The Death of Bin Laden, Five Years Later

It was five years ago yesterday in which the infamous terrorist Osamo Bin-Laden finally met his end. A team of US Navy SEALs stormed the three story compound in Abbottabad Pakistan at night, killing him and three other men, and one wife of one of the terrorists. Taking place almost a decade after the massive terrorist attack that murdered almost 3,000 people in New York City, Arlington Virginia, and Shanksville Pennsylvania, Bin Laden is believed to have slipped out of his hideout in Tora-Bora during a casefire when US and allied forces attacked. Bin-Laden's body was disposed of at sea, a controversial move some saw as proof of a cover-up. But Islamofacist broadcasts about his death and threats to avenge him helped quell conspiracy theories.

Shortly afterwards, a group of builders, the Avatrian Development Team, constructed a replica of the compound, which the Newser reported on, and was the scene of some reenactments. It is unclear how long the build remained, but in late February 2012, the Avatrian Central sim where it was located vanished, taking away whatever remained. The group is believed to have ceased all activity in Second Life, it's final act to recreate the final launch of the Space Shuttle later that year in July 2011.

Ironically, the Pakistani government had began demolishing the compound. Officially, the action was to prevent the location from being a shrine for radicals. But Bin-Laden having been found in a place less than a mile away from a military academy was an embarrassment to the US ally, which has been accused of double-dealing and deception.

With the rise of ISIS, Bin-Laden's organization has been eclipsed as the main target of US anti-terrorism efforts. But with questions about possible Saudi involvement of Bin-Laden's 9/11 attacks, of which most of the hijackers were from the country, it's shadow continues to haunt America and the Middle East. While over time some locations in Second Life which had been doing 9/11 memorials every year have either scaled back or halted their observances, other places in the virtual world continue them.

Bixyl Shuftan