Breaking: Osama Bin Laden Dead

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In shocking news, President Barack Obama has announced that the conservative Islamist Osama Bin Laden, responsible for some of the most horrifying terrorism in the world has been killed by a small American strike team in Abbottabad, Pakistan.  He stated, “Justice Has Been Done.”  Bin Laden’s body was taken from the scene, and a DNA check confirmed his identity.


Twitter has been a buzz with this breaking news, with hundreds of outlets reporting on the event.  CNN has breaking video of this, although all across the main stream media, reports still appear to be firm yet sketchy in actual details.  FreakOutNation reports “Mission Accomplished” and aired a video online of the speech by President Obama.  Fox News unsurprisingly reported “OBAMA Bin Laden Dead”.

Abbottabad is a city [of 120,000] located in the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, formerly NWFP, of Pakistan. The city is situated in the Orash Valley, 150 km north of Islamabad and 200 km east of Peshawar at an altitude of 4,120 feet (1,260 m). The city is well-known throughout Pakistan for its pleasant weather, high standard educational institutions and military establishments. -wiki

The Atlantic claims to have the precise location of the Mansion and compound where Osama Bin Laden was hiding out.  Above is a Google maps aerial view of the location.  Below is an oblique photo of Abbottabad.  More photos can be found on Flickr, Travbuddy, and ViewPhotos.

Massive crowds are currently gathering at the gates of the White House in celebration.  The US military forces around the world have gone on a state of high alert in preparation for possible retaliatory attacks by Al Qaeda.

He was in a mansion in Abbottabad, 90 miles north of Islamabad, Pakistan instead of hiding in a cave as commonly thought.  CNN reports it was not a drone strike, but a manned team, and that some family members may also have been killed.  The Pakistani Intelligence Service was NOT also involved in this operation as initially reported.  His location in a mansion brings up the spectre that there might have been a certain degree of collusion with some powerful elements within Pakistan to keep him hidden and safe, although that is speculative at this point.  The second in command of Al Qaeda, Ayman Muhammad Rabaie al-Zawahiri was not at the mansion.
Two helicopters of Navy Seal special forces flew into the high-walled compound, which seemed very out of place in the affluent neighborhood, and custom designed to hide someone. Hand to hand combat ensued.  One of Bin Laden’s sons was also killed with another person on the compound.  One of the American helicopters was destroyed in the raid, although there were no American casualties and everyone made it out.

President Bill Clinton had originally and secretly directed the Special Activities Division of the CIA to kill or capture Osama Bin Laden during his second term in office.  He also ordered the military to fire 66 cruise missiles into a Bin Laden terrorist training camp near Kost, Afghanistan in 1998.  Bin Laden escaped injury.
President Bush continued the hunt for Bin Laden, and it is widely believed that after the rough battles near Tora Bora in a mountainous Afghan region, he hid in caves and eventually escaped across the border to tribal regions in Pakistan.  Strangely enough, Osama Bin Laden was killed 8 years to the day after Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech.
For years there were no reliable intelligence reports about the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden, leading to some speculation that he was actually killed previously.  That speculation has proved to be inaccurate in lieu of today’s announcement.
President Obama continued the hunt for Bin Laden, although it is currently unknown how the intelligence was gained that provided the location of his whereabouts that led to today’s raid.  Obama reportedly received intel that Bin Laden was hiding at this location in February, but that was not confirmed until a month ago.  It is unknown when the assassination op was given the green light.

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (March 10, 1957 – April 2011) was a member of the wealthy Saudi bin Laden family and the founder of the jihadist organization al-Qaeda, most widely recognized for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets. As a result of his dealings in and advocacy of violent extremist jihad, Osama bin Laden lost his Saudi citizenship and was disowned by his billionaire family. On Sunday, May 1st 2011, U.S. officials announced that bin Laden was dead. -wikipedia

Osama Bin Laden has been on the run and hiding out since shortly after the terrorist strike in the US on 9/11 where over 3000 people were killed.  There is an excellent series of videos released by PBS that provides a lot of background to who the man is, how he built up his religious extremist network of terror, and other factors.

Edit 1:25am Pacific: It appears that the entire event was inadvertently micro-blogged live by a Twitter user in Abbottabad, Pakistan by @reallyvirtual.

More information as it becomes available…

Source: http://newsjunkiepost.com/2011/05/01/breaking-osama-bin-laden-dead/

Osama bin Laden Dead: Jubilance Marked By Security Alerts

An interior shot of a bedroom inside of Osama Bin Laden's home is shown in this video screen grab. ABC

By JAKE TAPPER (@jaketapper) , HUMA KHAN and MARTHA RADDATZ (@martharaddatz)

May 2, 2011

Celebrations erupted in the United States over the news that Osama bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world, was killed by American forces in Pakistan. But the triumphant mood was tinged with caution as security forces braced for possible revenge attacks.
President Obama announced in a rare Sunday night televised statement to the nation that bin Laden, public enemy Number 1, was killed in a raid by Navy Seals in Abbotabad, a scenic military town just 100 miles away from the capital Islamabad.
"We will be true to the values that make us who we are," Obama said in a late night address Sunday. "And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda's terror: Justice has been done."
The United States first received a tip in August that the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks was hiding in a million-dollar mansion with 12 to 18 foot walls.
The evidence that bin Laden was hiding there was largely circumstantial and he had not been seen, sources told ABC News, and officials did not know where he may be in the sprawling compound that is located about 1,000 feet away from the Pakistan Military Academy.
In March, Obama authorized the development of a plan for the United States to bomb bin Laden's compound with two B2 stealth bombers dropping a few dozen 2,000-pound bombs, sources tell ABC News. But when the president heard the compound would be reduced to rubble, he changed his mind, because it would mean there would be no evidence to present to the world that the head founder and leader of al Qaeda was indeed dead. Plus, all 22 people in the compound including women and children and likely many neighbors would also be killed.

Bin Laden Compound Raid: First Look Inside Watch Video

The Navy Seals Who Killed Bin Laden Watch Video

Osama Bin Laden Killed Near Islamabad Watch Video

The president wanted proof, and he wanted to minimize collateral damage, sources say. So he instead authorized this risky operation, scheduled for a time of little moonlight, so U.S. helicopters could enter into Pakistan low to the ground and undetected.
The operation was authorized Friday morning and was originally planned for Saturday night, but on Friday, for weather reasons, it was pushed to Sunday.
Four helicopters swooped in to the compound and the Navy Seals fought a close quarters gunbattle. They ordered bin Laden to surrender, but the 54-year-old who had vowed he would not be caught alive, refused.
Sources said standard procedure in a case like this would be for the Navy Seals to "double tap" bin Laden, shooting him twice in the head to make sure he was dead.
At the conclusion of the firefight, bin Laden's body was quickly taken away by U.S. forces for a DNA test to confirm his identity.
Bin Laden's DNA was matched with that of one of his sisters who died in Boston and whose brain was kept by the United States.
Sources tell ABC News he was buried at sea in accordance with Islamic law.
The news was marked by jubilance, as crowds gathered at Ground Zero in New York and outside the White House in droves, chanting "USA, USA."
Congratulations poured in, with even former vice president Dick Cheney, a leading critic of the Obama administration, congratulating the president.
"Today, the message our forces have sent is clear -- if you attack the United States, we will find you and bring you to justice," Cheney said in a statement.
There were even some unusual praises from groups denounced by the United States, like the Muslim Brotherhood.
"With bin Laden's death, one of the reasons for which violence has been practiced in the world has been removed," Essam al-Erian, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's governing body, told Reuters.
But bin Laden's death also prompted security alerts in the United States.
In New York City, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly ordered the shift that was to go off duty at midnight be held over this morning to increase police presence in the subway system during this morning's rush hours. He also ordered that all members of the NYPD remain alert in the aftermath of the announcement of bin Laden has been killed.
Security was also stepped up at the site of the 9/11 attack and in New York subways.
Washington police were also put on heightened alert and officials said there would be a show of force, especially near transit hubs, hotels and government buildings.
Philadelphia's Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey instructed dispatchers to ensure there are hourly checks on all mosques and synagogues in the city and police were put a heightened alert until further notice.
U.S. embassies have been put on high alert since the news was revealed, and the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are reminding security forces around the country to be vigilant for suspicious activity amid concerns about possible retaliation.

U.S. officials are wary that the celebrations could trigger violent outbursts overseas. U.S. military officials in Afghanistan have been given a clear message to pass down to troops that they want a low-key reaction to the news, without any gloating, and they say this message comes "from the top" in Washington.

ABC News

An interior shot of a bedroom inside of Osama Bin Laden's home is shown in this video screen grab.

Bin Laden Compound Raid: First Look Inside Watch Video

The Navy Seals Who Killed Bin Laden Watch Video

Osama Bin Laden Killed Near Islamabad Watch Video

Some are concerned that celebratory images from the United States could spur a reflex reaction in the Muslim world, already shaken by a series of recent upheavals, and that the celebrations could be exploited by related terror groups such as the Taliban to spur more anti-Americanism in the region.
A top al Qaeda commentator on the internet was already vowing revenge. "Assad al-Jihad2" promised to "avenge the killing of the Sheik of Islam," according to the Associated Press, and warned that the war is far from over.
Many in the Muslim world are already saying that bin Laden's death means the United States should remove its forces from Afghanistan, where it's embroiled in a costly war.
ABC News' Mike Boettcher, Richard Esposito, Jason Ryan, Brian Ross and Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.

Source/ Copy right @ ABC NEWS/   http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/osama-bin-laden-death-prompts-celebrations-security-alerts/story?id=13507836&page=1