The Bin Laden Assassination: Some (Im)pertinent Questions

First some credit where it is due; I really liked Presidents Obamas speech last night. He came across in many ways that I consider to be out of character for him. He sounded patriotic, nationalistic and pro-military. He also conveyed competence and control, power and the willingness and capability of wielding it. In short, he sounded really presidential. That said I have some questions:

1. If solid Intel had OBL at this compound since August why wait with the hit until now? The recent plethora of fomenting revolutions in many Arab states have the Arab streets attention focused on their own tinpot dictators instead of the Great and Little Satans. So could it be that now was a great time to strike while the streets attention was diverted elsewhere? Could now be the time to expect the minimum number of retaliatory anti-American terrorist incidents? Or was the hit ordered now just to reverse incredibly low poll numbers for the president?

2. Why would a President who made shutting Gitmo a major plank in his platform while a candidate and who pushed for civilian rather than military tribunals for Al-Queda bigwigs incarcerated there order a hit on Bin Laden? All reports that I've read and heard have labeled this a kill operation rather than a capture operation. IOW our president ordered a political assassination by a highly trained hit squad. How can he address the bleeding heart left wing of his own party and say with a straight face that "justice", rather than bloodlust, has been served? Why didn't he order Bin Laden taken alive? And if it meant some Navy SEALS giving up their lives instead, so be it. How many US serviceman have died since the Viet Nam era solely because they were trying to reduce civilian, non-combatant casualties and/or collateral damage? Is pursuing true, courtroom justice rather than a revenge killing not at least as worthy a cause? I am fairly certain that if a Republican President had ordered this hit that these questions would not be asked politely but that a thunderstorm of condemnation for being a "cowboy" would've ensued.

3. It's fairly obvious that the Pakistani military and Intel communities were complicit in hiding OBL. As such the US Navy and CIA acted alone. What happened to Obamas policy of involving our allies and not going it alone?

4. When will photos, videos and DNA identifying OBL corpse be released? Why hasn't any such evidence been released yet?

5. Has there been any corroborative confirmation of OBLs death from any Al-Qaeda sites?

6. What was up with the original reports that a drone had carried out the attack?

7. Was OBL or wasn't OBL armed and/or wearing a suicide vest at the time of the hit?

8. Does Islam really have a "tradition" of "burial" at sea? While not a comparative religion scholar this sounds a bit fishy to me. Other than the black operation being carried out by Navy SEALS what fig leaf does the administration have to cover this naked dumping of yesterdays refuse to avoid creating a pilgrimage shrine for Islamofascists? UPDATE click