News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 02 May 2011 22:38

anupmisra wrote:
Sushupti wrote:Hamid MIr says on timesnow that Laden's wife and daughter are in the custody of Pakis.
Aha! the leftovers that JSOC didn't want to take back with them.

Booty Distribution among Zakat receivers?

sanjeevpunj · Post by **sanjeevpunj** » 02 May 2011 22:42

The old man from our own Indian-controlled Kashmir has finally broken the silence.
http://www.kashmirdispatch.com/headline ... ashmir.htm

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 02 May 2011 22:43

So we are moving into a new era - "Who wants to bag Alky#2?"

ajit_tr · Post by **ajit_tr** » 02 May 2011 22:45

Sushupti · Post by **Sushupti** » 02 May 2011 22:45

Osama shd have come to India for 26/11 attack and got himself caught. Today, he would hv been living happily ever after with Kasab n Afzal.

sanjeevpunj · Post by **sanjeevpunj** » 02 May 2011 22:46

he would have wound up as Geelani's guest, maan na maan main tera mehmaan.

nithish · Post by **nithish** » 02 May 2011 22:47

Artist: Sudarshan Pattnaik
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13257633?

ShyamSP · Post by **ShyamSP** » 02 May 2011 22:48

CRamS wrote:Don't get me wrong on this guys, but its sad watching Nidhi & Arnab get so over excited, repeating the minute by minute sequence of events leading to OBL's knock out punch as though India has something to do with this. I am still not sure how much is in this for us SDREs. Once can sense how much Arnab and so do I wish that us SDREs can execute such a precision hit and take out Dawood Ibrahim or Hafeez Saeed or Maulana Azhar. Celebrating somebody else's victory might give some cheap thrills like watching a soft ***** movie, but one must not loose sight of the reality.

As the pessimist that I am, I won't be surprised if in the coming days, US does the worst kind of equal equal. Both TSP & India can't be trusted as US allies, on double deals on terror, and the other back stabs by not buying Boeing aircarft even though that would have made India a global superpower of the 21st century . Even that dog bone would be a huge salvaging of H&D for Kiyani & Paasha.

Just like Paki govt was bought out, Indian Con govt was bought out. They need to save India for another neighboring country so equal-equal with Pak is unlikely in my opinion.

After Afghanistan, Saddam, Egypt like mini projects were done, they may not have seen much use keeping big O [bl].
So thanking Bush, Big O takes Big O.

Pakistan is done - paper is used, thrown, and flushed. They will now move on to bringing "sanity" into Pakistan as they can now freely operate in Paki land like in Afghanistan.

Atri · Post by **Atri** » 02 May 2011 22:49

ZH is threatening of dirty bomb attack and JDAM on west and India which will be masterminded in NWFP..

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 02 May 2011 22:51

sorry if posted already:
Pakistani programmer unknowingly tweets bin Laden operation

A computer programmer, startled by a helicopter clattering above his quiet Pakistani town in the early hours of the morning Monday, did what any social-media addict would do: he began sending messages to the social networking site Twitter.

With his tweets, 33-year-old Sohaib Athar, who moved to the sleepy town of Abbottabad to escape the big city, became in his own words “the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it.”
<snip>

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 02 May 2011 22:52

Folks expect Pakistaniyat to hit the fan over the next few days:

1. 22 people were either killed or arrested. A few of them are likely to be TFTAs and likely croak after some nice waterboarding
2. Apparently sacks and sacks of stuff were seized form the place and Unkil has instituted a special task force to go over them

New like this is trickling out:

The compound in Abbottabad where Osama Bin Laden was killed was once used as a safe house by Pakistan's premier intelligence agency ISI, Gulf News has learnt

P Talwar · Post by **P Talwar** » 02 May 2011 22:52

I stand corrected Ramana. But you know I was using 'poor' in a perjorative way. And I am hurt at and protest at the comparison with the Indian media. Call me anything but that or Paki

I have just sent protest letters to a few channels! Thanks Rahul for changing the name.

Thanks Gagan. Sky, BBC are tearing the Pakis apart. Its a holiday here and I have been watching the coverage since 6 in the morning. Did you see the Afghan narrative. Right from Hamid Karzai, Ahmed Shah Masood's brother all saying that we have been saying for years that OBL is in Pak! The whole world except the Indian media. Rather odd.

With friends like these who needs enemies.

arun · Post by **arun** » 02 May 2011 22:53

X Posted from the ISI News and Discussion thread,

There is a lot of speculation in the Western Media that the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, particularly its intelligence arm the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate aka ISI aka ISID, was protecting the Islamic Terrorist Osama Bin Laden who was executed today by the US in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan where he had taken refuge,

Simon Tisdall in the Guardian‘s Blog site. Do check out the comments:

Osama bin Laden's death will haunt Pakistan : Bin Laden's discovery in a compound 35 miles from Islamabad is a dangerous embarrassment for Pakistan and the ISI

George Eaton in the New Statesman:

All eyes on Pakistan : Almost no one believes that the ISI could not have known of the whereabouts of bin Laden

David Wallechinsky in AllGov:

Were Pakistani Forces Protecting Osama bin Laden?

Aryn Baker in Time Magazine‘s Blog:

Bin Laden's Death: What This Means for Pakistan's ISI

Jon Boone and Ian Black also in the Guardian:

Death of Osama bin Laden puts pressure on Pakistan :Allegations of complicity within Pakistani intelligence services after al-Qaida leader discovered to have been living near capital

The Yorkshire Post:

Was Pakistan intelligence protecting Bin Laden?

Nandu · Post by **Nandu** » 02 May 2011 22:53

This is a supposed video from outside the mansion.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 02 May 2011 22:54

I have had the same experience many years ago. I failed to pass the IIT entrance test first time, but was jealous and happy at the same time for my buddies who made it. This made me more determined and the second time I cracked it

. Hopwefully, RAA and India's black cat commandos will be spurred by this class act from US special ops and teach TSP a lesson the next time around.

suryag · Post by **suryag** » 02 May 2011 22:55

Guys we should buy 6 blackhawks paint it black and station it in our Jalalabad consulate

. Then send in indians with their skin lightened and hair blonded into Pakisatan and get the guy we want, looks like that route is free for use

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 02 May 2011 22:57

A Pakistani soldier and policemen stand near a compound, where locals reported a firefight took place overnight in Abbotabad, located in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, May 2, 2011.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 02 May 2011 22:59

Kanwal Sibal
The Rose OF Tora Bora

What is more important than Osama bin Laden’s elimination is the place where he was hiding. No remote mountain fastness concealed him from US intelligence. He lived comfortably, not far from Islamabad, in Abbotabad—where a Pakistani military academy and a few regiments are located. To imagine that the Pakistani military leadership was oblivious of his whereabouts is to stretch belief beyond measure. This is of a piece with Pakistan’s record of duplicity, in both extending cooperation to the US in combating extremism, and withholding it in cynical calibration of Pakistan’s self-seeking interests.

The Pakistani leadership may have reasoned that aiding Osama’s capture or elimination might incite a stronger extremist backlash in the country. Already, the government is wary of taking on extremist forces on the blasphemy law issue. Pakistan’s military is subject to attacks by extremists; and sectarian strife in the country is deepening. In any case, Osama was no more a force on the ground, only a symbol of resistance to US imperialism. The Americans needed the catharsis of killing him, of feeling that justice for 9/11 had been rendered. Let us not forget that some of the key conspirators of 9/11 were Pakistanis.

The US operation raises many questions. Were the Pakistanis involved? If so, to what extent? On the Raymond Davis affair, the Pakistanis showed an acute sensitivity over sovereignty. In hindsight, it appears that episode may have had something to do with the Osama operation and the Pakistani fear of being exposed.

Whatever the merits of rendering quick justice to Osama, it would appear that Pakistani sovereignty has been given short shrift. The operation took place deep inside Pakistani territory against an individual found on Pakistani soil by a foreign military force. Under what law was the individual’s body removed from the country without proper identification and autopsy?

Pakistan is a great stickler for its legal processes when it comes to trying those responsible for the Mumbai massacre, tirelessly citing the independence of its judiciary and so on. Yet here, it has dispensed with legal niceties and procedures, and bowed to US demands. This is less to criticize the procedure followed in Osama’s case, and more to highlight Pakistan’s obduracy in dealing with India’s legitimate demands.

The US cannot laud Pakistan too much for its role in eliminating Osama, because that would lead to questions regarding how much the Pakistanis knew about his hiding place. The Americans also have to be careful not to intensify domestic reaction against the government. They cannot pretend it was solely a US operation, as that would amount to violating Pakistani sovereignty with impunity. Barack Obama has played the Pakistani role in low key, merely stating he had spoken to Asif Ali Zardari, and hoping Pakistan’s cooperation in combating terrorism will continue.

Osama’s death gives the American public much joy and the President some relief from the problems beleaguering him. But this is only a catharsis, not a solution to the problems the US faces in combating extremism in our region and worldwide. Osama’s killing is not going to cow down those fighting the Americans in Afghanistan. The insurgency there was not his handiwork, but of the Pakistanis and their Taliban collaborators. Indeed, Pakistan continues to protect its Taliban assets in Afghanistan. It is Pakistan that the US has to tackle foremost.

Yet the US needs Pakistan as much now as before. Pakistan may now argue that after the Osama killing, and the likelihood of an intensified extremist backlash in the country, it is hardly in a position to act against the Haqqani network in North Waziristan. It will also beat the usual drum about getting relief on the eastern front with India under US auspices, its involvement in the reconciliation process, more economic and military aid, and a limited role for India in Afghanistan.

With Osama’s death, a chapter has been closed. But in recent years, the threat of international terrorism had no longer flowed from the role and personality of Osama. The Al Qaida and its affiliates have hatreds and grievances that are rooted in the perception that the West victimizes Islam. They believe in violence sanctified by their reading of the Quran. They have a mindset schooled in a particular reading of history.

This problem cannot be wiped out with Osama. The West has to show itself to be just and humane, and respectful of divergent views; less prone to dominate and use military force to get its way, and less vulnerable to charges of double standards. The bombing of Libya and the killing of Moammar Gadhafi’s grandchildren do not help in reshaping attitudes. The Palestinian issue, too, has to be brought to a closure. The Arab world is in disarray, with uncertainties ahead, and Islamist forces are waiting behind the scene to capitalize on turmoil and frustration. There is a long battle ahead.

Kanwal Sibal is a former foreign secretary.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 02 May 2011 22:59

Live press conference going on now at Whitehouse

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01139.html

rajanb · Post by **rajanb** » 02 May 2011 23:00

While we can exult in Osama's end, let us not forget he was a wily fox. CNN is talking about:

a) how US$50M was raised in N. Africa over the past two years through extortion and kidnappings

b) A few months back he participated in a meeting where it was decided that the Qaida would be ruled by a council. So his relevance to ongoing terrorism has been reduced.

c) JUD held prayer meetings for him

Pakistan is in a unenviable situation. Hunting with the hounds and running with the hares. And the hares are going to damage them too, not only the US hounding them!

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 02 May 2011 23:02

I suspected as much. I would have thought that the firefight would have been over in like 3 mins from the moment the commandos stepped foot on the compound.

For a two or 3 storied building, OBL might have been on the top floor.
That means it is a short distance if the soldiers land on the roof.

Another positive thing for the commandos - no one was throwing grenades inside the building. This means that a well protected commando could risk things and storm a room if he wanted to. The only problem is that the commando after storming a room would because of his reflexes shoot any moving object.

Although commandos are trained to do all of this and still identify a hostage from a terrorist. But I wonder.

The rest of the time would be spent in photo graphing the place, mopping up the remaining resistance, making positive IDs on everyone in the compound.

There were explosions heard. There are tents put on the outside of the compound. One of the tents houses the crashed helo. The other seems to be a jeep of some kind.

Possibly the QRT got taken out. or some other resisitance was blasted away.

sanjeevpunj · Post by **sanjeevpunj** » 02 May 2011 23:06

Gandhinagar, May 2(IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Monday urged the central government to seize the initiative and unite all democratic forces to lead a frontal fight against terrorism.
Reacting to the news of the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the Pakistan city of Abbottabad, Modi also said this was proof enough that Pakistan is harbouring terrorists.
‘It is unfortunate that American President Barak Obama has not condemned Pakistan even after being faced with incontrovertible evidence. India should effectively pressurise America to harden its stand on Pakistan’, he added.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 02 May 2011 23:06

In press conference they categorically state Pakis were informed *after* the operation was completed. And Pakis were in the process of scrambling the forces by the time Unkil was far far away form Paki airspace

ShyamSP · Post by **ShyamSP** » 02 May 2011 23:12

Some questions to experts.

Was Osama living in Paki land all along from a few days after 911? Is there a chance he escaped through airlift that happened a few days later or he took the land route to Paki land on say donkeys?

They say he lived in that compound for 5 years. He might have lived some Paki hideout before.

AKalam · Post by **AKalam** » 02 May 2011 23:12

Good riddance for the black son of Islam, who caused so much shame and takleef for the rest of us in Ummah. The twin tower of terror central, Pakistan Army (and its ISI wing) and funding from the House of Saud and their Wahabi backers, that produced Al Quaeda, Taliban and all the rest, are still intact. When people in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia can take these two down, with the help of the rest of Ummah and the world, only then the eco system that has created the violent extremism in Islam, will come to an end.

Countless lives and dollars could be saved if terrorist criminals were attacked the right way like this successful ops, instead of wholesale occupations of countries. Surgical operations should be the new standard to attack and neutralize terrorist criminal elements.

Speaking of bleaching skin and hair for special ops, why not hire some Russians or East European mercenaries to do the job, plausible deniability and all that, just some wild ideas.

Manny · Post by **Manny** » 02 May 2011 23:15

CNN Live: John Brennan

Pakistan was not told until all US Special forces/Navy seals were out of Pakistan

In fact, Pakistan was scrambling their jets to intercept the US Helos. But the US forces got done and scrambled out before they could be intercepted by the Pakistan air force.

rajanb · Post by **rajanb** » 02 May 2011 23:16

John Brennan Asst. to Obama press conference ABC News showing now on CNN IBN

arun · Post by **arun** » 02 May 2011 23:16

The remains of Islamic Terrorist Osama Bin Laden was disposed at sea off the deck of the USS Carl Vinson:

While most Americans slept Sunday night, a quiet at-sea burial ceremony took place for Osama bin Laden aboard the Navy carrier Carl Vinson off the coast of Pakistan.
Bin Laden’s body was dumped into the water off the northern Arabian Sea after an Islamic ritual that included the ceremonial washing of his body and wrapping him in a white sheet.

His body was placed in a weighted bag, and a U.S. military officer read “prepared religious remarks,” which were in turn translated into Arabic by a native speaker, an official said.

“After the words were completed, the body was placed on a prepared flat board, tipped up and the deceased’s body was eased into the sea,” said a senior intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The 50-minute ceremony ended about 2 a.m. Eastern time, which was midday aboard the carrier. Bin Laden was killed hours earlier in a firefight with U.S. forces.
Defense officials said bin Laden was buried at sea because Islamic rites require bodies to be buried within 24 hours of death, and the military did not know of any countries that were willing to accept the body for a land burial.

Experts speculate that U.S. officials feared any land-based burial site would become a gathering point for al-Qaida supporters. …………………..

Read it all:

Bin Laden buried at sea aboard Carl Vinson

sanjeevpunj · Post by **sanjeevpunj** » 02 May 2011 23:17

They (Saudi Wahabi funded organisations and ISI congolmerate) will never take their terror infrastructure down, it has to be done from outside. India might get a frontline role eventually.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 02 May 2011 23:17

AKalam wrote: Speaking of bleaching skin and hair for special ops, why not hire some Russians or East European mercenaries to do the job, plausible deniability and all that, just some wild ideas.

Great idea, as it is Rus have their own scores to settle.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 02 May 2011 23:19

sanjeevpunj wrote:They (Saudi Wahabi funded organisations and ISI congolmerate) will never take their terror infrastructure down, it has to be done from outside. India might get a frontline role eventually.

India has had a frontline role since 1947. No one is under any illusion on that count. It is just that people in our corner have been few.

The real question is, will the word form behind the real frontline fighter? Or will they play their own camps.

Join us I say.

Sam · Post by **Sam** » 02 May 2011 23:23

22 seconds in the video clip is it dialysis (or lota) machine?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13260250

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 02 May 2011 23:23

I call shenanigans on "Appropriate Islamic Burial" for OBL. Apparently parts of his sister's body have been preserved till today to get a DNA match. Now why am I having trouble believing that OBL was disposed off *immediately*

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 02 May 2011 23:25

Nightwatch comments

2 May 2011[

Pakistan-US: Comment: Bin Laden and a son are dead, killed in a firefight by US Navy SEALS carried in two helicopters to Abbottabad, Pakistan, just 35 miles north of Islamabad. The US commandos took custody of his body to prove he is dead and got away safely.

News services quoted unidentified US officials that the body was prepared for burial according to the Muslim ritual. Readers might wonder who gave such an order and why.

The Abbottabad location is important for two reasons. Bin Laden could not have lived in a compound in Abbottabad without official Pakistani government sustenance. Abbottabad is an upscale area and a garrison town, but not so large as to be impersonal. Bin Laden was living in protected luxury. Many people had to know that and probably will come forward in a little time.

On 7 December 2001, Bin Laden escaped from the tunnels in Tora Bora, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, with the help of a local warlord named Hazrat Ali, who betrayed US forces who had hired him to help capture bin Laden and is now a member of the Afghan Parliament for Nangarhar. Bin Laden and his gang crossed the Tora Bora mountains to Parachinar, Pakistan, where a Pakistan Army brigade was deployed to ensure his capture if he crossed the border. They failed, of course. He headed east to Kohat, another Army garrison town and disappeared.

The distance from Kohat to Abbottabad is several hundred kilometers by road, but the two towns are part of the Pakistan Army network of garrison towns in the northwest. Bin laden reportedly moved around in the northwest, but one inference is that bin Laden has been in the safe keeping of the Pakistan Army for a decade. The news reports suggest the compound was specially built for him and his enterprise, which had to have been subsidized by Pakistan and, through Pakistan, by US aid to Pakistan.

Secondly, his compound could not have been attacked from Afghanistan, him killed and his body taken by US Navy SEALs flying US helicopters so close to Islamabad without official Pakistani government cooperation. The US insisted Pakistan played no part in the operation and that the team flew from Afghanistan. That clearly is a cover story for Pakistani public consumption to try to avert overwhelming anti-Pakistan and anti-US demonstrations, which are probably inevitable in any event.

Abottabad is not some remote village on the border. It is a large town in eastern Pakistan, on the main road to Kargil and the north as well as to Muzaffarabad and Pakistani Kashmir to the east. It is northeast - towards India - of Islamabad and within the Pakistan air defense intercept zone for the national capital which is protected by the Pakistani integrated air defense system. Nothing can fly in that region without detection and without permission from the Pakistan Air Force, even from Afghanistan.

The conclusion is inescapable that the Pakistan Army protected bin Laden and recently decided to give him up, rather than sacrifice the Army's relationship with the US. The terms are not known as yet, but there certainly is a trade in which bin Laden was sacrificed. The trade might involve an end to US drone attacks across the border, which humiliate the Pakistan Army, or a new coordination regime for drone attacks into Pakistan.

Bin Laden was a hero in Pakistan. He stood up to the United States and lived …for ten years. Readers should expect an enormous backlash against Americans.

If the Pakistan civilian government survives, it will be because of the cover story that the US acted unilaterally. If the cover story works, on the surface, the US and Pakistani relationship will appear in the international media to take a nose dive. That will not be the truth, though few Pakistanis will know the truth. If the cover story is not believed, the government will not likely survive. There will be investigations by the National Assembly.

One lesson of analysis of terrorist behavior is that terrorists are most vulnerable when they move about. A month or so ago, Asia Times online published a report about bin Laden's movements in the border regions. Those reports look credible. Abottabad has good access to the western border and bin Laden had Pakistani protection. Movement to the border would have posed no major problems, but movement always increases the risk of detection.

Bin Laden was killed with two couriers, whose fate is not reported. The point is that this operation had to have inside help. The increased contacts and movements would have increased the circle of people who knew bin Laden's location and, thus, the likelihood of a serious security breach, especially by low-paid staff.

A final point is that the operation appears to have been a success primarily of human source intelligence and special forces operations, not the drone program, though every asset probably had some role. Bin Laden's mansion compound was too near Islamabad for any armed drone attacks.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 02 May 2011 23:26

ha ha ha...

khan helos are faster than paki jets! scrambled andies for pakis.

Dilbu · Post by **Dilbu** » 02 May 2011 23:28

Live press conference from White House. When asked about continued aid to TSP, the reply was questions will be asked about Pakistan's involvement, understandably.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 02 May 2011 23:31

where are their nukes nukes nukes?

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 02 May 2011 23:33

I think any and all calculations about use of OBL hit as vehicle for pull out (and later use in WANA areas) is overtly optimistic, will not happen.

US is not going anywhere with the terror structure intact in Af-Pak region. What makes them think they can wound the beast and turn away for another fight?

Unless, they give us a "big boost" in many ways, that is. Unconditional, straightforward huge support. Irrespective of the political party in power.

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 02 May 2011 23:35

Nukes are with unkil..helos took the nukes once they picked up OBL....

Pakis are terrorist now the whole word agrees with India.

sanjeevpunj · Post by **sanjeevpunj** » 02 May 2011 23:35

Well India should move forward and dismantle remaining kingpins.