News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

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Manny
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Manny »

The neighbors wife just hit her husband, " I told you he looked like Osama" "We could have used that twenty five million "
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by saket »

****Must Read Jack Nicholson's response to pakistan (from a comment in WSJ by Kurt McFarlane)

Pakistan, terrorists live in mansions surrounded by walls, and those walls have to be scaled by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You weep for your sovereignty and you curse the SEALs. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what we know: that the death of your sovereignty, while tragic, probably saved lives. And our existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives! You don't want the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want the SEALs scaling that wall! You need them on that wall! We have neither the time nor the inclination to explain ourselves to a country that rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that we provide, and then questions the manner in which we provide it! We’d rather you just said "Thank you," and went on your way. Otherwise, we suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post or ,better yet, get an intelligence agency that isn’t working against us. Either way, we don't give a da_mn what you think you are entitled to!
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Manny »

Its a military cantonment/Garrison city. What Pakistan is saying is, an Indian agent could have come here to our military cantonment and built this place up and made himself a listening post and we wouldn't have known or checked that new high wall compound and that has this high wire fencing out.


LOL ;D
Last edited by Manny on 04 May 2011 05:15, edited 1 time in total.
Manny
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Manny »

saket wrote:****Must Read Jack Nicholson's response to pakistan (from a comment in WSJ by Kurt McFarlane)

Pakistan, terrorists live in mansions surrounded by walls, and those walls have to be scaled by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You weep for your sovereignty and you curse the SEALs. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what we know: that the death of your sovereignty, while tragic, probably saved lives. And our existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives! You don't want the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want the SEALs scaling that wall! You need them on that wall! We have neither the time nor the inclination to explain ourselves to a country that rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that we provide, and then questions the manner in which we provide it! We’d rather you just said "Thank you," and went on your way. Otherwise, we suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post or ,better yet, get an intelligence agency that isn’t working against us. Either way, we don't give a da_mn what you think you are entitled to!

thank you for posting that Saket. That was awesome! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by lakshmikanth »

Do any live tweets (while the attack was going on) indicate power outages. I am sure someone would have mentioned power outages while the strike was going on. I wonder what is the source of this info.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Nandu »

IMHO, US should not release bin's dead body photo or burial at sea video.

He was given a death fit for a dog. Shot without a second thought and dumped in the sea. Don't give his supporters and sympathizers even an iota of "closure" by providing a photo or video.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by anjan »

Paul wrote:
The undeclared Pak mission
- Behind feverish disclaimers lie clues to Islamabad’s co-operation with US in killing Osama
K.P. NAYAR
The best accounts of the operation which killed bin Laden are not to be found in the US media, which is behaving as if it is embedded with the CIA like American journalists were with the US forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and swallowed army propaganda for which newspapers like The Washington Post later apologised.

Revealing details about Sunday’s Abbottabad operation are to be found in the Chinese media, especially China’s official news agency, Xinhua, which has no pretensions to media freedom unlike its American counterparts.
The Chinese have the best sources in Pakistan, given the all-weather friendship between Islamabad and Beijing.
However, dumping OBL in the sea could not have been part of the script. All Kiyani's hard work like 26/11 is now down the drain.
Why this unquestioning faith in the Xinhua? As he points out they don't even have the pretense of integrity going for them. Why the desperation to prove Pakistan was on board the whole time? If the purpose of this thread is as I've read before is to name and shame Pakistan then what possible purpose does it serve to that narrative? Even assuming that I should believe a Chinese newspaper account.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Gus »

better yet...release one small piece every year.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Anantha »

lakshmikanth wrote:Do any live tweets (while the attack was going on) indicate power outages. I am sure someone would have mentioned power outages while the strike was going on. I wonder what is the source of this info.
NO!! No tweets mention power being turned off. People could freely take pictures of the explosion from their teraces
The Xinhua news is for consumption by pakis, Chinese and other assorted anti Americans to believe US did not act alone so that an alternate theory of Pak cooperation and "Pak in charge" can be maintained.
Even the Chinese echendee is going to take a beating on this.
Last edited by Anantha on 04 May 2011 05:48, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by shaardula »

blast from the past
January 11, 2008 U.S. Embassy, Islamabad cable, a meeting between U.S. Ambassador, Joe Lieberman, and General Kayani.
Defending Pakistan's track record in pursuing and capturing al-Qaeda operatives, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Pakistan Chief of Army Staff, who was “held in high regard by the U.S. Military” told visiting Senator Joseph Lieberman and U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan who accompanied him, in 2008, that “it was unjust to criticize Pakistan” for not locating Osama and his cohorts. Though the Pakistan army is favorably disposed to cooperation with the U.S., he felt that more visibility of its cooperation would impede military to military relationship because of “domestic political climate.”
General Kayani pointed that “statements by U.S. politicians and public figures suggesting the U.S. would take direct military action in Pakistan” would have a “detrimental effect.”
Kayani felt that one of the challenges faced by the Pakistan army in its anti-terrorism strategy is the “centuries' old traditions and enmities” prevalent in many areas in Pakistan. This, in his opinion, made it difficult to secure the confidence and support of local communities. Hence, Kayani felt, that only a “pure military solution” will not yield result but it needed to be supplemented with civic and economic assistance that would bring basic services to remote areas. He assured Mr. Lieberman that Coalition Support Funds were being used appropriately in support of counterterrorism efforts.
Before concluding the meeting, General Kayani gave Mr. Lieberman a wish list seeking technical assistance in Intercept satellite phones (Thuraya), enhanced capability to monitor mobile phones, Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance and Aerial Collection Platform to intercept low power radio transmissions.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by NRao »

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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Singha »

MSNBC.COM = hopefully more 'islamic charities and donors' would be exposed in the west funneling money to 'causes' like cashmere too on the side.

NBC News and msnbc.com

updated 5/3/2011 3:58:28 PM ET
"Thousands of documents" recovered from Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan could help the U.S. "destroy al-Qaida," U.S. officials told NBC News.

NBC News reported Monday afternoon that the documents — in both paper and electronic form on computers and portable computer drives — were recovered Sunday when a U.S. commando team raided the three-story compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed bin Laden, 54, the founder of the Islamist network that killed more than 3,000 people in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

U.S. officials confirmed Tuesday that 10 hard drives, five computers and more than 100 storage devices :eek: were recovered from the compound
. The specific numbers were first reported Tuesday morning by CNN.

U.S. officials would not discuss details of what might be in the papers and on the computer drives, including whether the material was encrypted. But in an interview with NBC News' Brian Williams, CIA Director Leon Panetta said, "The reality is that we picked up an awful lot of information there at the compound."

White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday that the information was believed to break down into three categories:
•"Evidence of planned attacks."
•"Information that could lead to other high-value targets or networks that we don't know about."
•"The sustaining network for bin Laden himself in Pakistan — what allowed him to live in that compound as long as he did." :D

John Brennan, President Barack Obama's chief counterterrorism coordinator, said Tuesday that the material could specifically "give us insights into al-Qaida's network — where other senior commanders and officials might be."
"We're moving with great dispatch to make sure that we're able to mine that for whatever insights it gives us so that we can continue to destroy al-Qaida," Brennan said in an interview on MSNBC TV's "Morning Joe."


If that turns out to be true, the materials could turn out to be "as important (as), if not more important than, the actual killing of bin Laden," Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Washington-based policy institute, said in an interview with The Toronto Star.

What is learned from the compound will likely extend beyond the documents to include human intelligence.

Among those discovered in the compound was one of bin Laden's wives, who survived a gunshot wound in her leg, Carney said.

U.S. officials strongly denied reports that U.S. commandos may have taken one of bin Laden's sons with them, but that doesn't mean he or other family members still couldn't provide valuable material.

In his interview with NBC News, Panetta confirmed that relatives of bin Laden were in Pakistani custody and said the U.S. had been assured that it would "have access to those individuals."
( GUBO again)

Panetta said that combined with the computer data, "the ability to continue questioning the family" could yield significant leads "regarding threats, regarding the location of other high-value targets and regarding the kind of operations that we need to conduct against these terrorists."

The U.S. has profited in the past from extensive intelligence harvested from the computers of al-Qaida operatives.

The most notable previous bonanza that has publicly been revealed was uncovered in July 2004, when al-Qaida computer expert Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan was captured in Pakistan. His laptop computer provided a trove of information and more than 1,000 compact disk drives that were found in his apartment.

U.S. officials said the materials included details of al-Qaida surveillance of Heathrow Airport in London and financial institutions in New York, Newark, N.J., and Washington, as well as details of possible planned al-Qaida attacks in New York Harbor.

By Alex Johnson of msnbc.com. Jim Miklaszewski and Robert Windrem of NBC News contributed to this report.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Airavat »

Manny wrote:Its a military cantonment/Garrison city. What Pakistan is saying is, an Indian agent could have come here to our military cantonment and built this place up and made himself a listening post and we wouldn't have known or checked that new high wall compound and that has this high wire fencing out.
Plenty of documentation is required for constructing any kind of house, not to mention such a huge mansion:

Allotment letter
Possession order
Site Plan and sub-divided site plan
All paid utility bills and challans
Approval and completion of the building plan
Completion certificate
Transfer/Mutation Order
Power of Attorney, duly executed in the office of the Sub-registrar concerned.

And how about all the regulations and building permits required for the high walls and barbed wire. Who authorised all that?
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Amber G. »

^^^In one intelligence officer's word, they are trying to act quickly "before cockroaches scatter"
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by shiv »

vina wrote: Think of it. If you are constantly on the move and cant lug things around too much, but need to move your data, rather than lug a laptop/notebook around, it is easier to just carry the hard disk and scoot. Sure, a pendrive is easier, but it still has limited capacity and you cant carry all the data you want.
If fact I saw nothing like an open PC in that footage and would like to be which video shows that. The bloodstained bedroom shows a vacuum cleaner and hose on the ground.

I am looking at it from the PoV of a raider. He has to take everything that looks like a data source CDs diaries, albums, portable drives, pen drives etc and he has to do it quick. A computer is the most obvious one and the easiest thing to do would be to rip off cables and cart off the entire PC cabinet.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by NRao »

Roaches? ISI bigwigs. Those hard drives should be talking and narrating a few very nice stories.

Imagine just a week prior to last Sunday, General Kiyani, Himself, a dew miles away from this very compund claimed He had broken the backbone of terrorism!!!!

Nice of the Seals to make that statement come true.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by SaiK »

Gagan wrote:Specially people like Prabakaran and OBL, Al Zawahiri, Veerappan and several others, are NEVER taken alive..
kasab should have been shot dead at the first sight!
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by JwalaMukhi »

shiv wrote: If fact I saw nothing like an open PC in that footage and would like to be which video shows that.
Shivji, It literally may not mean hard disk was extracted. It would probably just mean, the PC equipment was retrieved sans monitor. Basically, they might just have yanked the power cords, monitor connectors and other peripherals attachments and hauled the hard disk enclosure/tower.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by saip »

Baikul wrote:On the issue of removing hard drives - are we complicating this too much? Assuming that we're not talking of a whole bank of computers in networked environment kind of scenario, how much time does it take to rip off wires and bodily pick up 5 or even 10 whole computers and throw them in the back of a copter?

From what I've read, men under fire, under very tight deadlines, the whole Pakjabi population outside and adrenalin pumping, may be unlikely to bother with niceties like removing a hard drive per PC, no matter how well trained. Just take the whole damn thing.
In a desktop I can rip it out in 1 minute flat and I can guarantee it will still be intact.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by svinayak »

Image
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Baikul »

saip wrote:
Baikul wrote:On the issue of removing hard drives - are we complicating this too much? Assuming that we're not talking of a whole bank of computers in networked environment kind of scenario, how much time does it take to rip off wires and bodily pick up 5 or even 10 whole computers and throw them in the back of a copter?

From what I've read, men under fire, under very tight deadlines, the whole Pakjabi population outside and adrenalin pumping, may be unlikely to bother with niceties like removing a hard drive per PC, no matter how well trained. Just take the whole damn thing.
In a desktop I can rip it out in 1 minute flat and I can guarantee it will still be intact.
At the risk of going OT, under fire and/ or when people are blowing things around you?

In any case the story is that they took the computers with them, and what hard drives were floating around.
A Senior US Official tells CNN 10 hard drives, 5 computers and more than 100 storage devices which includes discs, DVDs and thumb drives were taken from the compound.
http://whitehouse.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05 ... he-photos/
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Rupesh »

LeT holds prayers for bin Laden in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: The founder one of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) told his followers to be heartened by the death of Osama bin Laden, as his “martyrdom” would not be in vain, a spokesman for the group said on Tuesday.

LeT has been holding special prayers for bin Laden in several cities and towns since he was killed in an operation by U.S. forces in Abbottabad on Monday.

A spokesman for LeT founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed said he had told followers in Lahore that the “great person” of Osama bin Laden would continue to be a source of strength and encouragement for Muslims around the world.

“Osama bin Laden was a great person who awakened the Muslim world,” Saeed’s spokesman Yahya Mujahid quoted him as saying during prayers at the headquarters of the LeT’s charity in Lahore on Monday.

“Martyrdoms are not losses, but are a matter of pride for Muslims”, Saeed said. “Osama bin Laden has rendered great sacrifices for Islam and Muslims, and these will always be remembered.”
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by NRao »

First and foremost the Seals had to be prepared, it is not that they came across some computer equipment and decided on the spot what to do. I would suspect they pulled the plug/s from the electrical outlet/s. Cut the cables with a wire cutter they brought along. Packed everything is a sack of sorts and carted everything away.

What has bugged me is with one helo stalling they must have faced some challenge to cart everything (humans, etc) else in the remaining helos.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by shiv »

JwalaMukhi wrote:
shiv wrote: If fact I saw nothing like an open PC in that footage and would like to be which video shows that.
Shivji, It literally may not mean hard disk was extracted. It would probably just mean, the PC equipment was retrieved sans monitor. Basically, they might just have yanked the power cords, monitor connectors and other peripherals attachments and hauled the hard disk enclosure/tower.
This is exactly what I am saying.

Nobody wastes time ripping open the box and removing that hard disks although that is very easy and can be done by BRFites in less than a minute. It takes me 4-5 minutes though. That skill is irrelevant. You just cart away the cabinet. That's all.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Baikul »

^^^ My sentiments exactly.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Dasari »

Perhaps this was already posted in this fast moving thread. This is an excellent article from a professor from University of Arizona. I was surprised that Aljazeera network picked this up.
Stop Feeding the Beast
After years of former Pakistani military dictator General Musharraf assuring the world that bin Laden was either dead or in Afghanistan, he was found and dispatched by US special forces in the town of Abbottabad, a mere 30 miles – 50km – as the crow flies from the capital Islamabad.

Abbottabad is a colonial era army "cantonment" or garrison town and home to the Pakistan Military Academy PMA Kakul, less than two miles from the compound in question. To put it in perspective, it is like capturing Carlos the Jackal just down the road from West Point or Sandhurst.

The notion that Pakistan's all pervasive Army-controlled Inter-Services Intelligence was unaware of bin Laden's presence beggars belief.

Although Bush-era National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley feigned total surprise about the location and its implications in an on-air interview after the news broke, WikiLeaks, as well as other sources such as investigative journalist Bob Woodward's most recent book, tell a very different story.

By 2008, the United States political and military leadership had lost all remnants of faith in the trustworthiness of the Pakistani military and its intelligence wing, the ISI, internally acknowledging that it consistently "hunted with the hounds and ran with the hares", including the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqanis, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba – and was involved in planning terrorist attacks from Kabul to Mumbai.

Pakistani intelligence has had a close relationship with bin Laden since the early 1980s, when he acted as a courier, transferring funds from Saudi intelligence and its establishment to the Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami to support the anti-Soviet jihad.

It is no surprise that bin Laden chose to relocate to eastern Afghanistan, an area within Pakistan's sphere of influence, in 1996 – after he was expelled from Sudan under US pressure.

Of course, the relationship has never been smooth – Pakistan's opportunism alienated al-Qaeda just as much as such behaviour alienated the United States – but also made it just as indispensable.

Funded by the US taxpayer

Despite this, the United States continued to funnel billions to the Pakistani armed forces in sophisticated weapons and cash – most recently a $2 billion package announced in October 2010 under the State Department’s Foreign Military Finance Program.

The US is paying, not only for the use of Pakistan as a logistical corridor to its troops in Afghanistan, but for the privilege of conducting an increasingly aggressive covert counter-terrorism campaign on Pakistani soil – often against the Pakistani government's client groups.

Analysis by SISMEC, the New America Foundation and others showed a massive increase in drone strikes in the tribal area of North Waziristan after the summer of 2008, largely aimed at pro-ISI groups such as the Haqqani network.

Most recently, US security contractor Raymond Davis was held in Pakistan for almost two months (17 January to March 16, 2011) after fatally shooting two alleged ISI agents, when he was believed to be surveilling the LeT in Lahore.

As for Davis' claim that he thought he was being robbed, well that one's for the birds. The Davis saga came at the same time that the Obama administration was reportedly finalising plans for the killing of Osama bin Laden, a coincidence that we are sure we will be hearing more about.

America's first attempt to kill Osama bin Laden came 13 years ago in August 1998, when president Bill Clinton launched "Operation Infinite Reach" in retaliation for the suicide bombings that devastated US embassies in Nairobi and Daressalam.

Sixty six cruise missiles were launched from the Arabian Sea at camps in eastern Afghanistan to kill Al Qaeda's senior leadership who were due to meet in a shura council.

Pakistan's military leadership was informed by US counterparts shortly before the missiles entered their airspace, just in case they mistook it for an Indian attack (India and Pakistan had just tested nuclear weapons earlier in May).

Shortly after, bin Laden cancelled his planned meeting. Many US officials believe the Pakistani Army and the ISI tipped bin Laden off.

Covert operations

It is this long and frustrating history that explains why the US chose to conduct this mission covertly and unilaterally.

In spite of face-saving Pakistani claims of joint execution, it was conducted in much the same way the US might have in a semi-hostile country, such as Syria in October 2008, rather than its proclaimed "frontline ally" in what used to be called the "war on terror".

It seems that Pakistani authorities had no clear idea of what was going on until it was all over, and a US helicopter bearing the SEAL team and bin Laden’s body touched down at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

There is an inevitable question about timing. Why on earth did it take the US so long to succeed?

The standard, official defence was that this was a rugged area, filled with implacably hostile tribesmen. Today, questions are being finally asked about the Pakistani Army's complicity.

The truth is deeper, and more unpleasant, and has much to do with the ways in which dictators around the world manipulate US policy with embarrassing ease.

For almost seven years after 9/11, General Musharraf, a warmonger who seized power in a coup in 1999, assured Bush that he was the only man who could hold back the violent fundamentalists and prevent them from seizing control of Pakistan's government and its nuclear weapons.

The US should not push too hard, but rather leave Musharraf to crush the extremists.

The reality was that the Pakistani government deliberately supported the takeover of extremist parties – such as the Islamist MMA alliance in 2003 – and facilitated the comeback of the Taliban, all the while profiting handsomely from generous US aid and the lifting of nuclear sanctions.

This was despite the fact that democratically elected governments in both Afghanistan (Karzai's 2004 election was accepted as free and fair) and India complained vociferously of the Pakistani military's support of extremist groups in both their countries.


Eventually a newly amalgamated Pakistani Taliban turned on their former patrons in the government.

Despite this, Pakistan continued to support the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani group, and the LeT, and the political leadership in the US continued to enrich a militarist dictatorship that fanned the flames of extremism at the cost of thousands of Asian and American lives.

A new approach

Since Bush's final year in power, freed from the baleful influence of Donald Rumsfeld, the US has taken a much firmer line with Pakistan's military – calling its bluff by acting more directly against extremists, and demanding ever greater accountability (for example the Kerry-Lugar bill) for the billions in assistance poured into Pakistan.

However these measures were totally inadequate for the stew of militarism, illiteracy, and bad governance.

The Arab Spring has eroded many of the conventional assumptions about the relationship between dictators, Islamists and the West.

In Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria, we heard dictators playing the Islamist card for three decades – "support us unless you want the terrorists to win".

The reality has been quite different. Dictators from Musharraf to Mubarak have relied on terrorists and extremists to bring in the US aid they so desperately need to survive.

In the case of the Pakistani Army, they have been only too happy to feed the hand that bites them.

Musharraf, having worn out the patience of both the Pakistani public and his US patrons was finally forced out in August 2008.

He has been replaced with a weak civilian government that has served as little more than a useful facade for an army that remains addicted to both jihad and US money.

It is a stark warning of what the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt can turn in to unless people remain vigilant.

Today, the US continues to lavishly fund the Pakistani military, while using drones and secret soldiers such as Raymond Davis to attack the extremist forces that the same regime supports. It is up to the US to stop feeding the beast.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by ManuT »

Just providing link (for my earlier post)

Image
Image from bbc, 2004 not even ground has been broken.



Amazingly, the earlier mention of raid in 2003 has now been edited out of the ISI official's statement. :eek: (And that is the real surprise for me)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13274176
Earlier, an ISI official told the BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones in Islamabad that the agency raided the compound in Abbottabad, just 100km (62 miles) from the capital, when it was under construction. It was believed an al-Qaeda operative, Abu Faraj al-Libi, was there.

But since then, "the compound was not on our radar, it is an embarrassment for the ISI", the official said. "We're good, but we're not God."
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by ManuT »

A Senior US Official tells CNN 10 hard drives, 5 computers and more than 100 storage devices which includes discs, DVDs and thumb drives were taken from the compound.
Remember anyone the mysterious fire that destroyed ISI records building in Islamabad after US started bombing the Taliban IIRC. Glad didn't happen here.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by anishns »

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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by ShyamSP »

shiv wrote:
JwalaMukhi wrote:[quote="shiv"
If fact I saw nothing like an open PC in that footage and would like to be which video shows that.quote]
Shivji, It literally may not mean hard disk was extracted. It would probably just mean, the PC equipment was retrieved sans monitor. Basically, they might just have yanked the power cords, monitor connectors and other peripherals attachments and hauled the hard disk enclosure/tower.
This is exactly what I am saying.

Nobody wastes time ripping open the box and removing that hard disks although that is very easy and can be done by BRFites in less than a minute. It takes me 4-5 minutes though. That skill is irrelevant. You just cart away the cabinet. That's all.
[/quote][/quote]

They would have taken whole PC than just HD only. There may be some PCMCIA/flash/SD card with good data in card reader in PC. They may want to read non-volatile/prom memories in PC as well.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by svinayak »

Obama’s Announcement Proved to Be Must-See TV
By BRIAN STELTER
On Sunday night, an estimated 56.5 million people watched President Obama announce the death of Osama bin Laden, the Nielsen Company said.
krishnan
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by krishnan »

They were there for 40 mins and i dont think the fight lasted for not more than 20 mins, so they had 20 mins to take what they got. You had close to 180 troops , so i dont think its so hard to take out the hard disks. Maybe they got some special eqpts to do that. I am just guessing here
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Vivek_A »

Duffer Hilaly says the killing of OBL is actually a major defeat for the US...that Obama is a puppet controlled by the generals......

oh...and the jewish lobby...

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDe ... t=5/4/2011

And sure enough, Obama’s first mistake – a howler – was to entrust the war in Afghanistan to his generals. Another 33,000 men, they told him, would do the trick in Afghanistan, and Obama fell for it. Not only this, he also surrounded himself with generals. His director of national intelligence is a retired air force general; the top intelligence adviser is another army general; the new CIA head will be a four star general and so is the present US ambassador in Afghanistan. Obama defers to his generals although they scoff at him privately (one such public outburst cost Gen McCrystal, Petraeus’ predecessor, his job).

What is it that Obama’s generals tell him? That the Afghan war can be won and must be fought till it is won; that Pakistan’s tribal badlands must be ‘droned’ free of the Taliban and if the Pakistanis cannot do the job, to let the much vaunted US Special Forces do it. And, if the Pakistani nation revolts? Well, to take them on too from the air, of course, and selectively on the ground. And if the situation gets too dangerous, to destroy their nuclear capability with the aid, if need be, of its new strategic partner, India.

Petraeus whose unflattering assessment of his commander-in-chief is common knowledge is a vain and stubborn man although popular with the American media. Given his political ambitions – it’s no secret that he wants a shot at the presidency in 2016 and possibly earlier if Obama stumbles – he will go to any extent to ensure that his reputation which is inextricably linked to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are judged to be successes.

Politically savvy, as his eagerness to keep on the right side of the American Jewish lobby has demonstrated, Petraeus can be counted on to take full advantage of Obama’s weakness and distractions. He will play hard ball with Obama on key issues concerning Afghanistan and Pakistan, among which getting tough with Pakistan is among the foremost. Hence, there are good chances that Petraeus will ensure during the four months he has left in Afghanistan and thereafter as the CIA chief, that he and Panetta can perform their duo gig in Af-Pak as they see it.

Hence issues which have led to tensions between the US and Pakistan, such as the use of drones and Special Operations forays, will intensify leading to skirmishes between the two forces, as in fact, happened the other day. If Pakistan continues to resist undertaking the North Waziristan operation the next stage of the US military escalation – forays by ISAF into Pakistan on the pretext of hot pursuit – will kick in.
And if you thought Duffer was some nutty nation hack
The writer is a former ambassador. Email: charles123it@hotmail.com
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Sushupti »

Henry Kissinger on FOX News:

It is impossible Pakistan didn't know OBL where abouts.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by arun »

ManuT wrote:Just providing link (for my earlier post)

{Image Snipped}

Amazingly, the earlier mention of raid in 2003 has now been edited out of the ISI official's statement. :eek: (And that is the real surprise for me)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13274176
Earlier, an ISI official told the BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones in Islamabad that the agency raided the compound in Abbottabad, just 100km (62 miles) from the capital, when it was under construction. It was believed an al-Qaeda operative, Abu Faraj al-Libi, was there.

But since then, "the compound was not on our radar, it is an embarrassment for the ISI", the official said. "We're good, but we're not God."
That’s right, the mention of the prior raid in 2003 on the Bin laden Compound is not there any more. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan however continues to insist that “As far as the target compound is concerned, ISI had been sharing information with CIA and other friendly intelligence agencies since 2009".

Strikes me that the Armed Forces of Pakistan is in damage control mode after been shown up in their ability to protect the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic and have arm twisted the Civilian Government to come up with these face saving comments. :lol: :
PR. NO. 152/2010
Date: 03/05/2011

Death of Osama bin Ladin-Respect for Pakistan's Established Policy Parameters on Counter Terrorism

The Government of Pakistan recognizes that the death of Osama bin Ladin is an important milestone in fight against terrorism and that the Government of Pakistan and its state institutions have been making serious efforts to bring him to justice.

However, the Government of Pakistan categorically denies the media reports suggesting that its leadership, civil as well as military, had any prior knowledge of the US operation against Osama bin Ladin carried out in the early hours of 2nd May 2011.

Abbottabad and the surrounding areas have been under sharp focus of intelligence agencies since 2003 resulting in highly technical operation by ISI which led to the arrest of high value Al Qaeda target in 2004. As far as the target compound is concerned, ISI had been sharing information with CIA and other friendly intelligence agencies since 2009. The intelligence flow indicating some foreigners in the surroundings of Abbottabad, continued till mid April 2011. It is important to highlight that taking advantage of much superior technological assets, CIA exploited the intelligence leads given by us to identify and reach Osama bin Ladin, a fact also acknowledged by the US President and Secretary of State, in their statements. It is also important to mention that CIA and some other friendly intelligence agencies have benefitted a great deal from the intelligence provided by ISI. ISI's own achievements against Al Qaeda and in War on Terror are more than any other intelligence agency in the World.

Reports about US helicopters taking off from Ghazi Airbase are absolutely false and incorrect. Neither any base or facility inside Pakistan was used by the US Forces, nor Pakistan Army provided any operational or logistic assistance to these operations conducted by the US Forces. US helicopters entered Pakistani airspace making use of blind spots in the radar coverage due to hilly terrain. US helicopters' undetected flight into Pakistan was also facilitated by the mountainous terrain, efficacious use of latest technology and 'nap of the earth' flying techniques. It may not be realistic to draw an analogy between this undefended civilian area and some military / security installations which have elaborate local defence arrangements.

On receipt of information regarding the incident, PAF scrambled its jets within minutes. This has been corroborated by the White House Advisor Mr John Brennan who while replying to a question said, "We didn't contact the Pakistanis until after all of our people, all of our aircraft were out of Pakistani airspace. At the time, the Pakistanis were reacting to an incident that they knew was taking place in Abbottabad. Therefore, they were scrambling some of their assets. Clearly, we were concerned that if the Pakistanis decided to scramble jets or whatever else, they didn't know who were on those jets. They had no idea about who might have been on there, whether it be US or somebody else. So, we were watching and making sure that our people and our aircraft were able to get out of Pakistani airspace. And thankfully, there was no engagement with Pakistani forces. This operation was designed to minimize the prospects, the chances of engagement with Pakistani forces. It was done very well, and thankfully no Pakistani forces were engaged and there were no other individuals who were killed aside from those on the compound."

There has been a lot of discussion about the nature of the targeted compound, particularly its high walls and its vicinity to the areas housing Pakistan Army elements. It needs to be appreciated that many houses occupied by the affectees of operations in FATA / KPK, have high boundary walls, in line with their culture of privacy and security. Houses with such layout and structural details are not a rarity.

Questions have also been asked about the whereabouts of the family members of Osama bin Ladin. They are all in safe hands and being looked after in accordance with law. Some of them needing medical care are under treatment in the best possible facilities. As per policy, they will be handed over to their countries of origin.

Notwithstanding the above, the Government of Pakistan expresses its deep concerns and reservations on the manner in which the Government of the United States carried out this operation without prior information or authorization from the Government of Pakistan.

This event of unauthorized unilateral action cannot be taken as a rule. The Government of Pakistan further affirms that such an event shall not serve as a future precedent for any state, including the US. Such actions undermine cooperation and may also sometime constitute threat to international peace and security.

Pakistan, being mindful of its international obligations, has been extending full and proper cooperation on all counter terrorism efforts including exchange of information and intelligence. Pursuant to such cooperation, Pakistan had arrested several high profile terrorists.

The Government of Pakistan and its Armed Forces consider support of the people of Pakistan to be its mainstay and actual strength. Any actions contrary to their aspirations, therefore, run against the very basis on which the edifice of national defence and security is based. Pakistan Army and intelligence agencies have played a pivotal role in breaking the back of Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations in Pakistan as well as around the World. Most of the successes achieved by the US and some other friendly countries have been the result of effective intelligence cooperation and extremely useful military support by Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan and its security forces have resolved to continue their fight against terrorism till people of Pakistan can live in peace and security.

Islamabad
03 May 2011


Islamic Republic MOFA
Last edited by arun on 04 May 2011 07:57, edited 1 time in total.
Prem
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by Prem »

Vivek_A wrote:Duffer Hilaly says the killing of OBL is actually a major defeat for the US...that Obama is a puppet controlled by the generals......And if you thought Duffer was some nutty nation hack
The writer is a former ambassador. Email: charles123it@hotmail.com
Yeh kaisa ayya jamman , yeh kaisa
Kaffir ne momin ki naa maanni,
naaa mani, Poak ki na kar badnami , badnami
The writer is a formost (i)Am Bassatarad.
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by SwamyG »

saket wrote:****Must Read Jack Nicholson's response to pakistan (from a comment in WSJ by Kurt McFarlane)
It is a rip-off of Jack Nicholson's dialog from the movie "A Few Good Men": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104257/quotes
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by saket »

SwamyG wrote:
saket wrote:****Must Read Jack Nicholson's response to pakistan (from a comment in WSJ by Kurt McFarlane)
It is a rip-off of Jack Nicholson's dialog from the movie "A Few Good Men": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104257/quotes
Of course it is ..
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by symontk »

Why 2005? The below link could be a pointer. The plan was to resettle Osama in / near Kargil / Siachen so that no force would be able to catch him. Scary part is the proposal of Joint mgmt of Kashmir. Imagine US catching osama in the JAK. Pakistan can escape all these accusations. Maybe that was the plan

Also not a surpise that Osama was found on the road from Islamabad to Kargil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siachen
On 12 June 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the area, calling for a peaceful resolution of the problem. In the previous year, the President of India, Abdul Kalam became the first head of state to visit the area
The Siachen peace process mentioned above never got off the ground, all thanks to Army & AKA
Last edited by symontk on 04 May 2011 08:08, edited 2 times in total.
SwamyG
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Re: Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Post by SwamyG »

Jon Stewart mocking Pakistan, ISI, Musharaaf ityadi :rotfl:; he is poking as many holes as possible in Paki parachute. He reaches more young people than probably only Cartoon Network.
Last edited by SwamyG on 04 May 2011 08:08, edited 1 time in total.
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