From my point of view, a chopper as big as a Black Hawk is not going to be able to effectively mask it's noise in any appreciable manner. There are tricks that can be done with the design of the blades to limit the sonic booms coming off the rotors, so you don't get as much of the classic Huey "whop whop whop" that echoes for miles, but the size and speed of the blades coupled with the weight of the chopper gives you minimal gains. The stealth part, predominately, will be in regards to radar signature. The material and design is done in such a way as to minimize it's radar reflection. Radar is way, way more sensitive than most people think. One of my best friends was the head of ATC security for the Vancouver Olympics. He's the guy that organized the DHS, Border Patrol, US/CDN air forces, etc., for the security coverage. Including U2's, etc. On a few instances, they scrambled jets to go deal with flocks of geese or a few ducks. Seriously. Any little bit that helps to scatter or otherwise not reflect that radar signature will help. Absorbing material and deflecting angles all add up.
My understanding is that those pics were taken by either the Pakistani military or news groups after the attack. They are not official, Pentagon released pics. It's kind of expected that scummy news agencies will show the gore and not give a shit about the political or religious ramifications, but that's not really any justification for the government to not do the right thing.
Here is the thing for the conspiracy theorists to think about, though: If they lied about killing Bin Laden, and he really is still alive out there, all it takes is one video with him holding up a newspaper with a date after his 'death' to completely and totally obliterate Obama and the US Government's credibility, not to mention give a monstrous boost of morale to other Al Queda operatives and terrorists who will see the US Government as inept and stupid. The ramifications of something like that coming to light for real would be entirely do disastrous, from a political standpoint, for the President or the government to risk it. As for not releasing the photos, that also would be politically stupid. Sanctioning the death photos would make them look like bloodthirsty animals rather than being out for justice. On top of that, all the conspiracy theorists that they'd be trying to "convince" of it being legit would look at the photos and scream "fake!" just like they did with Obama's birth certificate. The reality of the situation is that there will always be crazies that think the government is out to get them and that everything is a big lie, and there will always be those that want to take down the President (from either party) for political reasons, and no matter what evidence gets released to the contrary, they'll ignore it or twist it to fit their own agendas.
Sorry to bring this up again but I was slightly surprised how different the American reaction to the news was compared to the Spanish or British. I live in Spain in an area full of tourists and basically all the Spanish and Brits I talked to when they first found they all were worried about retaliation and that the issue is far bigger than Bin Laden. They thought it was good news but they weren´t really affected by it. Now the Americans i met that they who hadnt seen the news before I told them basically jumped in joy with huge smiles on their faces. "Fuck yeah our boys got him"... and so on.
A little off topic... but from what I hear, the majority of the conspiracy theories about Osama's death are that he has already been dead for years now (as suggested by people in intelligence and Pakistan's former president Bhutto) as opposed to him being alive and hiding somewhere. May 1st is also Worker's day. A socialist, communist and anarchist holiday as well as old pagan holiday and satanic magic day. That said, I really don't buy this conspiracy/Illuminati crap.
And just because Come out and drink with me tonight, we are drinking Bin Ladens Two shots and a splash of water.
I noticed this bit in a sales management textbook I was reviewing today (published in 2009). It validates the article, in some sense. Spoiler
That's a valid point, but I don't see how that wouldn't have come about without the war in the Middle East. The war may have hastened it, sure. But I think we would have had the good sense to eventually abandon constant air travel in favor of more efficient means of communication, anyway. We have the technology for it. There's little need for face-to-face business these days. Kind of like what happens in Up In The Air.
I love how you call me stupid, but are apparently too much of an idiot to realize that to Muslim extremists, America is already the Great Satan, and nothing will change that. Just like liberals hate conservatives in this country and vice versa, and nothing from either side will change that. Except in this case, the hatred is a thousand times more intense, and includes religious violence. A freaking picture confirming a kill will not make extremist Muslims hate the US any more or less, and it won't turn moderate Muslims into suicide bombing fanatics, either. However, one thing that the Muslim world does respect is a show of strength, and icing the most renowned, violent terrorist of modern times accomplishes precisely that. That's what liberal types like yourself miss; that in the Muslim world, overtures of peace are seen as a sign of weakness, while military might is respected. Again, I don't mind the pictures not being released by the government, but your perception of Middle Eastern Muslims is hilariously wrong.
Ah fuck, I was so excited by that article I forwarded it to my brother who has worked as a dog trainer. Not just as a "fido go fetch" trainer but as in a "[german word for go bite that dude's nuts off]!" typer trainer. But now he is probably just laughing at me. No, Navy SEAL Dogs Don’t Have Titanium Teeth
I called you stupid because you are expressing opinion as fact on a subject you clearly do not understand. This is a trend you seem to have. Check the hubris and instead try to read and learn, rather then always having to express an opinion. There are those here who have probably have differing views from myself on the issue and could make solid rebukes, that is not you. I will leave at it this, link to one, just one, reputable reference that agrees with your above post.
I'm pretty sure the last guy who was supposed to be able to dance upon that grave had a little run-in with the cops a few millenia ago.
The only "fact" that I've gathered from your posts is that there's a major distinction between extremist and moderate Muslims that leaves no room for any middle ground that people may fall under. The truly moderate/liberal Muslims that were celebrating bin Laden's death aren't going to give a shit if the government releases the photos. And the crazy extremists that already hate America and would happily strap on a suicide vest aren't going to care either. But to say that a large number of Muslims that sit between those two viewpoints aren't going to have a negative reaction to the US government releasing those pictures is hilariously ignorant. Then again, that seems to be par for the course for you as far as backing up your ridiculous opinions (as much as you'd love to call them "facts"). By your logic, any American that was against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq should have been totally fine with al Qaeda releasing the Danny Pearl and Nick Berg execution videos on the internet. That's laughable. In most ways, I'm about as far from one of your "liberal types" as I could get, yet I'm not ignorant enough to think that there aren't tens, if not hundreds of millions of Muslims that would react/feel negatively towards the US if the government came out flaunting the bin Laden pictures. Like I said before, the pictures will almost certainly surface eventually and the decision not to release them through official channels was probably more politically motivated (in the global sense) than anything else. I fail to see the problem with this.