Osama Bin Laden Dead

Wow, this is a day for the history books.




Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a firefight with U.S. forces in Pakistan and his body has been recovered, President Barack Obama has announced.

"Justice has been done," Obama said in a dramatic, late-night White House speech announcing the death of the elusive mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the New York and Washington.

It is a major accomplishment for Obama and his national security team and could give him a political boost as he seeks re-election in 2012.

And it was at least a huge symbolic blow to al Qaeda, the militant organisation that has staged bloody attacks in many western and Arab countries cities and has been the subject of a worldwide campaign against it.

Officials say the US operation that killed bin Laden also left three other men and a woman dead, including one of bin Laden's sons.

Obama said U.S. forces led a targeted operation that killed bin Laden in Abbotabad north of Islamabad. No Americans were killed in the operation and they took care to avoid civilian casualties, he said.

"The United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda and a terrorist who is responsible for the murder of thousands of men, women and children," Obama said.

Intelligence that originated last August provided the clues that eventually led to bin Laden's trail. A US official said Obama gave the final order to pursue the operation last Friday morning.

"The United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda and a terrorist who is responsible for the murder of thousands of men, women and children," Obama said.

"After a firefight they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body," he said.

In Washington, thousands of people gathered quickly outside the White House, waving American flags, cheering and chanting "USA, USA, USA." Car drivers blew their horns in celebration and people streamed to Lafayette Park across from the presidential mansion. Police vehicles with their lights flashing stood vigil.





I really hope this news gives at least some small comfort to all those family members and friends all over the world who have lost loved ones due to terroist acts.

I've got mixed feelings about it, but only because I work at the US Embassy in London, which if retaliatory attacks are planned, is likely to be a target. We've gone onto high alert and I'm expecting another security briefing tomorrow morning.

But for the victims, their families and friends who've been on the receiving end of this for the last 20 years, I hope it comes as some small comfort to know he's dead.

I'm with you, Gail. I'm glad he's gone from the face of the earth, but my daughter works in DC and is often at the Pentagon. Now I have to worry about her (I'm trying not to). Chances are, they won't go after the Pentagon again, but she's all over DC every day.

It was aptly put by my friend Anne-Marie on facebook:

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy." - Martin Luther King

There's nothing more likely to rile the extremists than footage of people in New York celebrating his death. What he masterminded was utterly sickening and I understand why they feel that way, but I also understand what repurcussions that may have for others around the world.

I passed my driving test on the morning of 9/11 - and i didn't see the footage until about 6pm UK time, so i was feeling quite smug and pleased with myself, and generally dismissed the day's events as relatively trivial - can you imagine how awful i felt when i got home and watched the footage? i was speechless with horror, not just at what had happened, but how i'd spent the day treating it as though it were irrelevant.

Don't feel bad about that. It's different when you're so far away. You were just having a day like millions of others. In spite of it all and knowing all about it, I was still trying to have a day.

I was at work and Flight 93 literally flew over my office before going down 45 minutes away from me in Shanksville. The passengers spoke to my local 911 office. We were glued to the radio all day and it was impossible to focus on work. My daughter was away at college and my husband was also away traveling. I just wanted my family with me (still had one son and a daughter at home).

Today, I have the same situation. The daughter that was away at college is the one in DC now and my husband is away. The other daughter that was at home has since moved out, but she isn't that far. She does however, work at a major Pittsburgh hospital which could be a target, I suppose. I'm not going to think about it.

I was surprised by the number of people celebrating in the streets. In a way, I was wishing I was with them but at the same time, I was thinking that is something the extremists would do. Very torn here.

On 9/11 we lived in NE Ohio, the plane that crashed in PA flew over our house. I was at work but neighbors saw it. It was flying real low. Scary. Anyway, I am not 100% convinced that he is dead. It just amazes me how they got DNA tests done that fast, and to honor the man by burying him at sea, as is the Islamic custom. Nah. Just my 2cents.

Gretchen - I just said the same thing on FB. You know me, the Skeptic. It will take a bit more to really convince me. Being a Photoshop whiz, I know that anything can be doctored.

server wrote: On 9/11 we lived in NE Ohio, the plane that crashed in PA flew over our house. I was at work but neighbors saw it. It was flying real low. Scary. Anyway, I am not 100% convinced that he is dead. It just amazes me how they got DNA tests done that fast, and to honor the man by burying him at sea, as is the Islamic custom. Nah. Just my 2cents.

I think another reason they buried him at sea was so that his gravesite wouldn't become a shrine to any people associated with him or his terrorist organization and that not many countries would want to him him buried in their country. I reckon they should have burnt his body, then thrown the ashes away somewhere. I suppose they can do anything really fast when it's someone like him and they want to inform the world ASAP. I also heard they ID'd him from facial recognitive photo technology as well as supposedly one of his 4 wives confirmed it was him at the compound where he was killed. ( not sure of the truthfulness of that bit of infor, but that's in one of the many news articles I have read online since the story broke.)

I heard they did DNA testing. I wondered where they got the comparison DNA, but found out that his sister died in a Boston Hospital and they removed her brain for such a purpose.