OBAMA ON OSAMA

Various world statesmen have commented on the announcement that Osama Bin Laden has been killed in an operation conducted by American military forces under the Central Intelligence Agency. Most, if reports are correct, seem to be pleased. The latest Wikipedia entry reads as follows:

On May 1, 2011 in Washington, D.C. (corresponding to May 2 in Pakistan), U.S. President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden was killed by "a small team of Americans" acting under Obama's direct orders, in a covert operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan, 100 km. (about 62 miles) north of Islamabad, affirming earlier confirmation by U.S. officials to the media. According to U.S. officials a team of 20-25 US Navy SEALs under the command of the Joint Special  Operations Command and working with the CIA stormed bin Laden's compound in two helicopters. Bin Laden and those with him were killed during a firefight in which U.S. forces experienced no injuries or casualties. According to one US official the attack was carried out without the knowledge or consent of the Pakistani authorities. In Pakistan some people were reported to be shocked at the illegal incursion by US armed forces. The site is a few miles from the Pakistan Military Academy in Kabul. In his broadcast announcement President Obama said that U.S. forces "took care to avoid civilian casualties." Details soon emerged that three men and a woman were killed along with Bin Laden, the woman being killed when she was “used as a shield by a male combatant”. DNA from bin Laden's body, compared with DNA samples on record from his dead sister, confirmed bin Laden's identity. The body was recovered by the US military and was in its custody until, according to one US official, his body was buried at sea according to Islamic traditions.  One U.S. official stated that "finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted terrorist would have been difficult." U.S State Department issued a "Worldwide caution" for Americans following Bin Laden's death and U.S Diplomatic facilities everywhere were placed on high alert, a senior U.S official said.

It is not surprising that people were shocked by the illegal incursion into Pakistan by the US Military. It is even more surprising that his body seems to have been spirited away and "buried at sea according to Islamic Traditions" ??? There are too many questions left without answers. It is not that one requires gruesome pictures, but something more than a statement presumably supplied by the CIA, not the most reliable and trustworthy organisation when it comes to truthful information.  The fact that the current President of the United States has made the announcement, does not in itself give credence to the statement, as he, one assumes, has been given the information by the CIA. There is something about the business that I find unsettling and unsavoury; the lack of due process in particular. Execution without trial is never a satisfactory conclusion. It smacks of the vigilante, the rule of the mob rather than the rule of law. Despite those who claim 'Justice has been done' it most certainly has not; but then, those who claim it have their own guilt to justify. Not satisfactory at all. The mystery death is always difficult and the possibilities of martyrdom abound. I fear there are too many out there willing to stand up and shout "I'm Bin Laden" just as Stanley Kubrick's slave army did for Kirk Douglas. I hope I am wrong.