News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 06:17

Everyone is fascinated by the length of the raid, tactics and gadgetry used but don't forget this was one mission which was based on absolutely solid intelligence, solid analysis of risks and multiple dry practice runs. No way the US would send 24 soldiers in harm's way if they had even an iota of doubt that these soldiers might face uncertain odds or might end up getting captured and dragged on TV or street or both - this was no Eagle Claw. Notwithstanding the last minute screw-ups which can happen with any mission, this thing was in the bag before the 1st chopper ever took off. All the gadgetry helped but they were reinforcements onlee.

Agree completely but apparently there were F-Solahs n Predators flying cover mission if anything goes wrong... did Unkil blacked out the entire radar network of Pakis for an hour or so..? or did they feed in pseduo data (my figment of imagination)..to fool Pakis to believe it is matter as usual..? Unkil had enough time to infiltrate the military networks of Pakis

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 06:20

wah... Pierce Morgan is asking to pull troops from Afganistan and put them in Pakistan...

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 03 May 2011 06:23

If it was mech failure what happened to the pilot, helo flying at such low attitude i dont think he would have got enough time to jump out

Rangudu · Post by **Rangudu** » 03 May 2011 06:23

Suppiah wrote:Wonder what Bhadrakumar will write now...just the other day he was expecting Kayani to hand the election victory to Ombaba and wanted India to settle with Pakistan on Beijings terms.

Bhadrakumar will surely write something that concludes that Unkil is stupid and how this is a big win for TSPA and how this is all part of a Kayani masterplan.

krishna_krishna · Post by **krishna_krishna** » 03 May 2011 06:25

Shuklaji has posted a picture on this website. Don't know whether it is real or photoshop

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » 03 May 2011 06:28

amdavadi wrote:Bill O doing an awasome job....He is saying ISI got to pay for keeping this guy hidden for so long.

Some of it is here... a 6 min video..

http://video.foxnews.com/#/v/4673508/a- ... t_id=87937

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 03 May 2011 06:38

If you take a town in India where there could be a security problem - like terrorists or other "misguided elements"

and the town has a lot of military installations - the town is kept under constant surveillance. The identities of the owners or occupants of significant buildings must be known. In India that will be via the civilian police. If there is a "secret building" how does the military establishment know that a foreign agent is not sitting in that building with listening devices - or a saboteur who will eventually strike a high profile visitor (a general in Pakistan) to the military academy?

There is no alternative other than knowing who stays where and what is going on in every corner of the town. Osama's hideout was apparently a former ISI safe house. Raman is quite credible when he says that the Pakis could cover their tracks by saying that the compound is owned by a "Retired General" and they do not know what he was using it for. They could then use a Shia or Ahmedi general as scapegoat.

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 06:39

Below please find a bite from Cooper’s Musharraf interview airing tonight. Please credit all usage to CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° Full transcript available after the show.

Anderson Cooper: Mr. president for years US officials, Intel officials have been saying OBL was in fact in Pakistan, you have been denying for years now, categorically saying no, he was in Afghanistan...do you now admit you were wrong?
Pervez Musharraf: no, I don't think i was ever denying, I was asked everywhere...and my first response invariablyalways was that i don't know, I don't know where he is.
AC: actually sir that not true you said repeatedly he was in Afghanistan
PM: and I used to ask, what Intel do you have? He could be in Afghanistan. But I never, I always said he could be in Pakistan or Afghanistan. I never said no, he was never in Pakistan, I never said that
AC: actually sir that's not true, you said in interviews that you believed he was in Afghanistan, that he was not in Pakistan
PM: no I always put a doubt in that that I don't know. and I never had that information,. And so and so anyone who said he was in Pakistan also didn't have the intelligence.. It was not based on any intelligence. It was guesswork

the show is 10PM EST.....CNN

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 06:41

krishna_krishna wrote:Shuklaji has posted a picture on this website. Don't know whether it is real or photoshop

same fake one... gosh its a simple google search away to validate the veracity..

UBanerjee · Post by **UBanerjee** » 03 May 2011 06:43

prithvi wrote:Below please find a bite from Cooper’s Musharraf interview airing tonight. Please credit all usage to CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° Full transcript available after the show.

Anderson Cooper: Mr. president for years US officials, Intel officials have been saying OBL was in fact in Pakistan, you have been denying for years now, categorically saying no, he was in Afghanistan...do you now admit you were wrong?
Pervez Musharraf: no, I don't think i was ever denying, I was asked everywhere...and my first response invariablyalways was that i don't know, I don't know where he is.
AC: actually sir that not true you said repeatedly he was in Afghanistan
PM: and I used to ask, what Intel do you have? He could be in Afghanistan. But I never, I always said he could be in Pakistan or Afghanistan. I never said no, he was never in Pakistan, I never said that
AC: actually sir that's not true, you said in interviews that you believed he was in Afghanistan, that he was not in Pakistan
PM: no I always put a doubt in that that I don't know. and I never had that information,. And so and so anyone who said he was in Pakistan also didn't have the intelligence.. It was not based on any intelligence. It was guesswork

the show is 10PM EST.....CNN

Good to see him pressing the issue.

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 06:46

UBanerjee wrote:
prithvi wrote:Below please find a bite from Cooper’s Musharraf interview airing tonight. Please credit all usage to CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° Full transcript available after the show.

Anderson Cooper: Mr. president for years US officials, Intel officials have been saying OBL was in fact in Pakistan, you have been denying for years now, categorically saying no, he was in Afghanistan...do you now admit you were wrong?
Pervez Musharraf: no, I don't think i was ever denying, I was asked everywhere...and my first response invariablyalways was that i don't know, I don't know where he is.
AC: actually sir that not true you said repeatedly he was in Afghanistan
PM: and I used to ask, what Intel do you have? He could be in Afghanistan. But I never, I always said he could be in Pakistan or Afghanistan. I never said no, he was never in Pakistan, I never said that
AC: actually sir that's not true, you said in interviews that you believed he was in Afghanistan, that he was not in Pakistan
PM: no I always put a doubt in that that I don't know. and I never had that information,. And so and so anyone who said he was in Pakistan also didn't have the intelligence.. It was not based on any intelligence. It was guesswork

the show is 10PM EST.....CNN
Good to see him pressing the issue.

whts the deal with calling him the President?

arun · Post by **arun** » 03 May 2011 06:48

X Posted from the Pakistani Role in Global Terrorism thread.

The duplicitous behaviour of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan regards Global Islamic Terrorism brings out some scepticism.

Extract from transcript of the Press Briefing of Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan, 2nd May 2011.

The US is not buying the argument that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was cluless about Osama Bin Laden’s presence in Abbotabad:

Q And if I could just ask, have you been able to determine how bin Laden was able to hide in this relatively prominent location, and do you believe the Pakistanis when they say that they had no idea that he was there?

MR. BRENNAN: People have been referring to this as hiding in plain sight. Clearly this was something that was considered as a possibility. Pakistan is a large country. We are looking right now at how he was able to hold out there for so long, and whether or not there was any type of support system within Pakistan that allowed him to stay there.

We know that the people at the compound there were working on his behalf, and that’s how we ultimately found our way to that compound. But we are right now less than 24 hours after this operation, so we are talking with the Pakistanis on a regular basis now, and we're going to pursue all leads to find out exactly what type of support system and benefactors that bin Laden might have had.

Q But you don’t necessarily take them at their word that they didn’t know?

MR. BRENNAN: We are pursuing all leads in this issue.

Q Just to follow on that, is it really credible that Pakistani authorities had no idea that this compound was being built and that it existed -- such an elaborate compound?

MR. BRENNAN: I think it’s inconceivable that bin Laden did not have a support system in the country that allowed him to remain there for an extended period of time. I am not going to speculate about what type of support he might have had on an official basis inside of Pakistan. We are closely talking to the Pakistanis right now, and again, we are leaving open opportunities to continue to pursue whatever leads might be out there.

Confirmation that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was kept in the dark regards the mission that concluded with the execution of Islamic Terrorist Osama Bin laden in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Indeed the Islamic republic of Pakistan was only informed AFTER the strike force completed the mission and had exited Pakistani airspace. It thus appears that contrary claims by Pakistan is nothing more than a ploy to preserve their national honour and dignity.

Further it is disclosed that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan were “scrambling some of their assets” which luckily did not make contact with the US strike force:

Q And I understand that there was a moment of real tension, one with the helicopter, but then also when the Navy SEALs were leaving and the Pakistani government started scrambling their jets, and there was a concern that they were coming to where the U.S. troops were, where the Navy SEALs were. Was there an actual concern that the Pakistanis -- since they were not apparently informed about this military operation, was there an actual concern that they might actually take military action against the Navy SEALs?

MR. BRENNAN: 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 U.S. 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 was no other individuals who were killed aside from those on the compound.

Other mentions of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in the Press briefing:

Q Can you tell us more about the role that the U.S. -- more of the role of how the U.S. is interacting with Pakistan and are we actively investigating what they knew and didn’t know about Osama bin Laden being there or not?

MR. BRENNAN: Well, a couple things. One, the President mentioned yesterday that he spoke to President Zardari, and a number of senior U.S. officials are in regular contact now with their Pakistani counterparts. We are continuing to engage with them -- we’re engaging with them today -- as we learn more about the compound and whatever type of support system bin Laden had.

I would point out that we’ve had differences of view with the Pakistani government on counterterrorism cooperation, on areas of cooperation, and what we think they should and shouldn’t be doing. At the same time, I’ll say that Pakistan has been responsible for capturing and killing more terrorists inside of Pakistan than any country, and it’s by a wide margin. And there have been many, many brave Pakistani soldiers, security officials, as well as citizens, who have given their lives because of the terrorism scourge in that country. So although there are some differences of view with Pakistan, we believe that that partnership is critically important to breaking the back of al Qaeda and eventually prevailing over al Qaeda as well as associated terrorist groups.

Q Can I ask one follow? You mentioned that questions are going to be raised about Pakistan, understandably, and the role of Pakistan. For you and your counterterrorism job, given now the history of the Raymond Davis episode and the fact that this was done without consultation, are you concerned that in just in your line of work it will be very difficult to reestablish a good working relationship with the ISI or the intelligence authorities there?

MR. BRENNAN: There’s dialogue going on with our counterterrorism counterparts in the aftermath of this. They’re expressing understanding about the reasons why we did this. They are appreciative that it was done without having Pakistani casualties outside of that compound. The U.S.-Pakistani relationship, which is a strategic relationship, goes on a number of different areas and levels; counterterrorism is one of them. It can be a complicated matter. As I say, we don’t always agree on some of the things that we want to do. But through that continued dialogue and communication, I think we get where we need to be.

This is one more incident that we’re going to have to deal with, and we look forward to continue to work with our Pakistani colleagues, because they are as much, if not more, on the front lines of the battle against terrorism.

More on the question of the honesty or lack of it, of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in confronting Islamic Terrorism :

Q Since the death of bin Laden, what is the thought of this administration -- do you believe that the Pakistani government was transparent and being honest and forthcoming, given the information that they have now on Osama bin Laden -- what they knew, or going in to finding out more about this situation?

MR. BRENNAN: There are a lot of people within the Pakistani government, and I’m not going to speculate about who or if any of them had prior knowledge about bin Laden being in Abbottabad. But certainly his location there outside of the capital raises questions. We are talking to the Pakistanis about this. But they, at least in our discussions with them, seem as surprised as we were initially that bin Laden was holding out in that area.

Read it all:

Press Briefing

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 03 May 2011 06:53

This whole episode just does not smell right
- When you have the body of your main nemesis, why would you throw it into the sea - remember Prabhakaran, Saddam and many others; body shown as evidence

- How on earth would this guy be living in an odd shaped plot in Abottabad with the US not knowing about it - there would have been some leak or the other long back

- The whole episode comes at a very convenient time to extract maximum mileage - save face and reduce presence in Afpak (we have the investments needed), maybe shift to Iran (resurrect cold war doctrine where the Saudis are friends, revert to good Taliban which will only attack India etc).

This just does not add up.

Pakistan has been willingly thrown under the bus for god only knows what trade

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 03 May 2011 06:56

Al Qaeda is dead

---- Fareed Zakaria.

But the truth is this is a huge, devastating blow to al Qaeda, which had already been crippled by the Arab Spring. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is the end of al Qaeda in any meaningful sense of the word.

Al Qaeda is not an organization that commands massive resources. It doesn’t have a big army. It doesn’t have vast reservoirs of funds that it can direct easily across the world.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 03 May 2011 06:57

Ameet wrote:By Asif Ali Zardari, Monday, May , 7:53 PM

Some comments on duspercenti's poorly written essay on "Please don't leave us".

"Please don't cut off my big money, the Chinese will make me work for it."

What a pathetic human .. never seen worse leech!

The world's most wanted terrorist is living comfortably for the last 5 years in your country's garrison town less than a mile away from your military academy and you have the indecency to try to defend your ISI and the army which has a track record of supporting terroists including the ones involved in Mumbai attacks. It is time you came clean. Or It is time the world declared your country a sponsor of world terrorism and prohibited the leadership and their family from travelling outside the country.

Why were Ur army/ISI hiding him for 10 years? If you are so honest, give up Haqqani, Mulla Omar, AQ#2-10 NOW!

We are used to your empty words and crocodile tears! We know what we need to do next. Please fool someone else!

Sir, I beg to differ. This comment borders on the purile...you and your generals really do sneer at America and think you are so much smarter.
-- Sir, you created the Taliban in 1995; you used it to overrun Afghanistan in 1997.
-- You recognized it, funded it.
-- You planned to use it in your State terrorism strategy against India, and in your increasingly disfuncitonal and paranoid state, against the rest of the world as well.
-- You facilitated the passage through Karachi of vast numbers of Jihadists to join the newly arrived Bin Ladin.
-- When after 9/11 you were forced to offer pretended help to the USA or be faced with war, you succored the fleeing Taliban and Al Qaida.
-- You have then paid the Taliban to wage war on the Afghans and on the west.
-- You have done this based on a bizarre and idiotic theory of maneuver room...needed for a conflict with India...because you believe Afghanistan funded by India is a threat, and because you really have become a believer in State terrorism

You had nothing to do with our finding Bin Ladin and taking him down. You had everything to do with protecting him and succoring him for 10 years and by so doing you have become a pariah. Every Taliban commander, even Mullah Berader, captured with our help you have released, giving them instructions to attack the CF, Afghanistan, and paying them.

Your own Frontier Corps is now physically attacking Americans and Afghans in support of your paid mercenaries.

You sir are a liar....your generals are liars.....you are very very close to annihilation sir. Americans may be slow to anger, but they do not forget...and Pakistan, basket case Pakistan, is now the single most, despised and contemptible country in the world. You can rectify this by firing Kayani and Pasha...You won't do it because you, sir, have no power. And the Pak military, in its insanity ,will drive your country to oblivion.

No! Pakistan was giving Ben Laden safe haven. That's what we bought for the $3 billion in annual aid.

Cut off the damn money.

"Pakistan did it's part." What a joke. Pakistan's ISI allowed Bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora. You can't tell me ISI did not know he was in a town full of retired Pak generals. Pakistan is the worlds worst nuclear proliferator. For the life of me I cannot understand why we did not dismantle Pakistan back in 2001.

Zurd.. go chew on some bacon and stop farting to the world.. we know you do nothing but harbor terrorists

Nonsense. Pakistan did squat. They are protecting all the notorious terrorists in the world. Dawood Ibrahim,
Osama and several others.

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 03 May 2011 07:02

Surprisingly strong article by the newly minted non-family editor in the Chennai yellow pages...is he trying to curry favor with the BRF types and dilute yellow daily's 'reputation' as a hardcore Stalinist rapist goon propaganda mouthpiece?

Or has Kiyani & Co become expendable even to our Marxist comrades and hence Beijing?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 03 May 2011 07:06

Pakistanis are facing the music in ABC, CNN, BBC, Times Now, Headlines Today and everywhere else. But, their analysts pull a straight face shamelessly, put on spin, refute vehemently, counter question, deny, obfuscate, lie and survive to repeat all these another day. That indeed is the power of Pakistan. They have far outdone the Third Reich in many areas.

Anindya · Post by **Anindya** » 03 May 2011 07:23

Pakistanis are facing the music in ABC, CNN, BBC, Times Now, Headlines Today and everywhere else

Most surprising was Rumsfeld's strong white washing of Pakistani crimes - wonder where that comes from.

Christopher Sidor · Post by **Christopher Sidor** » 03 May 2011 07:26

With Bin Laden dead, america will abandon Afghanistan soon enough. If not outright, then there will be a massive scaling down of focus. With US economy in the state that it is, it is not feasible for America to continue this war. With Iraq there still the possibility of american oil companies benefiting. In case of Afghanistan no such possibility exists. Even the so called fabled mineral wealth of Afghanistan is of no use, as the raw material would have to be transported through unreliable allies. If we consider Pakistan's past record of transporting goods for NATO/ISAF/USA troops in Afghanistan then America will be even more wary. Add to this the fact that there are other countries which have similar amount of raw materials which Afghanistan has.

For Pakistan can we now say that it will be expected to show progress on ground for all the US Tax dollars that it gets? And can we now hope that the flow of money to Pakistan army, which was eventually used to buy weapons targeted against India and not some terrorists, will be curtailed?

There might be hunt for No 2 and No 3 of Alqeda, but we can start seeing a significant reduction of american forces and interests in afpak theater.

On a final note, the killing of osama is a good thing. Bin Tera Laden yeh duniya haseen lagti hai.

Vivek_A · Post by **Vivek_A** » 03 May 2011 07:29

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... .html?mod=

U.S. Rolled Dice in bin Laden Raid

Looming over the operation was an equally pressing worry: The U.S. might tip off the Pakistanis, who weren't deemed trustworthy enough to keep the secret. The Pakistanis had provided the U.S. some information on the courier, but may not have realized his significance, a U.S. official said. Some U.S. officials had long suspected elements of the Pakistani government or military were aiding bin Laden.

After nightfall Sunday, U.S. helicopters brought the team of Special Operations Forces from an air base in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. One helicopter was badly damaged after hitting the ground hard because of a "vortex" created by the high walls of the compound, a heart-stopping moment that encapsulated the U.S.'s biggest fears about the mission.

Knowing they would have to abandon one chopper, the team spent 40 minutes, with guns blazing, charging through each of the structures on the compound. Bin Laden and his family were found on the second and third floors of the large main structure, the final building to be searched. U.S. officials said bin Laden tried to defend himself with a gun before being shot.

Bin Laden's body was initially identified by members of the military strike force, and by a woman at the compound identified as one of his wives.

The assault team also had orders to remove items of intelligence value. "They picked up anything they could get their hands on," including computer hard drives, said a U.S. intelligence official. "They're being exploited to find anything we can on them."

Video footage obtained by local TV channels following the attack showed a bloodstained bed in a room where bin Laden was reportedly killed.

A senior defense official said bin Laden was killed by "U.S. bullets," ruling out that he was killed by his own guards to prevent his capture. At least one bullet fired by the U.S. strike team struck bin Laden in the left eye.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 03 May 2011 07:37

Vivek_A wrote:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... .html?mod=
Bin Laden and his family were found on the second and third floors of the large main structure, the final building to be searched.

This suggests that his exact location in the compound was an unknown.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 03 May 2011 07:38

If Pakistani sold out OBL, wouldn't they have gone through the pain to have him dead or captured in Afghanistan than in Islamabad? They could have moved him out on some pretext, as they controlled him. Why have this episode pan out so close to their capital?

Tom Friedman on CNN, saying India is not going to overtake Pakistan; it is just the Pakistani Army using that shimmer to maintain control in Pakistan.

CNN saying OBL was killed in the last 10 minutes of the operation. The operation took 38 minutes.

Christopher Sidor · Post by **Christopher Sidor** » 03 May 2011 07:42

Bin Laden's Compound

If this has already been posted, then I am sorry

The home is in Abbottabad, a town about 35 miles north of Islamabad, that is relatively affluent and home to many retired members of Pakistan's military.
....
....
The building, about eight times the size of other nearby houses, sat on a large plot of land that was relatively secluded when it was built in 2005. When it was constructed, it was on the outskirts of Abbottabad's center, at the end of a dirt road, but some other homes have been built nearby in the six years since it went up, officials said.
....
....
Intense security measures included 12- to 18-foot outer walls topped with barbed wire and internal walls that sectioned off different parts of the compound, officials said. Two security gates restricted access, and residents burned their trash, rather than leaving it for collection as did their neighbors, officials said.
Few windows of the three-story home faced the outside of the compound, and a terrace had a seven-foot (2.1 meter) privacy wall, officials said.
"It is also noteworthy that the property is valued at approximately $1 million but has no telephone or Internet service connected to it," an administration official said. "The brothers had no explainable source of wealth."
....
....
Abbottabad is a popular summer resort, located in a valley surrounded by green hills near Pakistani Kashmir. Islamist militants, particularly those fighting in Indian-controlled Kashmir, used to have training camps near the town.

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 03 May 2011 07:49

shiv wrote:
kmkraoind wrote:
The operation went off without a hitch, save for a mechanical snafu on a CH-47 that required the U.S. team to destroy it.

The photo of the wreck is decidedly not a CH-47. Something odd here. I wonder if a Paki helo was shot down and it is being kept under wraps for echandee purposes?

Hakimji, it was a MH-60 SpecOps Blackhawk.

For those who still seem to have a iota of belief that ISI did provide information about his whereabouts to the Americans, well,

1) They would have caught him themselves, and would have bartered him for some huge benefits that could be reaped for decades. He was obviously being saved to milk the west for ages.

2) They would have never allowed the yanks to grab him so close to their garrison town just 20 miles from Islamabad. It is obvious they were absolutely clueless about the operation until the birds flew back to Afghanistan.

We can be certain about one thing though, America's power might have waned in the last decade, but they still have longer legs than any other country to kick the rear of those who harm their interests. Kudos to them for relentlessly pursuing this prick for over a decade to avenge 9/11.

OT : I was amazed at the enterprising skills of t-shirt makers! On my way to work at 9 AM, souvenir hawkers on the streets of DC were busy selling ' It took a Obama to get Osama' and other SEAL operation t-shirts!

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 03 May 2011 07:57

ramana wrote:There are two streams of terrorism against US from Af-Pak:Al-Q and Taliban. OBL demise will affect the first stream. Mullah Omar might shed a tear or let out a few wails.

Ramanaji, a former ISI guy who was close to Nawaz Sharrif was interviewed by a paki channel a couple of years ago. According to him, Mullah Omar and Osama never got along well, but Omar could not get rid of Osama as he had the backing of ISI. I think Omar must have taken a deep sigh of relief. The pressing question is about Al-Zawahiri. I always thought he would be found/killed with Osama, but i guess the ISI made sure the core AQ assets are spread across Pakistan. I suspect Zawahiri must be in a safe house somewhere in Karachi/Lahore.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 03 May 2011 07:57

Ambar wrote: Hakimji, it was a MH-60 SpecOps Blackhawk.

That is what reports say but I am unable to reconcile the photo of the wreck with photos of the tail portion of the Blackhawk.

Compare the two images below.

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/s ... ed/bp6.jpg

http://www.life.com/image/1754872

(Will cross post in the aircraft recognition thread)

Anantha · Post by **Anantha** » 03 May 2011 07:58

It is finally official all over US. TSP is TS
Americans I met said Pakis looked at them in an embarrassed manner today with a weird look and Americans equally pissed giving thema strange look.
I heard kids in school saying Paks are planning to attack US now.
At least 1-2 generation are going to have strong impressions on TSP. OBL is a stick that we can beat the Pakis with for a while now.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 03 May 2011 08:03

Anantha wrote:It is finally official all over US. TSP is TS
Americans I met said Pakis looked at them in an embarrassed manner today with a weird look and Americans equally pissed giving thema strange look.
I heard kids in school saying Paks are planning to attack US now.
At least 1-2 generation are going to have strong impressions on TSP. OBL is a stick that we can beat the Pakis with for a while now.

In 1999-2001 I was a frustrated and angry man. I knew damn well India was being hit by Pakistan (IC 814, Kaluchak) and I knew the US was stonewalling India's allegations about Pakistan. That is why my bewildered children saw me dancing with joy when the Twin Towers came down. I thought "The US is now going to find out where terrorism is coming from".

Little did I realise that there would be 10 years of drama, lies and hypocrisy and two countries taken before the blame got pinned on Pakistan. Imagine the depth of reluctance to face facts about Pakistan

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 03 May 2011 08:09

Unlikely that US will leave Afg'n in a tearing hurry after declaring victory there, contrary to some speculation on that score.

More likely, the US will maintain some presence there and not just for upside purposes (minerals, access to CAR, base of ops and action against Iran, Xinjiang, J&K and of course TSP itself etc) but more importantly, to prevent a vacuum that inevitably inimical interests would seek to fill.

IMO, If unkil has any sense, they'd tie up with Delhi which'll not only help stablizie Afg'n and 'share' access to CAr and mineral wealth et al but also be in some position to give reliable guarantees concerning inimical interests not occupying Afg'n.

Of course, that would require a complete rejection of 'partnership' etc with TSP by unkil first. And that's as likely to happen as India joining the UNSC as P-6.

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 03 May 2011 08:10

Jarita wrote:This whole episode just does not smell right
- When you have the body of your main nemesis, why would you throw it into the sea - remember Prabhakaran, Saddam and many others; body shown as evidence

I dont think any government wanted to house his body for even a short while for photo-session, the only place where it could have been done was TSP itself but I doubt that it would have been on the priorities of the operations personnel, note that TSPA was mobilizing as the US choppers were exiting into AFG.

Also, there is no question of doing it in Bagram or elsewhere, Karzai wouldnt have allowed it. Moreover, it is not necessary that entire body needs to be shown as evidence, pretty sure that tissue, brain cells and blood samples have been taken.

VikramS · Post by **VikramS** » 03 May 2011 08:12

Spot the...

ManuT · Post by **ManuT** » 03 May 2011 08:16

Reached the 30th page of this runaway crazy thread (and I thought I was behind on the other threads).

Thankful for a lot of people on this thread.

Now only interested in the intel evidence gathered from the site by the SEAL team, that would be interesting indeed.

No need to see futu, for me, OBL can take it to the Arabian Sea.
Can I say, fuk you OBL, for unleashing the negative potential of human beings. Resting in pieces as fish bait now there is no chance of heaven or redemption for this S.O.B. ever.

At the very least a small take away for India is that any dead terrorist unclaimed by TSP should be cremated as a matter of policy.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 03 May 2011 08:17

VikramS wrote:Spot the...
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/05/ ... 64x578.jpg

Good one. 1970s fashion

Is it the brown coat on the extreme right?

AdityaM · Post by **AdityaM** » 03 May 2011 08:17

fox news is a happy ground for paki bashing!

Shiv the pic look the same to me

just look close enough

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 03 May 2011 08:20

VikramS wrote:Spot the...

The aloof joker on the roof, in all purple!

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 03 May 2011 08:25

recall the scene in Patriot Games movie where the CIA director and his staff are watching live in a conf room as a kamandu squad takes out some kinda tented terrorist camp in the north african desert...

can satellites provide such live footage or it needs a global hawk drone ?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 03 May 2011 08:27

Recall OBL had sent TV journalists to kill Ahmed Shah Massod in August 2001.

Anantha · Post by **Anantha** » 03 May 2011 08:27

24 hrs have passed after Obama has announced the Catch. No word from Paki Army or ISI. Where are the Hijdas hiding?

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 03 May 2011 08:29

Klaus wrote:
VikramS wrote:Spot the...
The aloof joker on the roof, in all purple!

Well another possibility is yellow pants, broad belt, shock of hair and maroon and gold scarf. But I still think its brown coat on right.

VikramS · Post by **VikramS** » 03 May 2011 08:30

The elder bin Laden, a devout Muslim, had 11 known wives. Osama was the only child born to Alia, a beauty from Syria who preferred Parisian fashions to the veil. As a foreigner, she did not rank high in the family pecking order. Some members of the bin Laden clan have said her status was so lowly that she was known as ''the slave'' and her son as ''Ibn al Abeda'' - son of the slave.
Some sources close to the family believe his sense of alienation and rebellion began here. Others believe it arose later, when bin Laden was manoeuvred out of a major role in the construction firm by his older brothers.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/a-polite-co ... z1LFz2Nv7B