Well, cause it wasn't the real Osama Bin Laden. Everyone knows the real guy is either driving a cab in NYC or hanging out in Vegas with Elvis, D.B. Cooper and Richie Manic...

Looking forward to the new site, AB! Even though you've left the door wide open with this post, I'll adhere to current Banter rules and refrain from initiating any political debate on the meaning (or lack thereof) of this news. :)

2) Yeah, I considered that myself. Just figured it was part of the back page today, sports section. But I could regret this, sure...LOL

Got him? How? A trade... international signing... or FA pickup?
(How's that for avoiding politics?)

I understand it would have caused a lot of problems, but I wish they'd captured and tried him instead.

Still, it's good to have a true "Mission Accomplished" event.

[4]

LOL

For a PTBNL: Prisoner to be named later

Good. I don't celebrate anyone's death, but this guy's world view is extremely homophobic and sexist. Not to mention all the blood on his hands.

[5] Eight years to the date no less: http://tinyurl.com/42gtuw9

[7] "Not to mention all the blood on his hands"? Isn't that burying the lead? I'd like to think an alternative world view alone wouldn't be grounds for celebrating someone's death.

[8] I like the British understatement, which includes sometimes burying the lead.

And there are some alternative world views that are fine, but there are others, which think killing gays and beating wives are o.k., that I'm not going to say are morally equivalent with mine.

[9] Right, but I think William's point is: lots of people who's views are not morally equivalent with yours even so should not be killed. Mass murderers are a different story.

Damn, I was actually kind of elated this morning, but now I can't stop thinking about that day almost ten years ago.

I realize this is the Bronx Banter, a baseball blog, and not the Patriot Press or whatever you'd call a military blog - but I'm surprised to see so few posts on this remarkable event.

Around here we idolize baseball heroics: a preserved win, a walk-off shot, an amazing catch. But what went down in Pakistan is so much more important, relevant, and heroic.

You want to talk about a great over-the wall catch? Talk about the men and women who used their skills, and all their years of training to track down this mass murderer, kill him as tried one last time to kill them, and flushed him into the sea like the turd he is.

You want a walk-off shot? How about the bullet that went into this madman's head finally ending his reign of terror - (a term loosely tossed around but yes, it was a reign, and yes, it was terror).

You want a save? Even the great Mariano hasn't earned one as heroic as this. Bin Laden was the ultimate terror recruiting officer. He was a blood-thirsty bully. We had not heard the last from him. He had unfinished business here in New York, and all over the world. He had to be stopped. Killed? Even better if you ask me. Putting him out of business is a victory for the good guys, and a defeat for those who share his twisted and perverted world view.

Yes, there are many more just like him, who may be even more ruthless, devious, and deceptive - but make no mistake - this was the catch of the 21st century. The men and women who accomplished it are, in my opinion, far greater heroes than any of the great baseball players we worship, and obsess over around here.

Sorry, I know this is a baseball blog but I wanted to get this off my chest.

Nice, Sliced.

[11] Not sure I agree with everything you have said there. Killing Osama Bin Laden does not mean people who follow his crazed ideology will in any way stop what they are doing. It also must raise the question: 10 years, 2 pointless, endless wars, and HUNDREDS of thousands of dead civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan..all justified to get ONE man? I cannot accept that.

[13] I should probably drop this now and get some espresso in me but one last thing: It took TEN YEARS and billions of US$ to find this guy and kill him. We're supposed to now say "job well done" and ignore the immense damaged caused by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? In the minority perhaps, but if I don't see this as a day to celebrate, rather to be sad that they could not have gotten this maniac without killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people along the way...

AB, will there be one hidden corner on the new site reserved for forbidden politlcal comments?

[13] I'm not saying killing Bin Laden ends the war, but I think it's somewhat like killing a Hitler or Stalin. Yes, it's just one man - a figurehead, an icon - but I don't think there's any denying it's a huge, uncomplicated victory for the good guys - including all who have been killed by Bin Laden and his partners in crime I agree 100% with our President that the world is a safer place now that Bin Laden is dead.

That's fine if you don't agree. I totally respect your opinion.

[12] thanks

[15] Thanks, Sliced. I appreciate being able to discourse on this without us getting into name-calling, etc. Viva Banter!
Certainly Osama was a piece of shit who deserved to be shot. Wouldn't in any way equate him with Hitler or Stalin though...

Also, I don't advocate the death penalty but I wholeheartedly believe that Pres. Bush and PM Blair deserve to be tried for war crimes. What they did can never be justified.

[15] Thanks, Sliced. I appreciate being able to discourse on this without us getting into name-calling, etc. Viva Banter!
Certainly Osama was a piece of crap who deserved to be shot. Wouldn’t in any way equate him with Hitler or Stalin though…

Also, I don’t advocate the death penalty but I wholeheartedly believe that Pres. Bush and PM Blair deserve to be tried for war crimes. What they did can never be justified.

[16] left unchecked, and allowed to flourish I have no doubt Bin Laden would have been as ambitiously murderous and oppressive as a Hitler or Stalin. He wanted the end of Western civilization, and the annihilation of all non-Muslims. In other words, he was a very bad guy on a global scale.

I'll give you the last word on this if you'd like, Mr. OK Jazz.
I'm going to check out the ballgame.
Peace be with you, and all Banterers!

[18] Well, that's a pretty broad claim to compare him to the greatest mass murderers in history. Also, he killed just as many (if not more) Muslims than non-Muslims, making his death and hopefully that of Al-Qaeda very important to those in the Islamic world.

Anyway, good riddance to bad rubbish for sure! Now can we please stop bombing and invading Muslim countries in retaliation? :)

Go Go, Bar-toLO!

[14] I think OK Jazz and I are probably on opposite ends of the political spectrum, but I happen to agree (although probably from another standpoint). Although I can appreciate the sense of closure that killing bin Laden provides to the families who lost loves ones, it's naive for the rest of the country to come away with the same feeling.

Osama bin Laden was a mass murderer for sure, but by no means was he an isolated figure in the world of terrorism. In many ways, getting Osama was a purely a symbolic gesture, one that I feel has lost a lot of its meaning as time has passed. In the interim, there have been so many more important events and so many more heroic acts, but those haven't been celebrated. In fact, in many cases, they have been ignored.

Our military has been laying it on the line for a decade and accomplished much along the way. Killing Osama is a symbolic victory, but the reallity is there is little cause for celebration. Solemn remembrance? Yes. Singing and dancing? No.

[16] And that's where we part company :) !