The Associated Press has a report that says tossing Osama bin Laden’s body into the cold, dark oceans—where he could sleep with the fishes and help feed baby crabs—wasn’t halal after all.
I don’t care and share the NY Daily News’ sentiment:
Although there appears to be some room for debate over the burial — as with many issues within the faith — a wide range of Islamic scholars interpreted it as a humiliating disregard for the standard Muslim practice of placing the body in a grave with the head pointed toward the holy city of Mecca.
Sea burials can be allowed, they said, but only in special cases where the death occurred aboard a ship.
"The Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial, and I don't think this is in the interest of the U.S. administration," said Omar Bakri Mohammed, a radical cleric in Lebanon.
A U.S. official said that the burial decision was made after concluding that it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept the remains. There also was speculation about worry that a grave site could have become a rallying point for militants.
Patterico says he doesn’t give a rats ass (NSFW language at the link) what they did with the body, in accordance with Islamic law or what. But he thinks it was a mistake to dump it so hastily, as it’s only going to give the birthers, truthers and black helicopterists more fuel for their wacko conspiracy theories.
I agree that flying over the Indian Ocean and shoving the corpse out the door is a great way to play fast and loose with the strict Muslim code and prevent a landside gravesite from becoming a frickin shrine.
I also agree with Patterico that at least a few photographs—ala Abu Graibe—showing soldiers yucking it up with the corpse would make for better rumor quashing.
I disagree with the notion that the unceremonious nature of the final disposal will enrage the fundamentalists and make them hate us even more. They already hate us, already wanted to kill us and have died trying.
Failing to dig a hole and point his bloodied, shattered skull at Mecca won’t change that.
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