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Osama Bin Laden Dead *OFFICIAL*

  • believer
    Ty Webb;756816 wrote:Is tonight the greatest night in American history?

    It's a good night but not the greatest by a long shot.
  • majorspark

    He must have been dying his beard and hair. Less grays than I have seen in other photos.
  • ptown_trojans_1
    Ty Webb;756816 wrote:Is tonight the greatest night in American history?

    No, not in the grand scheme of things. I hope OBL is just a footnote in history.
    BTW, I went to the Caps game last night with a buddy who served. As soon as we heard, we went down to the White House, It was an awesome scene. And yes, I am hungover as a result. I don't remember how many shots I did.

    But, let's be wary here. Al Qaeda has plans in place in case OBL went down. Let's be cautious. But, a great day.
  • ptown_trojans_1
    BYW, Nighwatch, summary of OBL killing, those Pakistani's had to know where he was, those double crossers:
    http://www.kforcegov.com/Services/IS/NightWatch/NightWatch_11000094.aspx
    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 woould 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.

    Afghanistan: Comment: The death of bin Laden will put to the test whether the Taliban and anti-Afghan government fighting groups are an extension of al Qaida or home grown rebels. The NightWatch hypothesis is that bin Laden's death will have little to no impact on the fighting in Afghanistan. If that hypothesis proves accurate, then the anti-Kabul fight will clarify as a Pashtun uprising that is not connected to al Qaida in any substantive way.

    Similarly, if the Pakistani Taliban continue their terrorist fight against the government in Islamabad, that also will undermine the AF/PAK linkage. In other words, decapitation of al Qaida will not make Afghanistan or Pakistan more secure. It is a victory of justice visited on a mass murderer. The myth of the bin Laden narrative as the root of America's security problems should die with bin Laden
  • fish82
    Extremely pleasant news to wake up to. :D
  • derek bomar
    they dumped his ass in the ocean... lulz

    http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0511/bin_ladens_body_c2fb2ffb-5240-40c6-b106-956bf2ebff6a.html
  • fish82
    Hopefully wrapped in bacon.
  • bases_loaded
    Awaiting more details...talked to lil brother yesterday(crew chief on Marine Corps C-130) at about 11:30 PM Kandahar time. He said they were taking off in 3 hours and heading to Pakistan to escort(refuel) Ospreys to the ship. He then said they were transporting someone of high importance but thats all he knew. I've been checking skype and facebook since about 4am waiting for him to pop up...not that it matters, because the POS is dead, but would think it would be pretty cool for him to be apart of the funeral procession.

    *edit*

    this is from an email he sent his wife at 11:49 PM our time

    "pretty sure i know what we are doing today, have you seen the news?"
  • vball10set
    10:48 EST- NBC News says that a Special Report by the President is moments away....11:09- NBC News says that the Presidential presser is 10 minutes away...11:32- Obama STILL not on....wtf, was his teleprompter broken? that buffoon can even screw up a making a historic announcement such as this one!!! (and no, Ty Webb, he DID NOT wrap up any re-election--not by any means)
  • pinstriper
    I saw this being retweeted around all night, morning..."Hitler to Bin Laden in Hell...sorry, I'm not a virgin." Made me laugh.
  • derek bomar
    vball10set;757001 wrote:10:48 EST- NBC News says that a Special Report by the President is moments away....11:09- NBC News says that the Presidential presser is 10 minutes away...11:32- Obama STILL not on....wtf, was his teleprompter broken? that buffoon can even screw up a making a historic announcement such as this one!!! (and no, Ty Webb, he DID NOT wrap up any re-election--not by any means)

    get the fuck out of here
  • cruiser_96
    You people will believe anything!

    Let me guess... we landed on the moon, too!?

    With this in mind, I have some ocean-front property in Arizona.

    ...OBL dead... Yeah. Right.
  • bigkahuna
    I see the shit winds are blowing strong this morning.
  • jmog
    Assuming this is all legit Obama and those seals are my hero. Obama just for a day ;).
  • derek bomar
    cruiser_96;757025 wrote:You people will believe anything!

    Let me guess... we landed on the moon, too!?

    With this in mind, I have some ocean-front property in Arizona.

    ...OBL dead... Yeah. Right.

  • Belly35
    If I was going after a high profile terroist ... I would want 100% proof of the kill

    That would require DNA .... how long does it take for a DNA testing ?

    dumped in the ocean ...... ????
  • september63
    They have DNA and they have photos. All you dumbasses asking for proof are ridiculous. Talk to Bases Loaded about needing your proof. His brother was risking his life on a refueling mission during this event in Pakistan.

    The fact that you would question what these SEALS and Marines did last night is a slap in their faces that they dont deserve!!!
  • cruiser_96
    derek bomar;757034 wrote:

    Ahhh... I see you've visited our "ranch".

    Confession time: I believe someone shot and killed OBL. And, more than likely, it was a member of a Navy SEAL team.

    When I read the info that it was a SEAL team, my mind went back to the book "Lone Survivor". (If you haven't read it, I suggest you do.) AMAZING amount of training for those guys but moreover, amazing amounts of guts. They'll go just about anywhere and do just about anything. Glad they are on our side.
  • Hip Hop/Logicbomb
    september63;757072 wrote:They have DNA and they have photos. All you dumbasses asking for proof are ridiculous. Talk to Bases Loaded about needing your proof. His brother was risking his life on a refueling mission during this event in Pakistan.

    The fact that you would question what these SEALS and Marines did last night is a slap in their faces that they dont deserve!!!
    Amen to that!!!
  • BigAppleBuckeye
  • QuakerOats
    BigAppleBuckeye;757117 wrote:


    That coming from a 'guy' who rides a bicycle with a helmet ........... funny.
  • BigAppleBuckeye
    QuakerOats;757134 wrote:That coming from a 'guy' who rides a bicycle with a helmet ........... funny.

    ???
  • bigkahuna
    Quaker is probably more pissed that this didn't happen under Bush than happy that it happened at all.
  • elbuckeye28
    BigAppleBuckeye;757117 wrote:

    These pictures are awesome. My favorite is the one with Obama behind the Royal Wedding.
  • QuakerOats
    bigkahuna;757141 wrote:Quaker is probably more pissed that this didn't happen under Bush than happy that it happened at all.

    I am elated that it has occurred. I appreciate the efforts of all involved ..... long time coming.