Less Violence ...

I was reading an article in Scientific American (Oct. 2011) in which the Harvard writer researched and found that we are becoming less violent as societies, even inluding the wars of this past twentieth century.  I find that pretty amazing.

It seems to me that the violence now is more senseless than ever.

Fox News story on the operation that klilled osama bin laden

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Inside the raid that killed bin Laden



Published May 02, 2011


Associated Press

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AP



Dec. 24, 1998: Usama Bin Laden speaks to a selected group of reporters in the mountains of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON – Helicopters descended out of darkness on the most important counterterrorism mission in U.S. history. It was an operation so secret, only a select few U.S. officials knew what was about to happen.



The location was a fortified compound in an affluent Pakistani town two hours outside Islamabad. The target was Osama bin Laden.



Intelligence officials discovered the compound in August while monitoring an al-Qaida courier. The CIA had been hunting that courier for years, ever since detainees told interrogators that the courier was so trusted by bin Laden that he might very well be living with the al-Qaida leader.



Nestled in an affluent neighborhood, the compound was surrounded by walls as high as 18 feet, topped with barbed wire. Two security gates guarded the only way in. A third-floor terrace was shielded by a seven-foot privacy wall. No phone lines or Internet cables ran to the property. The residents burned their garbage rather than put it out for collection. Intelligence officials believed the million-dollar compound was built five years ago to protect a major terrorist figure. The question was, who?



The CIA asked itself again and again who might be living behind those walls. Each time, they concluded it was almost certainly bin Laden.



President Barack Obama described the operation in broad strokes Sunday night. Details were provided in interviews with counterterrorism and intelligence authorities, senior administration officials and other U.S. officials. All spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive operation.



By mid-February, intelligence from multiple sources was clear enough that Obama wanted to "pursue an aggressive course of action," a senior administration official said. Over the next two and a half months, Obama led five meetings of the National Security Council focused solely on whether bin Laden was in that compound and, if so, how to get him, the official said.



Normally, the U.S. shares its counterterrorism intelligence widely with trusted allies in Britain, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. And the U.S. normally does not carry out ground operations inside Pakistan without collaboration with Pakistani intelligence. But this mission was too important and too secretive.



On April 29, Obama approved an operation to kill bin Laden. It was a mission that required surgical accuracy, even more precision than could be delivered by the government's sophisticated Predator drones. To execute it, Obama tapped a small contingent of the Navy's elite SEAL Team Six and put them under the command of CIA Director Leon Panetta, whose analysts monitored the compound from afar.



Panetta was directly in charge of the team, a U.S. official said, and his conference room was transformed into a command center.



Details of exactly how the raid unfolded remain murky. But the al-Qaida courier, his brother and one of bin Laden's sons were killed. No Americans were injured. Senior administration officials will only say that bin Laden "resisted." And then the man behind the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil died from an American bullet to his head.



It was mid-afternoon in Virginia when Panetta and his team received word that bin Laden was dead. Cheers and applause broke out across the conference room.



___



Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier, Adam Goldman and Julie Pace in Washington contributed to this report; Kathy Gannon contributed from Islamabad.



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Showing 10 of 15 comments Sort by Popular now Best rating Newest first Oldest first Subscribe by email Subscribe by RSS 0 new comment was just posted. Show kevin1971 7 minutes ago

If this is true it proves once again that the U.S. will get our target, no matter how long it takes. However there still has not been any pictures released to prove this claim. He has eluded us before. I true hope that the NAVY seals succeded in killing him. Obama may get credit for the mission but he is not the one who carried it out. I just want to see proof the nut case is really dead. Like Flag anuddertot 14 minutes ago

Thank you Seal Team Six and all others who participated in the operation. For those people who don't believe Obama, rest assured you can believe 40 Seals. For those of you who wonder why he was buried at sea, don't worry about it. You can be sure his DNA was preserved, he was photographed. His fingers are probably sitting in a jar somewhere. His Saudi family renounced him. A DNA comparison with them should satisfy even the most ardent conspiracy theorist. It's a great day. Like 2 people liked this. Flag endangrdrights 25 minutes ago

Vengence is a dish best served cold. Now 20 "middle managers" in his terror organization will be scrambling to succeed him, and out do him.



Sadly, we will never be able to end the viligence. This is this evil man's legacy. But we will not live in fear of the next generation of evil, in the end we will win. Like Flag rickpetri 25 minutes ago

Taking him alive might have been tough and it would've ended in a show trial dragging on for months or years. BUT, as many have said, when Obama's lips move he lies, so let's see the pictures. I don't care who putin the final bullet, but show me the pictures. Like Flag freespeech1776 51 minutes ago

I'm SO glad he's dead. It's been a long wait. I just hate it that we will have to endure 4 more years of Obama because of this. Amazing how it all comes down right at the time for a re-election bid. Like 1 person liked this. Flag greenacre 1 hour ago

By burying Osama Bin Laden at sea, we may well have made him as immortal as Robin Hood. Not among Americans, but among M O S L E M S. Like Flag sailfish123 1 hour ago

Thank you Seals. Good Job. You make America proud for your many brave deeds and sacrifices. Like 8 people liked this. Flag patriotink 2 hours ago

I want to see the dead S0B with the b u l l e t hole in his head... Like 4 people liked this. Flag mrican4life 2 hours ago in reply to patriotink

I agree it's to convenient for Obama as his poll #'s look like sh it . They better some some compeling pics or video of the S O B's Body. They were to quick to bury the guy at sea, get a dna test and all the needed. I won't believe it unless the Wiki leaks type of Pics or Documents come out. Let's not swallow the lies to quick as you know Obama has been known to lie many times. Like 3 people liked this. Flag Tyburns Tree 2 hours ago

Wonder how many detainees where water boarded to get the info? Like 2 people liked this. Flag 0 new comment was just posted. ShowShow more comments … Load more commentsShow all comments Real-time updating is enabled. (Pause)Add New CommentPost as … .You must login to comment.

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osama dead! he deserves NO capital letters!

Ironically, I learned this shortly after midnight from an excellent Kentucky basketball internet source, which is LED by some decidedly liberal people, but followed by many decidedly conservative  Kentucky fans!

I immediately went to http://www.foxnews,com/ because I simply don't trust most of US media.  Then I have been watching Fox News TV and learned much more.  Apparently CIA intelligence had osama staked out in a three story lavish home like building in Obamaban(?) Pakistan.  A team of forty Navy Seals arrived by helicopter about 1 to 4 PM Sunday afternoon, May 1 at the compound.  No Americans were klilled; however a gun fight ensued and osama, who had been given the option of surrendering, resisted and was shot in the middle of his forehead just above his eyes ansd many other places.  PakistanTV has shown his gruesome after death picture but not yet on American TV.  A lady was also killed who was being used as a human shield.  I would say that was cowardly as expected. One of osama's sons was also killed and a couple of other Al Quaeda men.

Warnings that the fight against Al Quaeda terrorists is not over were issued by people in knowledgable military and security positions were sounded over Fox News.  Thousands of mostly young people draped in flag apparel; were shown on Fox outside the White House and in Times Square, NYC.

A lady Fox coprrespondent from Washington stated that the body is in the hands of the USA; however muslim custom is that the body be buried within 24 hours and the US is debating whether to hand the body over to Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Saudi Arabia for burial should happen; but osama must, by muslim custom, be buried within 24 hours.  Burial at sea was mentioned and, to me, that is the better option. No site for pilgrimage of terrorists in the future should be made possible.

Now, I am going to bed.  I must get up and tutor tomaorrow at Columbus State Community college.   Got to get a little more sleep. 

Like Hitler's death, which we were unsure of for long after, another tyrant of the worst ilk has been brought to justice. 

The president issued good words in his speech about 11:30 last night, and even I must credit him for allowing the security and military to do their difficult jobs. 

I am unsure what God (who knows)  he cited, but he did say God bless America!   As a Conservative Christian, I have offered my prayers to God on this eventful occurence  without the deaths of American Navy Seals.  There is more bravery among our service people than we will ever truly realize.

America the beautiful! osama bin laden is dead!

The irony of having osama's death reported by one who would completely change America should not be lost on us.  America was never perfect, but I believe in my heart that America has been blessed by Almighty God. 

Islamic extremists, led by this major extremist, may be incited to more riots.  Let it be!  Good Americans always expect the worst from these bands of terrorists.

Now let some really clever American find ways to prosecute the thief in office of the PUSA soon!

Tuscon service The Loft- PAC for Sarah Palin

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A Memorial Service with a Theme

By Bobby Eberle January 13, 2011 7:13 am







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I’m sure anyone who covers politics was looking at Wednesday’s memorial service in Tucson and wondering how Barack Obama would perform. Would he continue the barrage of attacks against conservatism as others in the media and on the left had done? Would he be distant and cold as he has been in so many speeches? Or would he actually get it right? Those were the thoughts on my mind. I didn’t give much consideration to the “event” itself, and yes, it turns out that “event” is a more fitting word than “service.”



To his credit, Obama said the right stuff, mostly. He delivered an unscripted updated on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords which brought the crowd to its feet.



Obama quoted from the Bible, saying, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.” Obama also presented mini biographies of the victims which helps turn them into “real people” for all of us who didn’t know them personally.



Obama also called for calm and an end the the blame-game:



But what we can’t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.



After all, that’s what most of us do when we lose someone in our family – especially if the loss is unexpected. We’re shaken from our routines, and forced to look inward. We reflect on the past. Did we spend enough time with an aging parent, we wonder. Did we express our gratitude for all the sacrifices they made for us? Did we tell a spouse just how desperately we loved them, not just once in awhile but every single day?



What I think surprised many, including myself was the nature of the service. The phrase “pep rally” has been used to describe it. In many ways, it was like a political rally without the politics. It had t-shirts, and it had a theme: Together, We Thrive.



Fox News’ Brit Hume described his reaction this way:



“I just wanted to add, I think the president prepared this speech in the expectation that this would be indeed a memorial service,” Hume said. “I think it ended up being nothing of the kind. This was much more of a pep rally and perhaps that is precisely what the people of Tucson and the people of this region needed and wanted. And it really was the case that the audience was in control of the tone of this event. The audience’s reaction to the president and to the earlier speakers, and to some of the earlier speakers as well – set the tone for the event. The president prepared his speech to have a certain kind of tone. I think he would have liked it not to go on for 36 minutes or whatever it did, but it was interrupted repeatedly by applause but he couldn’t help that. It was longer, as Chris [Wallace] pointed out, some of the other events on similar occasions.”



John Hayward, writing for Human Events, described the service as “two events in Tucson.” Hayward adds, “One of them was a memorial service for the dead and wounded from Jared Loughner’s rampage on Saturday. This event went quite well. The other was an embarrassing political pep rally, held before a mob of rowdy kids.”



The undisciplined audience was bad enough to provoke criticism from observers across the political spectrum, and that leads to some questions. It is said that the event organizers cannot be blamed for the behavior of the crowd. Is that really true? They staged this thing like a pep rally, complete with rush-week T-shirts bearing the rock-concert name of the event, “Together We Thrive.” Organizers could have prepared the crowd by insisting on silence during the speeches, and making sure the kids understood the gravity of attending a memorial service that would be viewed by the entire world.



Kudos to President Obama for delivering remarks that were made to heal… not heal a constituency or voting bloc, but all of us. The crowd, however, should have had some kind of clue what a memorial service is all about. In addition, t-shirts and themes were not necessary in order to pay tribute to those who were killed. This is about honoring the fallen, not promoting a concert.



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A Memorial Service with a Theme, 8.8 out of 10 based on 232 ratings

Pray for victims and against violent acts

I am not for elitist representatives but I am much more against anybody doing senseless acts such as the shooter did in Arizona today.

God have mercy on all of the victims and their families.