Sponsored by Disney

In the past few weeks the bad guy gets killed and the prince marries the princess!

Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted terrorist, died on May 2nd, aged 54. The figure-head of al-Qaeda is dead and the world is a safer place. He was the founder and the voice of the organization. Osama bin Laden has been responsible for preaching hatred and using terrorism to kill innocent people.

Reactions
The western world reacted unversally positively to this news. People were celebrating on the streets of New York City after midnight (which was when the announcement was made). They all chanted USA! USA! USA! Some others celebrating with 10 year old cake and balloons. One person decided to shave his beard.

Those who lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks had mixed emotions.
"This is a feeling of happiness, but not jump-up-and-down happiness. The idea of closure is something that really, really - it doesn't exist, to tell you the truth."

Then there were those who didn't like this victory for the simple reason because it was Obama that did it.

The Situation Room
In the Situation Room President Obama and other officials monitored the situation. Tensions were high. "Geronimo, EKIA." One word and four letters were spoken by a Navy Seal to confirm the death of Osama to President Obama. Geronimo was the code name for either killing or capturing Osama bin Laden, while EKIA stands for "enemy killed in action".

Osama was unarmed when they got to him. Two shots killed him - in the chest and in the head. He was in his palace in Abbottabad, Pakistan. (Talk abbottabad place to hide).

Pakistan has recieved over $20 billion in US aid since the September 11 attacks and so ideally they are on the US' good side. If they were found intentionally hiding America's most wanted terrorist then that could cause a lot of trouble. Pakistan had blocked any investiagtion regarding Abbottabad and also pays US lobbyists to deny it helped bin Laden. So thats the pretty fair admission of guilt. Imagine what it would be like if Osama wasn't there in Pakistan.

Photos are not going to be released of the raid. It was a balance between the public right to know what a war looks like and others seeing Osama as a martry (with the images being paraded around) and radicallizing against the US.

If he were to be captured there is no way he'll get a fair trial - probably just a show trial. A bullet in the head is easier for the world. Not better.

It was also interesting to see people cheering at a person's death. Also one must wonder what it says about a country that celebrates killing as an instrument for resovling problems. Some teachers were telling muslim students 'sorry your uncle died'. In New Zealand, leader of the maori party Harawira, called him a freedom fighter. And then he later apologied for the statement.

So what's going to happen as a result of this death?
Very little probably. Osama may have been a key leader of al Qaeda during its infancy but now it's a very large organization where the head doesn't what the hand is doing. Apparently, bin Laden didn't know about the 9/11 attacks until after it happened. So does that mean the world will be safer? Will Americans begin to see their civil liberties restored? Repelling of the PATRIOT ACT? A closure of Guantanamo Detention Camp (something that Obama has promised). Is there now an ending to this "War On Terror?" I dont' think so. Violence begets more violence. According to the telegraph there is a bomb in Europe that will explode of Osama is killed or captured. al-Qaida also has plans for derailing an American train on the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

For the arabs this is a good thing. It will make many people see that there is another side to the Arabs - the non terrorist side. Turns out that many Arabs are pissed of with bin Laden's actions and have seen the terrible result of them. They are now focused on ending repressive regimes as seen in the current Arab uprisings

SEAL TEAM SIX

And now this part will be about the killing of Osama bin Laden.

The operation to kill or capture Osama bin Laden was rehearsed in a replica of the Abbottabad compound where the al Qaeda founder was hiding, US officials revealed.

Some reports suggested that there were at least forty of them and they left Ghazi air base in Pakistan in three MH-60 helicopters
The Seals did not suffer any casualty.

They used a stealth helicopter that was never used before to evade Pakistan radar. It was untested.

A phone call led US to bin Laden's lair. One of his most trusted aides picked up the phone and US intelligence was able to trace it to a walled compound in northeast Pakistan.

The SEALs dropped down ropes from helicopters, killed bin Laden aides and made their way to the main building. Obama and his national security team monitored the strike, watching and listening nervously and in near silence from the Situation Room as it all unfolded.


Osama's body was buried out into the sea, just like Hitler's remains.

post raid sattelite images: (greets to a fellow blogger) http://latest-technological-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/post-raid-satellite-image-of-osama-bin.html

photos of celebration http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2068860,00.html

more reactions: http://aljazeera.com/news/asia/2011/05/20115241936984209.html

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/binladen/

Osama bin Laden obituary: (must read!) http://www.economist.com/node/18648254
Another read: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10723003