt criticism of the U.S.-led operation. Experts say that's largely because even Muslims in the Middle East, Asia and elsewhere who were once supportive of bin Laden soured on him years ago.

"When 9/11 first happened, people in the Muslim world weren't entirely sure it was bin Laden who was behind it," says Juan Cole, a professor of modern Middle East history at the University of Michigan. "He'd had this reputation of a freedom fighter who'd gotten the Soviets out of Afghanistan. He was a hero."

But as al Qaeda established affiliates throughout the Muslim world after the September 11 attacks - leading to deadly attacks that claimed Muslim lives in countries like Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Morocco - Muslim support waned.

"Terrorism went from being seen as something that happened 'over there' to something that affected Muslims themselves," says Cole.

A report issued Monday by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project showed support for bin Laden has dropped considerably in six predominantly Muslim countries since 2003.

The report, which drew on surveys conducted last month, found that confidence in bin Laden among Muslims in Jordan had fallen to 13% last month, compared to 56% in 2003.

In Indonesia, 26% of Muslims said they were confident in bin Laden, down from 59% in 2003.

Even in the Palestinian territories, where support for bin Laden last month was highest among all six majority Muslim nations surveyed, confidence in the terrorist leader stood at 34%, down from 72% in 2003.

In many countries, a steep falloff in Muslim support for bin Laden correlates to the time period when that country experienced major terrorist attacks, said Richard Wike, associate director of the Pew Global Attitudes Project.

In Jordan, support for bin Laden remained strong until 2005, when a trio of suicide bombings for which al Qaeda claimed responsibility killed dozens in the nation's capital. Since then, support for bin Laden has plummeted.

"Exposure to terrorism really changes opinions," Wike says.

U.S. President Barack Obama, for his part, has gone out of his way to avoid inflaming Muslims over bin Laden's killing.

"I've made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam," Obama said in a televised address Sunday night announcing bin Laden's death. "Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader. He was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries including our own."

Wike notes that Obama's efforts to improve relations with the Muslim world has not led to more support for the U.S. in public opinion polls.

A Pew survey last year showed that just 17% of those in Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey - all countries where support for bin Laden had plummeted - had a positive opinion of the United States.

[Caliga]

The fact that Clinton did launch cruise missiles at Bin Laden, or at least his camps, indicates he was willing to kill him.

Clinton did a rather infamous interview with Chris Wallace @ FOX wherein he admitted not killing bin Laden was one of the biggest regrets of his presidency.  He did however insist that he wanted to take Osama out and tried very hard to do so, and claimed that when Bush was elected he dismantled the operations that were designed to take him out, and then wondered alout why FOX wasn't beating Bush up about bin Laden.

[The Minsky Moment]

Obama: "And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act and we will take them out. We will kill bin Laden; we will crush Al Qaida."

McCain: "You know, my hero is a guy named Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt used to say walk softly -- talk softly, but carry a big stick. Senator Obama likes to talk loudly. In fact, he said he wants to announce that he's going to attack Pakistan. Remarkable.  You know, if you are a country and you're trying to gain the support of another country, then you want to do everything you can that they would act in a cooperative fashion. When you announce that you're going to launch an attack into another country, it's pretty obvious that you have the effect that it had in Pakistan: It turns public opinion against us."

To be fair to McCain, I don't read this as him saying that he wouldn't authorize this kind of attack.  Rather, I think he was saying that it is something you just do, not say you are going to do in advance.

[garbon]

Have we had this one yet?

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/1499/obamad.png

Of course the easy rebuttal is something real and not just feel good. After all, depending on one's point of view, both of those things are long overdue. I don't subscribe to that on the birth certificate but clearly it doesn't take a herculean effort to produce.

[derspiess]

When did Clinton say, "No no, lets not kill Osama..."

Clinton had the chance to whack him in the 90s but passed up on it.  His whole approach to combating terrorism was as if it were a law enforcement issue.  Now admittedly that was before the second WTC attack, but I'm guessing you'd want to avoid a Dorseyesque argument over what a properly aged Clinton might do.

[The Brain]

If you want someone killed you don't send missiles. That's for when you want to appear to want to have someone killed. Clinton ran like a girl from Somalia, didn't have the balls to tell people to stay the fuck out of his sex life and was ruled by his woman. But of course since teh ecnomony was OK and young people don't remember real presidents like Nixon Clinton will keep his halo. Fucking southern trash.

[The Brain]

Morons who think Osama should have gotten "a fair trial" forget one important thing: you MUST NEVER give guys like Osama, Saddam or Adolf a fair trial. What if they get off on a technicality? The risk is unacceptable. Thankfully only fuckdorks like the Euros want bad guys to spend time at The Hague and then a retirement home in Sweden (like that Serb bitch whore).

[KRonn]

Obama: "And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act and we will take them out. We will kill bin Laden; we will crush Al Qaida."

McCain: "You know, my hero is a guy named Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt used to say walk softly -- talk softly, but carry a big stick. Senator Obama likes to talk loudly. In fact, he said he wants to announce that he's going to attack Pakistan. Remarkable.  You know, if you are a country and you're trying to gain the support of another country, then you want to do everything you can that they would act in a cooperative fashion. When you announce that you're going to launch an attack into another country, it's pretty obvious that you have the effect that it had in Pakistan: It turns public opinion against us."

To be fair to McCain, I don't read this as him saying that he wouldn't authorize this kind of attack.  Rather, I think he was saying that it is something you just do, not say you are going to do in advance.

Yeah, that seems more like what McCain was saying. In fact, it's pretty much what Pres Obama did, launched an attack and told the Pakistanis afterward. No choice though, of course; bin Laden would have been tipped off otherwise.

[Syt]

I think Osama should have been tried by a jury of his peers.

[HisMajestyBOB]

A honest question for the yanks, particulary to the ones of a more martial persuation: Will hard proof be produced at some point in the short or medium term about this operation and its results and/or particulars or do we have to trust the official statements at face value?

I'm just going to have to go out on a limb and take my chances on the "Wag-the-Capricorn One" machine, because this news, and they way it was done, is just too damned satisfying.
Simply really, really satisfying.

I managed to find this:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54132.html

Sources: Osama bin Laden burial video may be released

The Associated Press is citing two Pentagon officials who say that a video of Osama bin Laden's burial at sea will likely be made public soon, perhaps along with photos of his corpse.

The terrorist leader was dropped into the North Arabian Sea from the deck of the USS Carl Vinson early Monday.

Briefing reporters at the White House on Monday, Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan said the administration would likely release a photo of bin Laden, but would do so cautiously. "We don't want to do anything to compromise our ability to be successful the next time we get one of these guys and take him off the battlefield," he said.

Also:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54151.html#ixzz1LFIKX93k

Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of computer data

The assault force of Navy SEALs snatched a trove of computer drives and disks during their weekend raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, yielding what a U.S. official called "the mother lode of intelligence."

The special operations forces grabbed personal computers, thumb drives and electronic equipment during the lightning raid that killed bin Laden, officials told POLITICO.

"They cleaned it out," one official said. "Can you imagine what's on Osama bin Laden's hard drive?"

U.S. officials are about to find out. The material is being examined at a secret location in Afghanistan.

"Hundreds of people are going through it now," an official said, adding that intelligence operatives back in Washington are very excited to find out what they have.

"It's going to be great even if only 10 percent of it is actionable," the official said.

"We have searched his base from top to bottom, and all we have found is porno, porno, PORNO!" 

[Viking]

I think Osama should have been tried by a jury of his peers.

Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Shiite religious fanatics?

[Syt]

I think Osama should have been tried by a jury of his peers.

Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Shiite religious fanatics?

C'mon, that would have been hillarious.

[derspiess]

"We have searched his base from top to bottom, and all we have found is porno, porno, PORNO!" 

Or better yet, some bizarre niche stuff.

[MadImmortalMan]

"We have searched his base from top to bottom, and all we have found is porno, porno, PORNO!" 

It would be awesome if they found a bunch of horrific nasty porn on there and made it public.

[Martinus]

"We have searched his base from top to bottom, and all we have found is porno, porno, PORNO!" 

It would be awesome if they found a bunch of horrific nasty porn on there and made it public.

I don't think Osama has actually any reputation that needs to be ruined.