Osama Bin Laden

Second Thoughts On Osama Bin Laden Assassination!

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In the flush of excitement over the demise of Al Qaeda terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden, some second thoughts are developing in many people’s minds.

We have learned that a lot of the early news reports were fabricated, or distorted. For instance, it was said that Bin Laden was armed, that he had a woman as a human shield, and that he resisted, and that there was a major battle of our Navy SEALS against others in the compound.

None of that is true, and Michael Moore, the film director, and John Yoo, the Bush aide who justified the use of torture, including waterboarding in the infamous memo that has caused such controversy, both–despite their different sides of the political spectrum–question why Bin Laden could not have been taken alive and put on trial in an international court as the Nazi and Japanese war criminals were subjected to after World War II. Those trials led to executions of most of the war criminals under international law.

There are some observers who claim that what the Obama Administration did was unlawful under international law, and that setting the goal of political assassination, which has been supposedly banned in America since the 1970s, is a dangerous and troubling trend.

Even the publication of the bloody scenes of the three men killed with Bin Laden, one being his son and looking very much like him, is deeply disturbing to many, as the author himself has never seen such horrific photos, and agreed with the Obama Administration decision NOT to publish the photos of the dead Bin Laden. But then, why was not the same care given to sensitivities toward the public for the other three male victims?

While certainly no one mourns the death of Bin Laden, it is much harder in the light of day to be as gleeful and excited about his death, once one considers all of the details we now know, that we did not know on Sunday night!

Al Qaeda Website Admits Death Of Bin Laden: One Conspiracy Theory Destroyed!

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Imagine thanking Al Qaeda and having them applauded for something positive!

The terrorist organization has admitted on its website that Osama Bin Laden is dead!

That is a big relief in the sense that we don’t have to spend inordinate amounts of time debating whether what happened last Sunday is true or a fabrication of the Obama Administration to end the issue, and give Obama a political victory for 2012.

Of course, some loonies out there who wish to exploit the issue for monetary gain will still try to claim otherwise, but it is good that the conspiracy theory is nipped in the bud!

However, we should not be sobered by this as far as the threat of Al Qaeda is concerned, as materials gathered at the compound where Bin Laden lived are clear in the late terrorist’s plans to continue to attack America and the West, with apparent plots to attack the railroad network on the tenth anniversary of September 11.

Even without Bin Laden, Al Qaeda remains a threat, and we will need to continue to be on the alert in the future, not let our guard down, and be particularly concerned on the upcoming September 11, when we mark ten years since the dastardly event that changed all of our lives forever!

The Proper Decision By Barack Obama On Photo Images Of Osama Bin Laden!

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We are so fortunate to have Barack Obama as our President, as he is such a wise man in so many ways!

The President’s decision today NOT to release photo images of Osama Bin Laden’s body makes total sense, as to do so would provoke violence and increase the possibilities of terrorism.

There is nothing to be gained by putting such photos into circulation. It would shock many sensitive people and children, and there is no need to waste effort trying to prove to conspiracy theorists that Bin Laden is dead, as there is absolutely no chance that he will suddenly emerge and tell us he is alive!

It is time for our government and intelligent, normal people to stop catering to conspiracy theorists!

Let them have their hallucinations and work on gullible people, while the rest of us deal with the real world that exists, and work to make our government operate better!

We certainly do not need to brag about what we accomplished regarding Osama Bin Laden, and it is a tribute to our President that he is not boasting about it, showing swagger, being cocky, which assuredly George W. Bush and Dick Cheney would have been had it happened on their watch!

Just because one accomplishes a goal does not mean we have to draw attention to ourselves, as the act alone is more than enough for a normal, healthy person. This whole matter shows just how well balanced and stable a President we have, and we should be thankful for that, and for his sound judgment!

The fact that Sarah Palin is finding fault with Obama on this matter is further proof of the stupidity and empty mindedness of this woman, who should never have been given a national stage by John McCain. As stated many times before, Sarah needs to be out of our lives, as she is detrimental to American sanity!

Reality: Bin Laden Won In Goal To Bankrupt America By The War On Terror!

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As we celebrate the demise of Osama Bin Laden, we must remember that his major goal was not to count the number of people killed over time, but rather to divide us, make us paranoid, and cause us to spend trillions in reaction to September 11.

That is precisely what has happened, with our defense budget doubled since 2001, and with a tremendous investment in national security, including a new cabinet agency, the Department of Homeland Security.

This is money that could have been used to improve our infrastructure, our health care, our education, our environment, and so many other domestic needs!

The median income has declined five percent since 2001, and the country is much worse off economically, as we battle over the national debt and the deficit, after such a heavy public investment in reaction to Osama Bin Laden.

So while we may have finally killed Bin Laden, he could enjoy the past ten years of his life knowing that he had bankrupted us, spending ourselves into oblivion!

We must start to plan the future, and that includes a realistic look at our role in the world after Osama Bin Laden!

Obama Action On Bin Laden Proof John Kerry Was Right In 2004 Campaign Stand On War On Terror

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In 2004, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the Democratic Presidential nominee, was trashed by the Bush Administration and Vice President Dick Cheney for his assertion that defeating terrorism was based on law enforcement, rather than constant military intervention!

Kerry said intelligence gathering and law enforcement, in cooperation with other nations, was the way to fight terrorism, rather than create military clashes with other civilizations.

Kerry also said that we should look at terrorism as a nuisance, not as a constant threat to everyone on a daily basis. If we militarize the struggle against terrorism, we will be involved in endless military confrontations, he declared! Instead, we should work to improve relations with the Islamic world!

Instead, we have spent four trillion dollars and lost 49,000 men, dead and wounded combined, in fighting an endless war against terrorism, which cannot be won by military strategy alone, as shown by the failures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The last decade did not have to be a decade of war, causing our tremendous national debt. We did not need to overreact as we did, and this will always be the condemnation that the Bush Administration deserves!

We live in a world now more unsafe than it was on September 12, 2001, and if we had had President Al Gore or President John Kerry, that would not have been the result, and we would not have to be considering destroying Medicare and Medicaid, and denying children educational needs, and damaging the environment, and the denial of civil liberties that was brought about by the Patriot Act hysteria right after September 11!

So although losing the Presidency, we owe gratitude to Senator John Kerry for his vision and wisdom, not appreciated by his countrymen in 2004!

Republican Lies And Deception After Bin Laden Is Killed Under Obama’s Watch

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It is amazing how the Republican leadership feels a need to promote lies and deception in a moment of great triumph for President Obama!

They have to put in the concept that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and others working under the last administration were responsible for providing information that helped Obama accomplish a goal that Bush could not achieve in more than seven years.

They try to claim that “enhanced interrogation techniques”, meaning torture including water boarding, were responsible for information that led to the successful mission. But it is clear that is a total fabrication, meant to justify the Bush Administration’s violation of international law and the laws of war!

Also, it is clear that George W. Bush, himself, had dismissed the importance of finding Bin Laden within less than a year after September 11!

It is also clear that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and General Tommy Franks, in charge of the Afghanistan invasion in 2001, chose not to pursue Bin Laden at Tora Bora when we knew he was there in the months after September 11, allowing him to get away and live in hiding for nine and a half years!

So for the Bush loyalists to claim that Bush and his administration deserve credit for what has happened is totally without substance, and it is time for the Republicans to give full credit to the courage and brilliance of Barack Obama, who has accomplished the greatest single victory by his actions since John F. Kennedy accomplished the solution of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October, 1962!

The Change In The Democratic Party Image On Foreign Policy: From JFK To Obama

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Ever since the failure of John F. Kennedy to overthrow Fidel Castro at the Bay of Pigs fiasco in April, 1961, Democratic Presidents have had to carry the burden of being perceived as weak and ineffective in foreign policy.

Of course, this is not totally the truth as John F. Kennedy negotiated very skillfully through the Cuban Missile Crisis a year after the Bay of Pigs, but the concept stuck to the party image.

In so many cases, it proved to be true in many people’s minds.

Lyndon Johnson escalated our involvement in Vietnam, and could not resolve the conflict in a satisfactory manner, and was forced out of the race for the Presidency in 1968 as a result.

Jimmy Carter was unable to accomplish the goal of rescuing the 52 hostages being held in Iran after the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. and the humiliation of those hostages being held for 444 days still rankles many Americans.

Carter’s inability to stop Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979, and the problems involved in the Cuban wave of immigrants to Florida, known as the Mariel Boat Lift, also doomed his image.

Bill Clinton’s constant threats to intervene in Bosnia with air power, a total of eleven threats, before actual intervention in a successful way, also doomed him as being perceived as weak and ineffective.

The fact that JFK not only handled the Cuban Missile Crisis expertly, but also brought about the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, is forgotten.

The fact that Carter brought about the Panama Canal Treaty and the Egyptian Israeli Camp David Accords is forgotten.

The fact that Bill Clinton brought about the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the fighting in Bosnia; the successful intervention in Kosovo by NATO; and the peace arrangement in Northern Ireland is also forgotten.

And, of course, the fact that Barack Obama overcame the Somali Pirates seizure of a merchant ship in 2009 is also forgotten, conveniently.

But now, with the death of Osama Bin Laden, and the gathering of much evidence that should help the apprehending of more Al Qaeda terrorist operatives, suddenly the reputation of Democratic Presidents may be undergoing a renaissance!

It will be very difficult for the Republican Party to sully the reputation of Barack Obama, as they have been doing for the past two plus years, as a result of this gutsy, courageous, daring decision by Obama to take a chance, realizing it could have been total failure, but demonstrating resolve and commitment to the principle of fighting terrorism wherever it is!

So from April 17, 1961 to the first day of May 2011, exactly fifty years and two weeks apart, the image of the Democrats has now been transformed for the good of the future of the “party of the people”!

A New Attitude On American Muslims Needed After Death Of Osama Bin Laden

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Now that Osama Bin Laden has been removed from the scene, it is important that our politicians, news media, and the American people reassess their attitude on American Muslims as part of American society.

The Islamic faith is as divided as Christianity is, and while it is important to remember there are extremist and radical Muslims, including those who have attempted unsuccessfully to commit terrorist acts on American soil, that does not mean we should stereotype or scapegoat the vast majority of American Muslims, who are just as patriotic and committed to our democracy as any Americans of other ethnicities.

The hate mongers must be condemned, at the same time that our intelligence agencies must be thorough in their search for those rare Muslims in America who wish us ill!

But let’s remember that it was not only Christians and Jews and Hindus and Buddhists who died on September 11, and in the various terrorist attacks worldwide since September 11, and even before that date. It is clear that it is actually Muslims who have been the greatest number of victims worldwide, because of the murderous intent of Al Qaeda and its supporters as led by Osama Bin Laden.

Just as any other minority group, American Muslims can and will be assimilated into America, with always, however, a watchful eye on those who choose to commit crimes in the name of their God, and working to stop them before they succeed, and putting on trial those who are apprehended, in the most strict terms possible!

Barack Obama: Calm, Cool, Steady Manager Of Crisis

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The American people are very fortunate to have Barack Obama as their President in these times!

Not only his reaction to the Great Recession with the effort to revive industry and banking, and his attempt to aid the state governments in difficult times; not only with his concern about national health care for all; not only with his emphasis on education reform to help America return to educational greatness; not only his emphasis on restoring American prestige in the world scene by promotion of diplomacy; but also because he has proved to be a calm, cool, steady manager of crisis, as proved when he saved the ship seized by Somali pirates in April 2009, and more dramatically, the accomplishment of the killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden this past Sunday!

The opposition Republicans have long promoted the myth that only they can defend the nation from terrorism and preserve our national security. But as it turns out, that is far from true in the past, and is certainly now destroyed as a myth as a result of the flawless military operation conducted on Sunday in Pakistan!

Barack Obama’s historical reputation has been improved dramatically by this great moment in our history! It will be one of the first sentences in his biography, certainly in the first paragraph when history is written in the future!

This is a moment for all patriotic and fair minded Americans to salute President Barack Obama as a man of courage, principle, and dignity! Thank God Barack Obama is our President!

A Thrilling Moment Of Patriotism And Pride!

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It was absolutely thrilling to witness on television last night and today a rare moment of patriotism and pride, as Americans spontaneously celebrated the successful military mission to kill Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan!

Seeing college students celebrating on campuses all over the nation; witnessing a large crowd outside the White House gates; sharing the joy at Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center was obliterated on that horrible September 11, nearly ten years ago; and just generally realizing that the young, who were children affected by that terrible tragedy a decade ago, were joining with Americans of all ages singing the National Anthem and shouting “USA, USA”, made one extremely proud to be an American! And the pride at the flawless performance of our Navy SEALS was boundless!

It is so rare to have the American people rejoice in unison about any event, so this is a moment to savor, and to hope somehow that a sense of national purpose can be accomplished to solve our many domestic problems in a spirit of unity and sacrifice similar to those brave young men who promoted justice for the three thousand people who died on that fateful day, September 11, 2001!