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May 1st, 2011


Osama bin Laden Killed in Pakistan, Obama Says

U.S. intelligence led to military operation; U.S. has custody of al-Qaida leader’s body, source says

Video

Obama confirms bin Laden is dead (NBC News, May 1, 2011) — President Obama announces that a small team of military specialists were involved in a firefight in Pakistan, which killed Osama bin Laden. (09:18)

 and
May 1, 2011

Osama bin Laden, the Saudi extremist whose al-Qaida terrorist organization killed more than 3,000 people in coordinated attacks on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001 [link added], is dead following a military operation in Pakistan and the U.S. has recovered his body, U.S. President Barack Obama announced Sunday night.

“Justice has been done,” the president declared as crowds formed outside the White House to celebrate, singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “We Are the Champions,” NBC News reported.

Obama said the 54-year-old bin Laden, whom he called a terrorist “responsible for the murder of thousands of American men, women and children,” was killed in Pakistan earlier in the day after a firefight in a military operation that was based on U.S. intelligence. Other U.S. officials said one of bin Laden’s sons and two of his most trusted couriers also were killed, as was an unidentified woman who was used as a human shield [link added]. …

Former President George W. Bush said in a statement that he had personally been informed by Obama of the death of the terrorist leader whose attacks forever defined his eight years in office.

“This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001,” the former president said. [link added] …

Obama echoed his predecessor, declaring that “the death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s struggle to defeat al-Qaida.”

But he stressed that the effort against the organization continues. Al-Qaida remains in existence as an organization, presumably under the leadership of Ayman al-Zawahiri, 59, an Egyptian physician who is widely believed to have been bin Laden’s No. 2. [links added]

Officials had long believed that bin Laden was hiding in a mountainous region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border [link added]. In August, U.S. intelligence officials got a tip on his whereabouts, which led to the operation that culminated Sunday, Obama said.

U.S. officials told NBC News that U.S. Special Operations forces carried out the attack on the al-Qaida compound, killing bin Laden when they shot him in the head during a firefight.

The special operations forces returned with the body to Afghanistan, U.S. officials said. They said they were ensuring that it was being handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition. …

Senior administration officials said U.S. officials believed they had known where bin Laden was since September. By mid-February, information developed that made them confident that the information was sound.

In mid-March, Obama headed five National Security Council meetings on the subject. Friday morning, he gave the final order to carry out the attack on a compound in what was described as an “affluent suburb” of Islamabad. …

Bin Laden’s compound was huge and “extraordinarily unique,” about eight times larger than other homes in the area, U.S. officials said.

They said the compound was isolated by 12-foot walls, with access restricted to two security gates. It had no telephone or Internet service and had clearly been custom built to hide “someone of significance.” …

Full story

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9/11 Remembrance

Tribute to the Victims and Heroes of 9/11

America Grieves

Amazing Grace 9/11

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5/20/11 Update

Bin Laden Lauds Arab Spring in Posthumous Tape

Video

Posthumous bin Laden message aired (NBC “Today,” May 19, 2011) — U.S. intelligence officials are poring over what is likely Osama bin Laden’s final message to the world. NBC’s Richard Engel reports. (02:14)

Reuters and MSNBC.com
May 19, 2011

CAIRO — Al-Qaida has released a posthumous audio recording by Osama bin Laden in which the Islamist group’s ex-leader praises the revolutions sweeping the Arab world.

In the audio, the former al-Qaida leader, who was killed in a U.S. raid on May 2 in Pakistan, expressed joy at the victory of uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia amid the so-called Arab Spring, Reuters reported.

In the audio, bin Laden talks about how the movement started in the Maghreb region of North Africa.

“The sun of the revolution has risen from the Maghreb. The light of the revolution came from Tunisia. It has given the nation tranquility and made the faces of the people happy,” he says.

Tunisia’s president was overthrown in January, and this was then followed by Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak’s departure after mass protests centered on Cairo’s Tahrir Square. …

Bin Laden urged people to “continue the march and don’t fear the hardships.”

“Sons of my Muslim Ummah (community): You are before a dangerous crossroads and a great, rare and historic opportunity to raise the Ummah and be liberated from enslavement to the wishes of the rulers and the man-made laws and the Western domination,” he added.

“It is of great sin and big ignorance that this opportunity gets lost, which the Ummah has been waiting for faraway decades. So take advantage of it and destroy the idols and statues and establish justice and faith,” he said. …

Full story

——

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — May 1, 2010

Bomb Scare in Times Square

Image: Alarm clock found in SUV
This still photo released by the New York City Police Department shows one of the alarm clocks found in the Nissan Pathfinder that was used in the attempted bombing of Times Square.

One year ago today, I reported that police found an apparent car bomb in a parked sport utility vehicle in New York City’s Times Square, then evacuated buildings and cleared streets of thousands of tourists.

——

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — May 1, 2009

U.S. Death Toll Doubles in Iraq

Clockwise from top left: James R. McIlvaine, Mark A.  Wojciechowski, Tyler Trahan, Brad A. Davis, Benjamin Moore, Jr. and  Leroy O. Webster. Photos: MySpace, Facebook and the tribute page for CSM  Moore. (Photo: Salem-News.com
Clockwise from top left: James R. McIlvaine, Mark A. Wojciechowski, Tyler Trahan, Brad A. Davis, Benjamin Moore, Jr., and Leroy O. Webster. (Photos: MySpace, Facebook, and the tribute page for CSM Moore. (Photo credit: Salem-News.com)

Two years ago today, on May 1, 2009, I reported that three U.S. troops had been killed in fighting west of Baghdad, pushing the U.S. toll for April to 18 — double the number killed in March — and making April the deadliest month thus far in 2009 for American forces in Iraq.





14 Responses to “Osama bin Laden Dead”
  1. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Bin Laden Now Climate Expert Says:

    […] Osama bin Laden Dead in Pakistan (May 1, 2011) […]

  2. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Awlaki Escapes U.S. Drone Strike Says:

    […] Media reports have said American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is a possible successor to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, killed by U.S. Navy SEALs at his Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound. […]

  3. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Bin Laden Watching Himself on TV Says:

    […] Osama bin Laden Dead (May 1, 2011) […]

  4. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Osama bin Laden’s Porn Stash Says:

    […] Osama bin Laden Dead (May 1, 2011) […]

  5. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Pakistan U.S. Supply Line Threat Says:

    […] Two suicide bombers struck a training center for paramilitary police recruits, killing 87 people in the Shabqadar area of Pakistan’s northwest in what the Pakistani Taliban called a revenge attack for the death of bin Laden. […]

  6. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Osama bin Laden’s Successor, Interim Operational Leader Named Says:

    […] Osama bin Laden Dead (May 1, 2011) […]

  7. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Bin Laden Revenge Attacks Says:

    […] Osama bin Laden Dead (May 1, 2011) […]

  8. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » First CIA Casualties in al-Qaida’s War on U.S. Avenged Says:

    […] Osama bin Laden Dead (May 1, 2011) […]

  9. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Top al-Qaida Commander Killed Says:

    […] Ilyas Kashmiri’s apparent death is another blow to al-Qaida just over a month after bin Laden was killed by American commandos in a northwest Pakistani army town. […]

  10. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Eulogy for bin Laden Says:

    […] Osama bin Laden Dead (May 1, 2011)  […]

  11. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Ayman Al-Zawahiri Succeeds Osama bin Laden as al-Qaida Leader Says:

    […] The bespectacled Ayman al-Zawahiri had been seen as bin Laden’s most likely successor after the man held responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S. was shot dead by U.S. commandos in Pakistan on May 2, 2011. […]

  12. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » No Way Forward in Afghanistan Says:

    […] Attacks in the Afghan capital have been relatively rare, although violence has increased since the May 2, 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid in Pakistan and the start of the Taliban’s annual spring offensive. […]

  13. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » American-Born Terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki Killed in Yemen Says:

    […] Anwar al-Awlaki is the most prominent al-Qaida figure to be killed since Osama bin Laden’s death in May 2011. […]

  14. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Al-Qaida No. 2 Leader Killed in Obama Drone Strike Says:

    […] Osama bin Laden Dead (May 1, 2011) […]

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