Maybe a helicopter like this one brought bin Laden’s corpse to the USS Carl Vinson late last night where in the wee hours of Monday morning the bullet-pocked corpse of the terror-mastermind received full jihad honors. Or was that full Islamic honors? I get them confused.
US forces administered Muslim religious rites for Osama bin Laden aboard an aircraft carrier Monday in the Arabian Sea, an American official said after the raid that killed the Al-Qaeda leader.
“Today religious rights were conducted for the deceased on the deck of the USS Carl-Vinson which is located in the North Arabian Sea,” a senior defense official said.
“Traditional procedures for Islamic burial were followed. The deceased’s body was washed and then placed in a white sheet. The body was placed in a weighted bag.
“A military officer read prepared religious remarks which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker. After the words were complete, the body was placed on a prepared flat-board… (and) eased into the sea.”
The ceremony began at 0510 GMT and ended some 50 minutes later aboard the aircraft carrier which is stationed off the coast of Pakistan to help US and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
That was some ceremony — longer than the commando raid that bagged the al Qaeda honcho. Funny how the man who, in becoming a mass murderer, “perverted,” “hijacked” and “distorted” one of the world’s “great religions” still gets a spiffy send-off to Islam’s orgy in the skies.
Think they played taps?