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People in that age group, but not usually college students.</p>
<p>On the subject of releasing the photos of him - I don’t think they should. </p>
<p>Firstly, even though I’m not an Obama supporter, I trust him and the staff when they say it’s really him. Secondly, in this day and age with photoshop and similar tools, anyone inclined to ‘not believe’ will simply continue to not believe since they’ll just say it was photoshopped, thirdly, the top Al Qaeda people already know he’s dead so there’s no need to convince them, and lastly, it could cause some harm by inciting his supporters even more than they are already.</p>
<p>Release the photos. All of them. Hiding them suggests either there’s something to hide or a paternalistic attitude. </p>
<p>We saw and heard bodies falling from the towers.</p>
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<p>Just noticed a bad typo in my own post. I meant to write: “But don’t think for a minute that I was NOT sorry to see Bin Laden get taken down.”</p>
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They say they’re getting ready to release photos. I can think of a few reasons why they might not.</p>
<p>1.) Graphic? Maybe they don’t want to show the bloodier ones.
2.) Body might have been torn up and they don’t want the photos to anger other potential extremists.
3.) They’ll release them… closer to the election.</p>
<p>Some or all of these might pertain. I’m not saying I agree with any or none of them (I haven’t put much thought into it). Just a couple ideas.</p>
<p>I think they should release very low resolution versions of the photos – something would be a very small picture on a computer screen, but it going to be too fuzzy to be blown up and circulated in an overly graphic manner. It doesn’t matter if the public and recognize Bin Laden’s face from the photos – the point is that we know the documentation is there.</p>
<p>I don’t think they should release the photos. The picture in my mind is quite complete, I don’t need proof and nothing will change the minds of those who believe it is all a lie. They will point to the movie industry and all of our special effects technology and claim any photos or videos are lies anyway.</p>
<p>People either don’t need proof, won’t believe it anyway, or will use it to advance ideas of his “martyrdom”.</p>
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True, true. I mean, if I can have a clear picture of dinosaurs chasing Jeff Goldblum, it’s easy to manufacture something else.</p>
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Funny, my martyrs died valiantly, not using an oppressed woman as a human shield.</p>
<p>On another topic (at least I don’t think I’ve noticed it discussed here)…</p>
<p>They have referred constantly to his “luxury compound.” I get that it is much larger than surrounding residential properties. But the photos I see make it look pretty derelict - could be because they are post-raid, could be because the residents of this compound didn’t want to draw attention to themselves. But if it was in an upscale residential area, I would think the ugliness of the architecture would have drawn attention.</p>
<p>Anybody understand why they’re calling it “luxury” compound?</p>
<p>PS I don’t care whether they release photos (of him, deceased) or not.</p>
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I hear “by Pakistani standards” a lot.</p>
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I don’t really have strong feelings on it - I just don’t think it’ll serve the purpose some may think it will.</p>
<p>The compound - I agree - it sticks out like a sore thumb for what it is - a bunker, not a ‘mansion’ or luxury residence but admittedly I’ve never been to Pakistan so I don’t know what the locals or more importantly, the people responsible for policing and protecting the area would think of it.</p>
<p>How about luxury in space but lack of entertainment like the one of Saddam Hussein?</p>
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<p>The reports I read said there were 22 people left alive in the compound when the SEALs left. They were turned over to Pakistani authorities. There were, I think, 5 people killed, including bin Laden.</p>
<p>btw I’m pretty sure SEAL team 6 is the same team that had 3-4 snipers take out all of the pirates on a small craft simultaneously a year or two ago (I’m sure some people remember this story). The pirates had kidnapped a civilian.</p>
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<p>IMO it is widely accepted in US circles that some portions of the Pakistani government knew where he was. Very possibly not at the highest levels, but remember that ISI (Pakistani Intelligence) was a huge Taliban supporter. If they thought they could use Osama against India, they definitely would try to keep him safe.</p>
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<p>Pakistan gets a huge benefit in cash and arms, so everyone up to the highest levels is certainly interested in maintaining an active terrorism industry.</p>
<p>Does anyone think that there’s a possibility that Pakistani officials knew all along and clandestinely worked with U.S. intelligence so that Bin Laden would not be alerted and flee before the operation? Of course, mostly likely neither the U.S. or Pakistan would disclose this.</p>
<p>By the way, the smarter talking heads have revised their description of the compound and now have referred to it as “a concrete bunker” and by no means luxurious.</p>
<p>LG</p>
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I think some did and some were working for the other side, which is the entire problem with the Pakistani military and ISI.</p>
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Someone I know works in the cause of education in Pakistan and sends me regular updates. In much of the country, water is a luxury, never mind solid walls and computer equipment. The compound was luxurious in the sense that it needed to be to provide protection.</p>
<p>If I were going to fake an operation like this, one of the first things I would do is release the “photos” of the dead body. In the age of Photoshop a photo prove nothing.</p>
<p>I personally can’t imagine any intelligent person doubting the death of Bin Laden, given that it would be so easily disproven by the subject himself if he were still alive. </p>
<p>On the other hand, people believe a lot of nonsensical things in politics these days without any evidence, so sometimes logic is not the governing consideration.</p>
<p>So this may be a directional change in this thread, but who do you speculate knew about this, from say, Friday on?</p>
<p>And I don’t know why I wonder about these questions, but do you think Michelle knew? How about Jill Biden or Bill Clinton. I guess what I’m wondering is how much do these politicians tell their spouses. You think about all the people that came into direct contact with Obama from even Thursday on (he was in Chicago on Thursday taping Oprah and spent some time with Mayor Daley). </p>
<p>What about heads of any other countries? I’m not necessarily asking about Pakistan, but some of the European allies. Do you really think the small circle of ‘in-the-know’ people was just those who we saw in the situation room?</p>