Osama Bin Laden: Dead

[Lateralthinking1]

My guess is that no one from Eton was there but I think my late Auntie Dolly was in the crowd. She would have taken sandwiches and an apple or was there bread rationing? Then it must have been an apple and an orange. One of the women looks a bit like her actually.

[Uncle Monty]

What do people think of this photo of Piccadilly on 8 May 1945? I'm genuinely interested because I can't predict the answers.

It's always dodgy to try and "read" old photos, because, er, they were taken in the past, when the world was different.

But I don't believe they were congregating to celebrate deaths. They were expressing the huge relief of knowing it was all over in Europe, and the satisfaction of a (broadly) virtuous campaign completed, and wanting to get on with their lives.

[Mr Pee]

On the same theme, Lateral, here's some people apparently happy at the news of a death:-

http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/02/historically-what-does-the-killing-of-osama-bin-laden-compare-to/

No doubt Flossie and co would like to take them to task.

[amateur51]

The only time I remember being cheered up by the news of someone's death was when I was with a friend who was having a tough time with lung cancer. It was 18 July 1997 and we were sitting in his garden in East London drinking gin & water and I opened the Standard & read that Sir James Goldsmith had died. So I said to my friend "well at least you've beaten that b*stard" and we both roared with laughter & toasted the sky. My friend died 04 May 1998.

[Flosshilde]

On the same theme, Lateral, here's some people apparently happy at the news of a death:-

http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/02/historically-what-does-the-killing-of-osama-bin-laden-compare-to/

No doubt Flossie and co would like to take them to task.

Wrong again, Mr Pee. Despite the spurious comparison that the writer tries to make, there really isn't any. Hitler shot himself when he realised that Germany was defeated; if he had lived he would have been put on trial at Nuremburg, along with the rest of the Nazi high command.

Mr Pee, your arguments are bankrupt, and your morality (in this case) is bankrupt. We have a system of international law upheld by trreaties and courts, covering crimes by individuals and states. If one nation, which proclaims itself to be the home of democracy & freedom, decides to take the law into its own hands there is nothing to stop individuals doing likewise. As Mr GongGong pointed out, if you believe that the law can be disregarded in one case, why should we bother about it at all?

[Flosshilde]

What do people think of this photo of Piccadilly on 8 May 1945? I'm genuinely interested because I can't predict the answers.

It looks like a lot of people milling around wondering what's going on. I suspect that the overwhelming feeling was one of relief, and wearyness. But I can't really say, as I wasn't there.

[Lateralthinking1]

I have just been speaking on the phone to my 81 year old mother. It turns out she was there. She said that people linked arms and sang.

[vinteuil]

It looks like a lot of people milling around wondering what's going on. I suspect that the overwhelming feeling was one of relief, and weariness. But I can't really say, as I wasn't there.

... and I bet the people on the 'buses were mighty frustrated at the delays occasioned by all the folk congregating around P-Circus, an' saying to themselves "Ain't we iver goin' to get 'ome?"

[Flosshilde]

I'd refer you back to the juvenile tirade of abuse that you, Flossie and Mr GG have been hurling in Simon's direction for some considerable time.

Speakinf of which (or whom), you know how he hasn't been around for recently, & he's very mysterious about his many jobs which take him all over the place, you don't think ... no, he couldn't be, could he? Let's just see if he comes back talking aout his time in Northern Pakistan.

[Mandryka]

I've been thinking about the 'no death should be celebrated' line that most of us on here subscribe to and it's occurred to me that if I switched on the news tomorrow to be told that Rupert Murdoch had died, i'd feel moderately pleased - mainly because he is the evil genius of News International and I don't think his heirs are anywhere near clever enough to maintain what he has achieved.

I wouldn't be organising a street party, though.

But Bin Laden's exit leaves nothing but a question mark: so little is known about Al Quaeda and you begin to wonder if OBL was no more than a figurehead - a totemic figure that people could get wound up about while its other movers and shakers are still moving and shaking in the undergrowth.

[Lateralthinking1]

Yes, no one has a clue. The experts have told us so far that:

the compound was built in 2005 and that the Pakistanis inspected it in 2003;

there was no internet connection there and important information has been discovered from seized computer equipment;

he had no telecommunications other than from a courier and that there is a satellite dish outside;

the enemy is a dwindling force in the light of secular uprisings and that it has very strong bases from Algeria to the Yemen.

[Flosshilde]

I've been thinking about the 'no death should be celebrated' line that most of us on here subscribe to and it's occurred to me that if I switched on the news tomorrow to be told that Rupert Murdoch had died, i'd feel moderately pleased - mainly because he is the evil genius of News International and I don't think his heirs are anywhere near clever enough to maintain what he has achieved.

I'd be surprised, probably shocked - he's one of those figures you assume will always be there. But I would expect that News International would carry on much as usual; old Rupe's been pretty savvy at lining up the various senior figures. There might eventually be in-fighting at the top, & attempts at take-overs, but I don't think any other company has the strength to do so, at least initially.

I don't know if that offers a parralel to Al Quaeda though.

[Mr Pee]

I've been thinking about the 'no death should be celebrated' line that most of us on here subscribe to and it's occurred to me that if I switched on the news tomorrow to be told that Rupert Murdoch had died, i'd feel moderately pleased - mainly because he is the evil genius of News International and I don't think his heirs are anywhere near clever enough to maintain what he has achieved.

"The evil genius of News International"

I think you've been watching too many James Bond films....

So, let me get this straight, because frankly I can barely believe what I've just read.

You think it is wrong to express pleasure at the death of OBL, a mass murderer and instigator of war, death and tragedy across the globe. Even the restrained expressions of satisfaction from Obama, Cameron and the United 93 relatives- see the link I posted earlier- are apparently considered to be "crowing".

Yet you admit that you would feel pleasure at the death of a successful businessman.

What a very odd universe some of you people seem to inhabit.

[amateur51]

I think you've been watching too many James Bond films....

So, let me get this straight, because frankly I can barely believe what I've just read.

You think it is wrong to express pleasure at the death of OBL, a mass murderer and instigator of war, death and tragedy across the globe. Even the restrained expressions of satisfaction from Obama, Cameron and the United 93 relatives- see the link I posted earlier- are apparently considered to be "crowing".

Yet you admit that you would feel pleasure at the death of a successful businessman.

What a very odd universe some of you people seem to inhabit.

I think the way in which you described ObL in 13 words of obloquy and then summed up Murdoch as 'a successful businessman' gives the lie to your powers of comparison, Mr Pee

Why it's almost Murdochian in its distortion

[Mr Pee]

I think the way in which you described ObL in 13 words of obloquy and then summed up Murdoch as 'a successful businessman' gives the lie to your powers of comparison, Mr Pee

Why it's almost Murdochian in its distortion

I really feel as though I've fallen down the rabbit hole, so bizarre are some of the contributions here.

I hope the following isn't too shocking to you, but here goes:-

Bin Laden was the most wanted terrorist on the planet, the man behind 9/11, the attack on the USS Cole, and the Embassy bombings in Africa, and at the very least the inspiration behind Bali, 7/7, Madrid and other terrorist atrocities carried out in the name of Al Qaeda. Directly or indirectly resposible for thousands of deaths, and the trigger behind the war in Afghanistan.

Rupert Murdoch is a businessman, the head of News International, a hugely succesful media empire. You may not like his politics, or his methods, but- are you sitting down, people?- he is not an international terrorist.