Osama Bin Laden is dead, thanks to Apple iPad and U.S. Military

[WASDted]

Rumor has it that Osama Bin Laden received his new iPad 2 and instantly became target #1. That's right Mr. Al Qaida, had you read the editorial threads on DaniWeb.com you would have known that Apple is watching and recording your moves. In a heroic effort to end that war on terror, Apple handed U.S. Intelligence the exact location of Bin Laden, leading to his immediate demise.

A warning to terrorists around the world: we will find you and kill you because now "there's an app for that."

[jingda]

I just saw the news, he is dead. But some people and scientist said that he should be given a proper burial and respected by the west. He is described as a smart and cunning fellow. Osama made a wrong decision that cost his life.:(

[debasisdas]

That mean all these days he was hiding in Pakistan.

The big question is Pakistan was with whom Osama or Obama ?

[Ancient Dragon]

But some people and scientist said that he should be given a proper burial

Seems the arabs don't want him either ( link )

[VernonDozier]

>> But some people and scientist said that he should be given a proper burial and respected by the west.

Who said that? Respected by the west? I don't think so. Supposedly they did give him a "proper" burial. The extra bonus is that since he's buried at sea, the jihadists can't make his grave a monument.

>> Osama made a wrong decision that cost his life.:(

Why :( ? Shouldn't that be :) ? Him being dead is a good thing.

[jon.kiparsky]

A warning to terrorists around the world: we will find you and kill you because now "there's an app for that."

Is it just me, or is this post extremely distasteful? Not to be glad the world is rid of bin Laden - I for one take no great joy in anyone's death, but this murderous and provincial religious fanatic isn't someone I'm going to weep for especially - but this peculiar triumphalism combined with dweebish techno-worship. It's sort of a nerdgasm combination of macho soldier fantasy and consumerist toy fetishism, churned into a tedious exercise in brand loyalty. It's more than a little bit pathetic, really.
I've said before that William Gibson invented the modern world in his novels, but I don't think he thought of you. He didn't have quite a dark enough vision for that. Eric Blair, on the other hand, is right now chuckling and settling in comfortably in his grave. He knew you well.

[WASDted]

No matter how smart a person is, no matter what the cause or religion, terrorism is not and will not be tolerated by the world. The fact remains, whether in the name of Islam or jihad or whatever his reasons were, Osama Bin Laden was a murderer and a terrorist. That is not the way to get your message heard, it is not the way to advance your agenda, it is never acceptable and it is never respectable in way capacity. He was filth, not worthy of a being called a human, and certainly does not deserve any respect dead or alive. He terrorized the world and caused hatred and wars. He got what he deserved. It's a shame it cost the U.S. and its allies many lives and much money but it is done.

[jon.kiparsky]

Osama Bin Laden was a murderer and a terrorist. That is not the way to get your message heard, it is not the way to advance your agenda, it is never acceptable and it is never respectable in way capacity. ... He got what he deserved. It's a shame it cost the U.S. and its allies many lives and much money but it is done.

Agreed. My comment still stands, though. It's not a defense of bin Laden.

[WASDted]

I respect your views and comments and I understand what you mean Jon. Though you and I both know that many people often deal with long-standing pain and angst towards something/someone with a bit of comedy. I am simply echoing that sentiment and at the same time saying that no matter where you hide, if you are a terrorist we will find you and we will do while continuing to evolve and create better and newer technology (something extremists like OBL seem to hate the "Westernized" world).

Believe me, I take no pleasure at all in the pain or death of people (or animals) but in his case the world takes great pleasure in ridding this planet of that worthless being. This is a good and happy moment for the world. Forgive me if you find this insensitive my friend, but I think it just fine to be a bit giddy right now.

[debasisdas]

no matter where you hide, if you are a terrorist we will find you

Yes, Pakistan is not safe for terrorists any more.

[Ancient Dragon]

Of course USA and europe are not without sin either. Reference the Salem Witch Trials and the Christian Crusades of the 2nd century AD. Even today American Christians sing Onward Christian Soldiers in church most Sundays.

[jon.kiparsky]

I'm curious as to how far you want to take that parallel. Do you mean to draw an equivalence between Cotton Mather and Osama bin Laden? Or was that meant to be taken a bit more loosely than that?

Another question I was kicking around with the girlfiend over dinner: between this and the recent Lybian bombing, what are we to make of the long-standing prohibition on assassination as a tool of statecraft? It's long been used, but always deniably. Is it now becoming acceptable for a nation to use assassination? Will this be the perception? Is there a distinction between perception and reality in this case?

Ever analytical, I make a distinction between two very different cases - one, an attempt to arrest which ended up in the arrestee's death (this, admittedly, may well have been intentional, but the fig leaf is available), the other a bombing by air which killed several people whose crime was only their relation to a foreign leader with whom we are, oddly enough, at war, and nobody really knows how that state was arrived at.
Much smarter than me, the Other (Significant) argued that perception is all in these cases and the near simultaneity of the two events means they will be conflated, and she expects these to be taken as examples to be followed, indicating the Israel/Palestine conflict as a likely point, and also the India/Pakistan conflict, as possible, if it heats up again in the future.

Any thoughts on this? I'm very interested in how this is perceived in different parts of the world, so it's nice that we're such a scattered group here.

[VernonDozier]

The lack of a definition of "assassination" in the ban allows for significant wiggle room. Clearly killing Ahmadinejad would be assassination, killing Saddam Hussein prior to the war would be assassination, as would killing someone like Kim Jong Il. They were/are all heads of states which we were/are not at war at the time. Whether killing a non head of state is an assassination is one for the lawyers. I don't recall us ever promising to try to arrest bin Laden rather than kill him. It's a war crime to kill someone who has already surrendered, but that doesn't mean one has to give someone the option of surrendering. I imagine that blowing up the whole house from the air and thus killing his wives and other civilians would be considered acceptable collateral damage given the high value of the target. The U.S. chose to NOT bomb the house for political/tactical/strategic/P.R. reasons rather than legal reasons.

It's a moot point though. Given the target, who is going to complain even if we did break our own rule?

[blackalice28]

The security of country is closely related to each person.

[jingda]

Osama death is a massage to Obama ( Maybe his brother ) that more terrorist is going to attack USA

[Ancient Dragon]

I'm curious as to how far you want to take that parallel. Do you mean to draw an equivalence between Cotton Mather and Osama bin Laden? Or was that meant to be taken a bit more loosely than that?

Both were terriorists as we define it today. The parallel is more a matter of degree to which they acted and the religious infulence the had.

[jon.kiparsky]

It's a moot point though. Given the target, who is going to complain even if we did break our own rule?

The question is, would we have standing to complain if, say, the Chinese were to kill the Dalai Lama? Or, considering the Qadaffi case, if the Israelis were to bomb Abbas?

If we are targetting enemy leaders for individual attack, do we forfeit the right to object when others do the same?

[VernonDozier]

Osama death is a massage to Obama ( Maybe his brother ) that more terrorist is going to attack USA

Why would a terrorist want to send a message to Obama's brother? He has more than one, but they're just regular guys with no influence on US policy and Obama hardly knows them. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make with this post, combined with the "smart", "cunning" and "respected by the West" comments.

[jon.kiparsky]

Both were terriorists as we define it today. The parallel is more a matter of degree to which they acted and the religious infulence the had.

I'm not terribly familiar with the Salem trials, but am I correct in thinking that they were a legal proceding, with state sanction?
I raise this because the legalistic distinction between George Bush or Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden is simply that one of those men was not a state actor, and therefore qualifies as a terrorist - all of the definitions for terrorism that I've seen restrict it to non-state actors. So by that definition, the Salem trials are disqualified as terrorism, by a trick of language.
I don't imagine that's a very satisfying argument, though. It certainly doesn't convince me.

[PCSAWICK829]

Hey guys, it's all good your opinions on the death of the man, but you strayed of the topic's post. I haven't googled it yet, and i would now except i'm busy with some studies... Did he really get an apple ipad 2 delivered and that in part is what got him? i heard it was due to his courier (maybe delivering his ipad2? haha)