Was this the photo of Bin Laden's funeral in Afghanistan?

[IndianaGreen]

US knew OBL died last month, but kept it quiet because the Bush regime was going to announce in late October that it had killed OBL in a Predator strike. Bush would have gotten a big boost in the polls, and no one would have been the wiser.

Makes me wonder about that Predator photo of the Al-Qaeda funeral in Afghanistan-Pakistan border that was published a week ago. They never said or speculated as to whose funeral it was. It could have been OBL's funeral.

The inconvenient truth is that Bush needed OBL to remain alive for a bit longer.

U.S. military to probe release of photo of Taliban funeral in Afghanistan



http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-09-13-taliban-photo_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA

[Sam Odom]

1. I hope so

[Ecumenist]

3. Welcome to DU, Sam Odom

Right proud to meet you!:hi: :hi:

[Sam Odom]

4. Thx

:toast:

[Ecumenist]

2. What a shame..

Things just ain't working out for ole carl... PO THANG...

[Botany]

5. I don't know but why on earth w/ this many al Qaeda lined up

and we did not hit that place PDQ makes no sense to me.

If we live, get a free press, and have the right to investigate bush & company
the total # of crimes by that group will be staggering.

[Sam Odom]

7. Hit a funeral !?

That would 'offend' too many people

[sam sarrha]

15. well we aren't shy about dropping 1000 pound bombs on weddings.!!

[Sam Odom]

19. Honestly, if bushco bombed a funeral

how would you react ?

[elizm]

21. I think they already have...

Oops...my bad. They were weddings...I forgot.

[sam sarrha]

27. i havent reacted well to anything before or during this F'n illegal war

[POAS]

6. If OBL is dead

then pound it home at every opportunity that he died a free man.

In spite of tortured captives, OBL died a free man.
In spite of thousands of dead in Iraq, he died a free man.
In spite of countless illegal wiretaps, he died a free man.
In spite of a War President and mission accomplished, he died a free man.

[Monkeyman]

8. Here Here will said

[rocktivity]

9. Say it isn't so!

Was this the October surprise Karl Rove hinted at, and has been destroyed by none other than the French? Wouldn't THAT be lovely!

:headbang:
rocknation

[MissWaverly]

10. OMG, guess we're back to Freedom Fries

[rocktivity]

12. And maybe we'll see gas at a buck a gallon by Election Day after all!

:evilgrin:
rocknation

[MissWaverly]

16. and did you notice Al Qua eda, how many were there?

maybe now the War on Terror will be over and with it, his war powers, I can dream

[AFSCME girl]

25. I was wondering the same thing

rocknation. That would be too sweet if the French broke the news first!

AFSCME girl

[ms liberty]

34. Liberte´! Egalite´! Fraternite´! Vive la France! n/t

[nickshepDEM]

11. The media, the White House, and the RNC/NRSCC will spin it like this...

As a result of our efforts in Afghanistan post 9/11, we kept Bin Laden on the run and confined to small caves w/ no access to medical supplies. His death is a obvious victory for US and her allies in the war on terror.

[Truthiness Inspector]

13. Good question

Just whose funeral was this?

[rocktivity]

14. Are Afghan cemeteries normally open fields? And with only one vehicle?

...an NBC News correspondent's blog...(published) the photograph...Defense department officials first tried to block further publication of the photo, then struggled to explain what it depicted.

...The photo appeared on NBC News correspondent Kerry Sanders' blog. Initially military officials called it an unauthorized release, but they later said it was given to the journalist.

We only have DoD's word that it was a funeral, and that all attendees Taliban insurgents. If it really is a funeral, maybe the reason why they didn't attack is because it was a civilian one. I don't think the Taliban are so sentimental that 190 of them would expose themselves this way. And how does Kerry Sanders explain how he got the picture? Keep in mind that NBC is owned by a defense contractor.

:headbang:
rocknation

[robertarctor]

17. Maybe the reason they didn't publish it ...

... was that its dissemination threatened Karl Rove's propaganda plans for October. And maybe that's the reason they didn't attack: to launch missiles on the funeral of a man whose death they planned to announce in late October right before the election had too many wild card possibilities of Bin Laden's death making it into worldwide news circulation before it could be exploited effectively by our own Roviet media.

[Chipper Chat]

36. "Roviet"

Lovely. Drummer: rimshot please!

[rocktivity]

20. Okay, here's Kerry Sander's side of the story

From Sanders' blog, 9/12:
The picture above, declassified at NBC News' request, shows 190 members of the Taliban at a funeral. It’s believed by U.S. Army officers that several of those gathered were top Taliban leaders. But the U.S. was unable to take out the men standing in formation.

Why? Under the rules of engagement, the U.S. cannot bomb a cemetery.

...The unmanned Predator drone...continued to feed back pictures as the Taliban dispersed, heading off in tiny groups, too small to effectively target.

From Sanders' blog, 9/13:
I received an urgent request from a U.S. Army colonel via e-mail this morning. He said that the surveillance photo I included in my blog post yesterday...should not have been released, even though I was told by others in the U.S. Army that it had been properly declassified...As a courtesy, and with an awareness of the danger U.S. forces are in, I had the photo pulled.

We are now returning the picture to this blog after (a) Pentagon spokesman...told reporters...that he is unaware of any official...request to pull the photo...I have also spoken to the military intelligence officers who gave me the photo and they say while there are now some internal debates...it's declassified and ours to broadcast and print on the Web...

Would the Army deliberately put itself in such an embarassing position? Did the leaker of the photo come to the exact same conclusion the orignal poster did, and release the photo as a pre-emptive strike?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Canuckistanian]

33. "Rules of engagement"? What dat?

I thought those were quaint things, like the Geneva Convention.

[xxqqqzme]

23. Good thing there is a picture as this has got

to be the MOST organized funeral in the history of the middl east. Does the taliban have some AR freak organizing community functions?

[flyarm]

18. article says this was in JULY 2006...but who knows ..could be...n/t

[zara]

22. Tin foil hat time?

OK I believe it too but where's the evidence of Bushco's plan? Right wing spinmeisters just "conspiracy theory" this to the dustbin.

Quite glad about the French report though. Think some French persons didn't know what Bush was up to?

Cheese eating surrender monkeys my ass. Right on Iraq all along@

Somebody pass the Freedom Fries!!!!

[Contrary1]

24. Check out this paragraph:

"...While not giving a reason for the decision, the military concluded the statement saying that while Taliban forces have killed innocent civilians during a funeral, coalition forces "hold themselves to a higher moral and ethical standard than their enemies."

What kind of BS is this? They had already been referred to as "insurgents" by the military, and then they point out that Taliban have killed "innocent civilians" during a funeral but we are better than that?

My guess is someone didn't notice what was going on in time to drop a couple bombs, and are trying to cover their asses as to why they let 100+ Taliban get away.

[hurricaneric]

26. Agreed.

Pretty interesting stuff. I was waiting for Bush to say he had captured Osama when he gave the televised address about the secret CIA prison system. It would have been a bomb on the minds of average Americans. Now, the bomb has totally been defused. I don't doubt that it will come to light that Bi Laden is either dead or still missing. Ultimately, Bush can't drag his boogie man out of the closet without long term represcussions. The short term is another story.

[wakeme2008]

28. Very good catch IndianaGreen

I would lay money on it being OBL.

[Singular73]

29. Not only is he dead, they know he's dead.

When it comes out, they will claim "It wasn't confirmed, etc.."

[silverlib]

30. If this is OBL, then

the military knows where to look for the body, if the decider decides.

[IndianaGreen]

31. I wouldn't be surprised if a team was sent to collect DNA evidence

and they are now certain of who was buried with such honors.

[Contrary1]

32. Maybe there's still enough time

to dig up the body and put him on ice for a few weeks.

[cyberpj]

35. K&R! Excellent catch WAY TO CONNECT THE DOTS! They wouldn't bomb it

Out of respect to OBL's Saudi/Bush history.

In exchange - I'll bet they get to take credit for it.

Wish we could blow up THAT part of the story when they announce it.