Dear Yabby,

No the according to White House sources the DNA results were in before the President made his announcement. After further questioning they are now saying the test was not performed onboard the ship but by troops in Afghanistan.

Was the body taken to the ship only after confirmation which would squeeze the timelines even further or was it only the samples that went?

Let us hope it is all up front from here on.

Csteele, there was word coming through on the American networks
that bin Laden was dead and that Obama was about to issue a
statement about it, well before he actually did. I commonly have
Bloomberg or CNN running in the background, so thats where I heard
it first.

The thing is, the Americans were correct to make a statement, as
already on Twitter the news had gone wild.

Weather samples or the body were flown to Afghanistan is immaterial
really. By helicopter it would be only a very short flight.
In the commercial world, dna results for parenting can be done
the same day.

But recognising bin Laden would not be that difficult. For a start
he is extremely tall.

Now if the Bush regime had performed this little exercise, I too
would ask many questions, for Bush was a dummy. But I rate Obama
as far smarter then that and if he got it wrong, he would become
a global laughing stock and definately lose the next elections. Why would
he risk that?

Poirot, one of your comments intrigued me. You mentioned that you
watch CNN occasionally in one of the threads. What is a Marxist
chick like you doing paying for capitalist tv?

Yabby,

I was a bit a news hound - and I like the Lifestyle Channel (I'm only human, after all)
...but I could probably do without all that now....perhps...well, maybe not :)

Btw, I'm always interested in synchronicity and such like...so, isn't it amazing that we have two lead players, one with the name Obama and one with the name Osama...stranger than fiction.

Ammonite you are welcome. I disagree with you on some issues but that does not excuse the tone of runner's post. It was nice to see a retraction from him.

I'm finding my feelings about this are shifting. Osama dead in an armed battle is one thing, a possible execution without trial of an unarmed man is a different thing.

I still dread the third party harm if he had been taken alive and held for trial but what's coming out at the moment raises concerns.

I wonder if those involved were wearing head camera's. If not they should have been so that the details could be made absolutely clear. For an operation as well planned as that the use of high quality recording devices was an option.

I've also been thinking about a comment made earlier about him being locked up never to be released. I think I've always found that idea more bothersome than capital punishment particularly given the effort authorities go to to prevent suicide.

I don't think anyone should ever be locked up for life without the option of painless suicide being available to them.

R0bert

Yes R0bert the changing nature of the U.S. story is interesting.

As I recall yesterday the reports said that Bin Laden was armed and used his wife as a human shield.

Today the story is that the wife of the unarmed Bin Laden was wounded in the leg trying to defend her husband, who was subsequently shot in the head for offering resistance (albeit unarmed).

Also the U.S. was feigning mock surprise today, with the idea that conspiracy theorists around the world would proclaim a lack of evidence here regarding the death of Osama Bin Laden, and are citing the offensiveness of the photo's they have as a reason for not releasing them.

It all the more becoming like a proclaimed once in a life time UFO sighting with pictorial evidence that the world is left to anticipate with baited breath.

I can hardly wait for tomorrows episode. Where we find out what happened to the other Bin Laden family member
who was apparently rendered away in custody.

*Btw, I'm always interested in synchronicity and such like...*

Poirot, that is just how the human mind functions. See it this way.
In the city of London, millions dream every night. Nobody thinks
more of it. Yet by sheer coincidance, one of their dreams comes
true occasionally. So dreams must be true! Never mind the millions
who dreamt without meanin anything.

*and I like the Lifestyle Channel*

Ok, this is making the bin Laden story look like a Sunday picnic :)
Marxist chick, not so young anymore as she has an older daughter,
Homeschools the younger kid, so not much time for work, but no
mention of a partner bankrolling all this, as she watches the
lifestyle channel. My antennas are twitching here for the
next episode :)