Official Details of Osama Bin Laden's Death Now Changing

After executing one of the greatest tactical military triumphs in history, U.S. officials seem to be botching the aftermath and the control of information that is being disseminated about the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Initial reports indicated that Bin Laden was armed and that he was engaged in a brief firefight with Navy SEALS before he was shot and killed. Other reports suggested that he used one of his wives as a human shield and that she was killed as well. As it turns out, Bin Laden was unarmed and in an upstairs bedroom with one of his wives when killed. The latest murky version of events has the young wife lunging toward one of the SEALS, who then shot her in the leg. She survived. It's unclear how Bin Laden may have posed a threat to the SEALS, but he was also killed with one shot to the head and two to the chest.

Ultimately, the result here is the same and few outside of Bin Laden's loyal followers are really going to care about the manner in which he was killed. Bin Laden planned and ordered numerous mass murder operations around the globe. That said, it appears that the U.S. was ill-prepared to handle anything beyond actually finding and killing Bin Laden. Since the confirmation of his death, information is flying around wildly, much of it contradictory.

In hindsight, the U.S. should have kept a much tighter lid on the details of the operation. There is no need for the public to know "exactly" what happened. All that must be confirmed is that Bin Laden is dead and that the U.S. military and intelligence agencies took care of business.

Now there are rumors and an air of suspicion that surrounds the incident. Perhaps that was inevitable, but it certainly could have been handled better in terms of how U.S. officials are managing the flow of information. Now the relief and sense of accomplishment for finding and killing Bin Laden are mixed with doubts about exactly what happened. Looking at the situation objectively, it's hard to imagine that there would be any positives from taking Bin Laden alive. And perhaps that's one piece of information that will never see the light of day - that Bin Laden was not leaving that compound alive, no matter what.
By Buzzle Staff and Agencies
Published: 5/4/2011