So... Osama's dead - now what is going to happen? Do you think there will be a retaliation?

He already won. His goal was to criple our economy… look at us now. All of our states are bankrupt or close to it, the federal government cant agree how to not spend as much money, and our credit rating went down.

They got him, huh? Excellent!

I don’t think that we’re going to see an especially large-scale retaliation.

In my opinion, yes there will be. We probably won’t see it here in the states, but there will most likely be an increase in attacks overseas.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m not going to fly anywhere in the next few months…

I think there could be retaliation attempts.

Yes, there will be attempts at “retaliation,” but there would have been attempts whether he had been killed or not.

According to some expert on NPR, they are expecting some attempts over the next three to six months.

Terrorist threats will still happen.

[ some will be done in his name or at least they will claim them that way ]

@mowens The post is about Bin Laden, not GW Bush.

I would expect an attempt at retaliation soon. But they have been trying other times over the last ten years, it’s hard to say we’d see an increase.

@mowens Won? he is terrorist and guess what he just lost.

Yes, this war is far from over. We just stirred everything up with his death. Somebody else will take his place and continue his work. You can’t fight evil with evil and expect peace. This is just a never ending story that we started.

@kheredia I disagree with the “that we started” part.

@optimisticpessimist So do you think they took down the towers for no good reason? Sounds highly unlikely. Just saying…

@kheredia They did it because according to their interpretation, the Kuran told them to do it. That isn’t any better than the Catholics launching the Crusades because that is what they thought their Bible told them to.

It only takes one side to start a war. It takes both sides to make peace. England wanted peace in 1938–39. They even destroyed a country (Czechoslovakia) to keep it, how did that work out for them with Hitler?

@wundayatta

“NPR?” Oh! You mean the AgitProp.

@WestRiverrat I love my country, but I don’t allow myself to be blinded of all the things we have done in order to achieve our greatness. We have caused a lot of pain and suffering to several other countries and it doesn’t surprise me that we are not liked very much by many. To say that we were innocently attacked just because of their religion is ignorant. In that case they could have attacked anybody else right? The U.S. has been at war with somebody for most of its existence. We most definitely have given reasons for being attacked. Let us be realistic.

I have a feeling all the young people dancing in the streets the past 24 hours added fuel to the fire.

seriously, did you see any elderly dancing? I didn’t. Not trying to be ageist here. Just an observation.

They had been attacking everyone else. We in the US just didn’t pay attention until it happened to us. The US in 2001 was the sole superpower. If you want to be thought of as the toughest kid in the sandbox, you pick out the biggest baddest opponent to fight. That is what OBL did.

Yes the US has made mistakes in the past, I am sure it will make more in the future. OBL’s main complaint with the US is we went to the defense of Saudi Arabia in 1990–91 when Saddam invaded Kuwait. We ‘desecrated’ Mohammeds birthplace and had to be punished for this.

If you look throughout history you will find very few if any times that people were not fighting somewhere. Rome fought for most of its lifespan. So did the British Empire, Russi, Spain and China. All have spent nearly as much time at war as at peace, if not with someone else, then with themselves.

Switzerland was founded on war. Its chief export for most of its existence was the Swiss pike mercenaries, they still guard the Pope today.

I don’t doubt that other countries have been at war with others. That is inevitable and sometimes necessary. However, how many other countries have military bases in just about every other country and force their democracy on them. If they don’t comply we simply block them out from having any type of trade or business with us or any other country just as we’ve done with Cuba. If any other country tries to have business with them, we threaten that country with cutting any business transactions with them. We are very good at manipulating other countries to do what we want. It is easy to justify everything we do by saying it is necessary for our well being. But.. to be quite frank.. I do fear that our wrong doings will someday come back and haunt us. I just hope I don’t live to see that day.

I think if there were grand plans in the making they would have been or would be implemented whether obl was dead or alive. There might be more small scale suicide bombings. (the 72 virgins is a great motivator especially when all you have seen to date is eyeballs through a hole in the veil. After all seeing the entire face could bring on impure thoughts and then the woman would have to be killed for causing them.)

@kheredia I think retaliation is a real probability. I do think they felt they had good reason, but if purposefully killing civilians is justifiable to you, you can certainly volunteer your life in payment for any mistakes you think have been made by others.

This is the reason OBL gave, “Allah knows it did not cross our minds to attack the towers but after the situation became unbearable and we witnessed the injustice and tyranny of the American-Israeli alliance against our people in Palestine and Lebanon, I thought about it. And the events that affected me directly were that of 1982 and the events that followed – when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. Sixth Fleet. As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me punish the unjust the same way (and) to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women.”– Osama bin Laden, 2004

Nineteen years passed between what is stated to be inciting event and the event. I do not disagree that the US has made some bad policy decisions, but really… nineteen years. An eye for an eye, it continues the cycle of violence. The first attempt in 1993 was a failure of mission but a political statement; there was not a massive manhunt and war started.

Was America supposed to say, “Yeah, you are right. We deserved that in 2001. Please continue to kill Americans until you feel retribution has been achieved.”

In 1998 OBL signed a fatawa, ”... [t]he ruling to kill the Americans and their allies civilians and military – is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque (in Jerusalem) and the holy mosque (in Makka) from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance with the words of Almighty Allah, ‘and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together,’ and ‘fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah’” This does not sound like someone on a mission for justice.

I expect smaller retaliation attempts within the next months and a really big one in a couple of years. The most diabolical Islamist masterminds are very, very patient. They will think of something the world has never seen. We can prevent this using massive infiltration of agents from dozens of the best intelligence services worldwide.

@optimisticpessimist Do you seriously think we have not killed innocent civilians in other countries as well? I don’t desire any type of harm on my country or anybody else’s for that matter. All I am saying is that more people need to be aware that we are not exactly a passive country and we have given plenty of reasons for other countries to dislike us. Perhaps if we would stop invading countries, other countries wouldn’t celebrate when things like 911 happen to us. It is unfortunate, but this is what we have done to ourselves.

@kheredia Yes, I think we have killed innocent civilians. I said ‘purposefully killing civilians.’ They were the only target unless you believe the towers contained our most elite soldiers so elite no one has ever heard of them. Yes, I realize there have been instances where groups of military personnel went rouge and purposefully killed civilians but it was not sanctioned or promoted as a course of action by the government.

A quote from the above provided quote, “kill the Americans and their allies civilians and military – is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it…” indicates this was OBL directive for his organization not just a misstep (however big) of someone within the organization.

I am for isolationism. I do not have a problem with us staying out of other countries. However, I do get tired of people wanting our money and our military support but expect to give nothing in return.

@optimisticpessimist Well at the rate we’re going, pretty soon we wont have any money to give out. This war has put us in a very bad economic situation all for sweet revenge.