News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In Pakistan

A Sharma · Post by **A Sharma** » 03 May 2011 04:30

A Pakistani colleague said had Pakistani forces been involved in this operation they would have never had let Americans catch Osama in Abottabad. They would have handed Osama to Americans claiming he was caught in border areas of Afghanistan. According to him ISI was caught with its pants down.

Nandu · Post by **Nandu** » 03 May 2011 04:31

prithvi wrote:the unthinkable has happened.. Rush Limbaugh has praised Obama....

No he hasn't.

Neither has Trump asked for a long form death certificate for Osama.

These are jokes circling the internet (Rush did make some sarcastic remarks, which, if one were not careful, could be taken for praise).

ManjaM · Post by **ManjaM** » 03 May 2011 04:32

Fox news not far behind in reporting the latest news.

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 04:33

Nandu wrote:
prithvi wrote:the unthinkable has happened.. Rush Limbaugh has praised Obama....
No he hasn't.

Neither has Trump asked for a long form death certificate for Osama.

These are jokes circling the internet (Rush did make some sarcastic remarks, which, if one were not careful, could be taken for praise).

though might be OT... but Rush did praise.. Obama ...later he added a flavor of sarcasm.. but having the initial remarks itself were remarkable... anyway....

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 03 May 2011 04:37

This pic looks as if they are watching the raid LIVE

At CIA HQ they were, do not know about this. Possible.

Damn. Those Navy Seals are good!!!

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 04:39

RamaY wrote:
Acharya wrote:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/0 ... tml#273024

This pic looks as if they are watching the raid LIVE

interesting to note the use of CAT (patch cord) for network access instead of wireless .. you can also see the secured router in the middle of the table....

Nandu · Post by **Nandu** » 03 May 2011 04:41

Re:Rush. It was sarcasm from the beginning.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 03 May 2011 04:43

Folks wouldn't it be better to edit the pictures out when replying

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 03 May 2011 04:44

- self deleted -

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 04:44

Nandu wrote:Re:Rush. It was sarcasm from the beginning.

ok... you win...

Manas · Post by **Manas** » 03 May 2011 04:50

ramana wrote:All of last night Wolf Blitzer was spouting the line that TSP helped in the raid while all other channels were telling the truth!

Yup, Peter Bergen was trying to highlight TSP complicity and Wolf cut him off once. Then on the 2nd go around Peter seemed to get the message and changed the slant and started to talk about how this place is to close to the area where other groups that operate against India are based and it is close to "Kashmir". So Peter squeezed in the K word and then Wolf had to cut out again to get more breaking news. Peter didnt make an appearance on the domestic service. Looked like he had found a new refuge on CNN international after that.

Not sure why some of these journalists & analysts are intellectually dishonest.

Nandu · Post by **Nandu** » 03 May 2011 04:53

Manas wrote: Not sure why some of these journalists & analysts are intellectually dishonest.

Why would one think that lobbying is limited to legislators? Or that lifafas are limited to journalists in Pakistan?

Nandu · Post by **Nandu** » 03 May 2011 04:59

prithvi wrote:
Nandu wrote:Re:Rush. It was sarcasm from the beginning.
ok... you win...

prithvi-ji, I detect some sarcasm in your post.

OK, my last post on this subject. Decide for yourself.
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201105020008
bye

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 03 May 2011 05:03

Admins! Please change the misleading title of this thread. It should read "Breaking News - Osama Bin Laden - killed In South Asia, Pakistan unilaterally provides USA access to its airspace for operation".

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 03 May 2011 05:10

Phor the Guest of Kakul Akademy and his Host ,

Bol Osama Bol tera kaun auliya
Kaun hai woh poak jis pe trust kiya!!
Kaun hai jo sabse barra terrorismwalla
Uske nishani bataye AQ wala

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ccAtV4N8Jg

Anantha · Post by **Anantha** » 03 May 2011 05:10

Guys CNN is nothing but a mouthpiece for US govt.
Unless "a senior official on condition of anonymity" says something to Wolf, he will not mention the TSP word.
One mention by Obama on TSP perfidy, you will hear it for 24 hrs from thereon. This is the power of western media.

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 05:18

Robert Greiner...the CIA station chief in Pakistan during 9/11 simply did not believe that Pakis had a role in hiding OBL....he said it is hard to believe but might be possible....guess he is trying to save his a**

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 03 May 2011 05:19

Osama bin Laden dead: Finger of suspicion at Pakistan military for protecting bin Laden

The finger of suspicion is pointing squarely at the Pakistani military and intelligence for sheltering and protecting Osama bin Laden before US forces hunted him down and put a bullet in his head on Sunday. The coordinates of the action and sequence of events suggest that the al-Qaida fugitive may have been killed in an ISI safehouse.

Within hours of the news of bin Laden's killing, speculation raged about Pakistan and its spy agency's role in the momentous episode. President Obama made it clear that the operation to hunt down bin Laden was conducted exclusively by US forces -- ''a small team of Americans,'' he said -- at his direction. While he thanked Pakistan's civilian government for its help, naming President Zardari in particular, he made no mention of any other active Pakistani role, especially in the operation. It was "all-American" and "Made in USA," he seemed to say.

But in a glaring counter-narrative, Pakistani security officials claimed bin Laden was nailed in a joint operation between CIA and Pakistani forces. "It was carried out on a very precise info that some high-value target is there," one Pakistani official was quoted as saying.

US analysts uniformly suggested this was clearly aimed at ducking charges of the Pakistani military's possible role in hiding bin Laden. ''This is hugely embarrassing for Pakistan,'' was a common refrain on US TV channels throughout the night.

In fact, top US officials have openly suggested for months that the Pakistani military establishment was hiding bin Laden. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came closest to publicly exposing Pakistan's role last May when she accused some government officials there of harboring Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar.

''I am not saying they are at the highest level...but I believe somewhere in this government are people who know where Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida and where Mullah Omar and the leadership of the Taliban are,'' Clinton said on May 10 last year, adding, ''We expect more cooperation (from Pakistan) to help us bring to justice capture or kill those who brought us 9/11.''

Taken together with President Obama's pointed 'thank you' to President Zardari and leaving out any mention of Pakistani forces' involvement, it would seem that Washington believes that Pakistan's military intelligence establishment, including the ISI, was sheltering bin Laden. The ISI was accused as recently as last week by the top US military official Admiral Mike Mullen of having terrorist links, and named as a terrorist support entity by US officials, according to the Guantanamo cables.

Lending credence to the charges is the fact that US forces homed in on bin Laden in Abbottabad, which is a cantonment just 50 kms from Islamabad , where the Pakistani military has a strong presence. The place where bin Laden was killed is only kilometers from the Kakul military academy, where many Pakistani military elites, including some of its ISI cadres, graduate from.

While US officials are tightlipped about precise details, analysts are trying to figure out whether the compound that sheltered bin Laden was an ISI safehouse. There is also speculation as to whether Hillary Clinton was referring to this when she made her pointed remarks last May.

US officials have said for years that they believed bin Laden escaped to Pakistan after the American bombing campaign in Afghanistan. But Pakistani officials, including its former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, insisted that he was in Afghanistan , even as Afghan officials would angrily refute it and say he is in Pakistan. In the end, the Americans and Afghans were right on the money.

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 05:21

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 03 May 2011 05:23

The ISI was accused as recently as last week by the top US military official Admiral Mike Mullen of having terrorist links

Now we know why. Adm knew the story while he was in Pakistan.

Nandu · Post by **Nandu** » 03 May 2011 05:24

How they found the courier, and then the bin.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ ... story.html

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 05:28

Obama tapped two dozen members of the Navy's elite SEAL Team Six to carry out a raid with surgical accuracy.

Before dawn Monday morning, a pair of helicopters left Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. The choppers entered Pakistani airspace using sophisticated technology intended to evade that country's radar systems, a U.S. official said.

Officially, it was a kill-or-capture mission, since the U.S. doesn't kill unarmed people trying to surrender. But it was clear from the beginning that whoever was behind those walls had no intention of surrendering, two U.S. officials said.

The helicopters lowered into the compound, dropping the SEALs behind the walls. No shots were fired, but shortly after the team hit the ground, one of the helicopters came crashing down and rolled onto its side for reasons the government has yet to explain. None of the SEALs was injured, however, and the mission continued uninterrupted.

With the CIA and White House monitoring the situation in real time – presumably by live satellite feed or video carried by the SEALs – the team stormed the compound.

Thanks to sophisticated satellite monitoring, U.S. forces knew they'd likely find bin Laden's family on the second and third floors of one of the buildings on the property, officials said. The SEALs secured the rest of the property first, then proceeded to the room where bin Laden was hiding. In the ensuing firefight, Brennan said, bin Laden used a woman as a human shield.

The SEALs killed bin Laden with a bullet to the head. Using the call sign for his visual identification, one of the soldiers communicated that "Geronimo" had been killed in action, according to a U.S. official.

Bin Laden's body was immediately identifiable, but the U.S. also conducted DNA testing that identified him with near 100 percent certainty, senior administration officials said. Photo analysis by the CIA, confirmation on site by a woman believed to be bin Laden's wife, and matching physical features such as bin Laden's height all helped confirm the identification. At the White House, there was no doubt.

"I think the accomplishment that very brave personnel from the United States government were able to realize yesterday is a defining moment in the war against al-Qaida, the war on terrorism, by decapitating the head of the snake known as al-Qaida," Brennan said.

U.S. forces searched the compound and flew away with documents, hard drives and DVDs that could provide valuable intelligence about al-Qaida, a U.S. official said. The entire operation took about 40 minutes, officials said.

Bin Laden's body was flown to the USS Carl Vinson in the North Arabian sea, a senior defense official said. There, aboard a U.S. warship, officials conducted a traditional Islamic burial ritual. Bin Laden's body was washed and placed in a white sheet. He was placed in a weighted bag that, after religious remarks by a military officer, was slipped into the sea about 2 a.m. EDT Monday.

Said the president: "I think we can all agree this is a good day for America."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/0 ... 56674.html

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 03 May 2011 05:32

Bill O, holding a photo of Mush:

Don't you like to slap this guy!

Also said on the show, Not only Pakis knew, they (ISI) actually kept him under house arrest there to use it at the right time.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 03 May 2011 05:32

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?

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 03 May 2011 05:33

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

Anantha · Post by **Anantha** » 03 May 2011 05:39

I have this following project, if some IT guy can do this
Some of you might have seen Hitler Parodies in you tube.
For eg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK5nxUAVvCE
We need to create one for "Hitler finds out about OBL being dead" and circulate it far and wide that will include TSP perfidy.
Here is one forum where there are instructions on how to edit the video and put subtitles:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/downfallparodi ... 2508370/1/
The subject matter will be like this
Hitler is the head of PAks and Al-Queda
1 When one General points the map, he can say "us" Pakistanis can set off Loose nukes in and around the German spots shown in the Video
2. Hitler will reply that OBL and his team will take care of placing the weapons in the right spots
3. The two Generals sheapishly will say OBL is dead with the sweaty face
4. Hitler will say- Kiyani, Pasha, Athar Abbas and Al-Zawahiri will stay in the room and everyone else will leave (several others then leave the room)
5. Hitler then screams at the four- I told you guys not to keep OBL in Abbotabad and you guys did not obey my orders, and he also abuses Mushy bhai here . There is lot of scope to bring lot of dirt on Pak in this scene, need to be creative
6. When the girl cries the other lady will console and say you will get your 72/ Canada Visa visa soon.
There is lot of room for creativity.
Please help guys

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 03 May 2011 05:39

Straight from 10%

Pakistan did its part

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ ... story.html

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

Pakistan, perhaps the world’s greatest victim of terrorism, joins the other targets of al-Qaeda — the people of the United States, Britain, Spain, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Turkey, Yemen, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Algeria — in our satisfaction that the source of the greatest evil of the new millennium has been silenced, and his victims given justice. He was not anywhere we had anticipated he would be, but now he is gone.

Although the events of Sunday were not a joint operation, a decade of cooperation and partnership between the United States and Pakistan led up to the elimination of Osama bin Laden as a continuing threat to the civilized world. And we in Pakistan take some satisfaction that our early assistance in identifying an al-Qaeda courier ultimately led to this day.

Let us be frank. Pakistan has paid an enormous price for its stand against terrorism. More of our soldiers have died than all of NATO’s casualties combined. Two thousand police officers, as many as 30,000 innocent civilians and a generation of social progress for our people have been lost. And for me, justice against bin Laden was not just political; it was also personal, as the terrorists murdered our greatest leader, the mother of my children. Twice he tried to assassinate my wife. In 1989 he poured $50 million into a no-confidence vote to topple her first government. She said that she was bin Laden’s worst nightmare — a democratically elected, progressive, moderate, pluralistic female leader. She was right, and she paid for it with her life.

Some in the U.S. press have suggested that Pakistan lacked vitality in its pursuit of terrorism, or worse yet that we were disingenuous and actually protected the terrorists we claimed to be pursuing. Such baseless speculation may make exciting cable news, but it doesn’t reflect fact. Pakistan had as much reason to despise al-Qaeda as any nation. The war on terrorism is as much Pakistan’s war as as it is America’s. And though it may have started with bin Laden, the forces of modernity and moderation remain under serious threat.

My government endorses the words of President Obama and appreciates the credit he gave us Sunday night for the successful operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa. We also applaud and endorse the words of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that we must “press forward, bolstering our partnerships, strengthening our networks, investing in a positive vision of peace and progress, and relentlessly pursuing the murderers who target innocent people.” We have not yet won this war, but we now clearly can see the beginning of the end, and the kind of South and Central Asia that lies in our future.

Only hours after bin Laden’s death, the Taliban reacted by blaming the government of Pakistan and calling for retribution against its leaders, and specifically against me as the nation’s president. We will not be intimidated. Pakistan has never been and never will be the hotbed of fanaticism that is often described by the media.

Radical religious parties have never received more than 11 percent of the vote. Recent polls showed that 85 percent of our people are strongly opposed to al-Qaeda. In 2009, when the Taliban briefly took over the Swat Valley, it demonstrated to the people of Pakistan what our future would look like under its rule — repressive politics, religious fanaticism, bigotry and discrimination against girls and women, closing of schools and burning of books. Those few months did more to unite the people of Pakistan around our moderate vision of the future than anything else possibly could.

A freely elected democratic government, with the support and mandate of the people, working with democracies all over the world, is determined to build a viable, economic prosperous Pakistan that is a model to the entire Islamic world on what can be accomplished in giving hope to our people and opportunity to our children. We can become everything that al-Qaeda and the Taliban most fear — a vision of a modern Islamic future. Our people, our government, our military, our intelligence agencies are very much united. Some abroad insist that this is not the case, but they are wrong. Pakistanis are united.

Together, our nations have suffered and sacrificed. We have fought bravely and with passion and commitment. Ultimately we will prevail. For, in the words of my martyred wife Benazir Bhutto, “truth, justice and the forces of history are on our side.”

The writer is the president of Pakistan.

John · Post by **John** » 03 May 2011 05:43

RamaY wrote:

What if (like some post/er said) ISI moved OBL to that compound very recently? Probably his family is held there all these days. OBL has many wives and Unkil didn't go after rest of the family before....

Usama was in that compound for at least a year since US was tracking that courier since last august going to that compound. Based on what the residents have been saying it looks like that compound was purchased months before sept 11 and so most likely that was his get away after Tora Bora.

As for ISI people forget it was CIA that created and armed the Islamic fundamentals in Afghanistan with aid from not only ISI but also Saudi arabia. If you read the doctrine, they saw it as tool that can be used against countries with Muslim minorities (Russia, India, Yugoslavia and even China).

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 03 May 2011 05:47

Gagan wrote: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.

Gagan - it was pitch black and they were probably using NVGs. Every room would have to be searched for people - possibly armed. As per Ombaba - they were not 100% sure it was Osama in there. The compound was 8 times bigger than a usual compound - so distances to run were greater. Armed men running 50 meters in pitch darkness and running back is a 100 meter run and that would itself take 30 seconds. Climbig stairs, climbing wall, opening doors etc would take time. 3 minutes is unlikely except whn the location and identity of everyone is known. 40 minutes for the whole operation is fantastic timing

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 03 May 2011 05:48

Rapist goon propaganda yellow daily writes pages after pages by its top correspondents, without mentioning the elephant in the room - that Paki Army protected and hosted him or else how he could have done it so blatantly? Pakistan's troubles and predicaments are also whitewashed with no mention on its double game and unreliability.

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.

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 03 May 2011 05:51

prithvi wrote: interesting to note the use of CAT (patch cord) for network access instead of wireless .. you can also see the secured router in the middle of the table....

and the lappies appear to be HP not Thinkpads anymore

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 03 May 2011 05:52

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?

There was a paki report in the goonga behra pa'astan that a helicopter was shot down and that GEO News put out a bulletin saying it was a paki helicopter. Perhaps there were two helis that were in trouble?

Here we go. Found it. Army Helicopter Feared Shot Down in N.Pakistan

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 05:53

shiv wrote:
Gagan wrote: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.
Gagan - it was pitch black and they were probably using NVGs. Every room would have to be searched for people - possibly armed. As per Ombaba - they were not 100% sure it was Osama in there. The compound was 8 times bigger than a usual compound - so distances to run were greater. Armed men running 50 meters in pitch darkness and running back is a 100 meter run and that would itself take 30 seconds. Climbig stairs, climbing wall, opening doors etc would take time. 3 minutes is unlikely except whn the location and identity of everyone is known. 40 minutes for the whole operation is fantastic timing

I guess they used heat map to trace the bodies ..apparently some of the gadgets being used are highly classified...and will not be disclosed... a total of 24 Seal Commandos...

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 03 May 2011 05:57

Suppiah wrote:
prithvi wrote: interesting to note the use of CAT (patch cord) for network access instead of wireless .. you can also see the secured router in the middle of the table....
and the lappies appear to be HP not Thinkpads anymore

What is that photo on top of Hilary's laptop?

Nandu · Post by **Nandu** » 03 May 2011 06:02

anupmisra wrote:
What is that photo on top of Hilary's laptop?

Not a photo. A classified document that was edited out of the picture.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 03 May 2011 06:02

prithvi wrote: Pakistan wants to display civilians taking care of these sensitive work.. guess they (Pakistani Army and ISI) are desperate to distance themselves from it

Check the color and numberplates on the trucks

rahul_r · Post by **rahul_r** » 03 May 2011 06:03

Rachel Maddow on MSNBC ripping the Pakis a new one. She has repeated Pakistan almost 50 times now!! Loving it!!!

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 06:11

shiv wrote:
prithvi wrote: Pakistan wants to display civilians taking care of these sensitive work.. guess they (Pakistani Army and ISI) are desperate to distance themselves from it
Check the color and numberplates on the trucks

Yeah ..that was a stupid miss.. but civilian looking folks on military vehicles.. seems to be total khichdi

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 03 May 2011 06:13

prithvi wrote:
shiv wrote: Gagan - it was pitch black and they were probably using NVGs. Every room would have to be searched for people - possibly armed. As per Ombaba - they were not 100% sure it was Osama in there. The compound was 8 times bigger than a usual compound - so distances to run were greater. Armed men running 50 meters in pitch darkness and running back is a 100 meter run and that would itself take 30 seconds. Climbig stairs, climbing wall, opening doors etc would take time. 3 minutes is unlikely except whn the location and identity of everyone is known. 40 minutes for the whole operation is fantastic timing
I guess they used heat map to trace the bodies ..apparently some of the gadgets being used are highly classified...and will not be disclosed... a total of 24 Seal Commandos...

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.

prithvi · Post by **prithvi** » 03 May 2011 06:13

Nandu wrote:
anupmisra wrote:
What is that photo on top of Hilary's laptop?
Not a photo. A classified document that was edited out of the picture.

it looked a high resolution color aerial photo of the OBL hideout... saw a better on Pier's Morgan tonight on CNN