Animation Shows Killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. Soldiers

It is not weird. The body of terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden was buried at sea, according to U.S. officials, so that his grave wouldn’t become a shrine. While the U.S. government might have preferred to cremate Bin Laden’s remains prior to disposal, Muslim tradition forbids cremation because it’s inconsistent with the resurrection of the body. (The Vatican placed the same prohibition on Catholics between 1886 and 1963.) U.S. officials have told reporters that Bin Laden’s body was handled in accordance with Islamic principles, although some Muslim scholars have already argued that the terrorist leader should have been buried in the ground with his head pointing toward Mecca.

Not all U.S. enemies wind up in a watery grave after assassination or execution. Saddam Hussein was treated to traditional Islamic burial rites and interred in a compound he had built for himself near his birthplace. It’s not clear, however, whether the Bush administration or the Iraqi government chose Hussein’s final resting place. When detainees die at Guantanamo Bay, either through suicide or natural causes, the Pentagon repatriates the remains to their home countries, where the funerals often become scenes of anti-American protest.

2 thoughts on “Animation Shows Killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. Soldiers”

adminPost author

May 2, 2011 at 7:05 pm

So weird they threw the body in the water. It’s gone!
Marisa Sung

May 2, 2011 at 10:05 pm

It is not weird. The body of terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden was buried at sea, according to U.S. officials, so that his grave wouldn’t become a shrine. While the U.S. government might have preferred to cremate Bin Laden’s remains prior to disposal, Muslim tradition forbids cremation because it’s inconsistent with the resurrection of the body. (The Vatican placed the same prohibition on Catholics between 1886 and 1963.) U.S. officials have told reporters that Bin Laden’s body was handled in accordance with Islamic principles, although some Muslim scholars have already argued that the terrorist leader should have been buried in the ground with his head pointing toward Mecca.

Not all U.S. enemies wind up in a watery grave after assassination or execution. Saddam Hussein was treated to traditional Islamic burial rites and interred in a compound he had built for himself near his birthplace. It’s not clear, however, whether the Bush administration or the Iraqi government chose Hussein’s final resting place. When detainees die at Guantanamo Bay, either through suicide or natural causes, the Pentagon repatriates the remains to their home countries, where the funerals often become scenes of anti-American protest.