Not obligated, but it is policy and good for international relations. We can't hold others to standards that we ignore when convenient. There is no authority for Islam. There is no "pope" or grand leader. The mullahs can't agree on anything There is never a consensus. The Shia and Sunni factions don't even tolerate each other. And there are hundreds of tribal factions. Fatwas are issued all of the time by locals and not paid attention to in the next town muchness by all islam. Maybe. But the CIA isn't going to open up a can of worms by having prove things to a few skeptics when there is no real reason to do so and intelligence reasons not to. There is no clamor from the citizens or international allies to provide any more proof than what we have.
Or he is worm shit at the bottom of tons of rock or he died of kidney disease and was given a secret traditional muslim burial. We'll never know the truth
We couldn't hold AQ to any standards if they had signed the treaty in blood. Nor am I suggesting that we resort to the same standards they apply on the battlefield, which are none. Then how can we say we are "respecting Islam" at all? If the people who practice it can't agree on what it is, how are we supposed to respect it? But on the subject of respect for Islam (and based on your last statement I think we can agree that its difficult to consider anyone a true authority on the religion).....we're always told that our fight is with terrorists, not with Islam. We're always told AQ is not representative of Islam. If that's true, why do we have to respect Islam in our dealings with terrorists? If muslims protest, aren't they claiming the terrorists as their own?
Do I have to keep repeating myself? We have important Muslim allies as well as 7 million American muslims including tens of thousand in US military service.
How many times must I repeat myself? We have important Muslim allies as well as 7 million American muslims including tens of thousand in US military service.
And apparently, neither you nor any of them know exactly what Islam is about. Is it about peace, love and respect for all, like those allies and 7 million Americans tell us? Or is it death to unbelievers? Because if its the former and they rejected OBL as representative of Islam, we should have been able to drag his corpse down the streets of Kabul and they wouldn't have given a diddly-squat. I'm overstating, of course, but it sounds like they want it both ways and you're glad to give it to them.
