EDITORIAL: An appropriate burial for bin Laden?

OPINION:

A Zogby poll released Wednesday shows that one in five likely voters thinks Osama bin Laden is still alive. Despite this public-perception problem, the Obama administration continues to hide photos and video of bin Laden’s demise, instead reiterating that his corpse and burial were “taken care of in the appropriate way.” At a Pentagon briefing, a senior Defense official stated vaguely that bin Laden was handled “using the appropriate procedures and rituals.”

For those wondering what an “appropriate” Islamic burial entails, “Navy Military Funerals,” created by the Navy to govern laying its dead to rest, is more forthcoming. The Navy’s “Service for the committal of a person of the Muslim faith” lays out explicit steps that must be followed in a Muslim sea burial. The body must have been washed and wrapped “as required for the bodies of Muslims,” which refers to ceremonial cleanings that must be done by another Muslim. Those who have gathered to pray at the burial - ostensibly crew members because family is not allowed at sea burials - must face Mecca.

Formal funeral prayers must be said and are specifically listed in the service used by the Navy. In the part of the service in which supplication for the deceased is made, the prayer to be used includes the following:

“O Allah, forgive him, have mercy on him, pardon him, grant him security, provide him a nice place and spacious lodgings, wash him (off from his sins) with water, snow and ice, purify him from his sins as a white garment is cleansed from dirt, replace his present abode with a better one, replace his present family with a better one, replace his present partner with a better one, make him enter paradise and save him from the trials of grave [sic] and the punishment of hell.”

The families of those slaughtered by bin Laden might not be happy to learn that the Obama administration may have considered it “appropriate” to ask Allah to “pardon” al Qaeda’s evil overlord. Or to petition him not only to let him into paradise but to give him a nice, big house when he gets there, with a better family and wife (or wives). How will those families feel about the fact that this sociopath got a better burial than many of their dead loved ones?

All of this highlights President Obama’s knee-jerk habit of kowtowing to Islam. By constantly emphasizing how bin Laden’s sea burial was in “conformance to Islamic requirements,” Obama officials communicated that the president is more concerned about placating the feelings of Muslim extremists than securing closure for the American people.