Understanding the Truth Behind Bin Laden's Burial at Sea
The demise of Osama Bin Laden in 2011, a triumph in the United States' fight against terror, has recently prompted curiosity about the unconventional decision to bury him at sea.
As the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, Bin Laden had been on the FBI's most wanted list for over a decade. US Navy SEAL Team 6 member Robert O'Neill, the operative who delivered the fatal shots at Bin Laden's compound near Islamabad, shared his firsthand account in a conversation at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. O'Neill recounted, "A foot and a half in front of me was Osama Bin Laden. And I shot him twice, and then once more... I turned around, other SEALs were coming in the room, and I kind of stopped there and looked at them. … [One of the SEALs] was looking at me, and said, ‘Are you OK?’ I said, ‘What do we do now?’ And he laughed and put his hand on my shoulder, and he said, ‘Now we go find the computers.’”
Following President Barack Obama's announcement of Bin Laden's death, the US faced the question of how to handle his remains. Departing from tradition, Bin Laden's body was placed in a weighted bag, loaded onto a wooden board, and pushed into the ocean approximately 12 hours after his demise at 6:00 GMT.
Internet users, upon learning about this unconventional burial, expressed a mixture of curiosity and relief. One user stated, "I’ve always wondered what they were going to do with his body. I didn’t believe anyone would want to make a memorial for him." Another echoed, "This is something I always wondered."
As the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, Bin Laden had been on the FBI's most wanted list for over a decade. US Navy SEAL Team 6 member Robert O'Neill, the operative who delivered the fatal shots at Bin Laden's compound near Islamabad, shared his firsthand account in a conversation at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. O'Neill recounted, "A foot and a half in front of me was Osama Bin Laden. And I shot him twice, and then once more... I turned around, other SEALs were coming in the room, and I kind of stopped there and looked at them. … [One of the SEALs] was looking at me, and said, ‘Are you OK?’ I said, ‘What do we do now?’ And he laughed and put his hand on my shoulder, and he said, ‘Now we go find the computers.’”
Following President Barack Obama's announcement of Bin Laden's death, the US faced the question of how to handle his remains. Departing from tradition, Bin Laden's body was placed in a weighted bag, loaded onto a wooden board, and pushed into the ocean approximately 12 hours after his demise at 6:00 GMT.
Internet users, upon learning about this unconventional burial, expressed a mixture of curiosity and relief. One user stated, "I’ve always wondered what they were going to do with his body. I didn’t believe anyone would want to make a memorial for him." Another echoed, "This is something I always wondered."