Why dispose of bin ladens body

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History Vault. Recommended for you. Osama bin Laden. The agency also quoted Dubai's grand mufti Mohammed al-Qubaisi, saying that sea burials were permissible only in extraordinary circumstances, adding: "This is not one of them. US officials have given two reasons why a sea burial was chosen. First, that they did not want his grave to become a shrine. Second, that there was no time to negotiate with other countries to arrange a possible burial on land.

If correct, this suggests that an offer was made - and that had Saudi Arabia accepted the body, there would have been a grave, which could in theory have become a shrine. Or if it was a very normal brain, this would be stronger evidence that the Bin Ladens of the world are completely responsible for their actions.

No insanity defense here. One might observe that in the United States a condemned murderer, no matter how heinous his crime, is given a last meal, offered access to clergy, allowed to pronounce last words. Do such criminals—who have taken the lives of others—deserve such humane treatment? We afford them good treatment in part to make sure we remember that these are human lives—failed ones that deserve to be forfeited, to be sure, but human lives none the less. We do not want to become callous like murderers.

Little in life can be worse than the suffering of family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and other survivors of a murder victim. How one copes with such a horror is a very personal matter. Obama is to be congratulated for his efforts to bring Bin Laden to justice. But in the follow-up, he should concern himself not with the sentiments of those Muslins who will hate us no matter what, but rather, with justice for the American victims of Bin Laden.

Edward Hudgins. Edward Hudgins is research director at the Heartland Institute and former director of advocacy and senior scholar at The Atlas Society. Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Good Subscriber Account active since Shortcuts. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. Log out. US Markets Loading