Posted on 05/02/2011 3:14:56 AM PDT by CutePuppy
U.S. forces finally found al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden not in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan's border, but in a million-dollar compound in an upscale suburb of Pakistan's capital, with his youngest wife, U.S. officials said early on Monday.
They were led to the fortress-like three-story building after more than four years tracking one of bin Laden's most trusted couriers, whom U.S. officials said was identified by men captured after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
"Detainees also identified this man as one of the few al Qaeda couriers trusted by bin Laden. They indicated he might be living with or protected by bin Laden," a senior administration official said in a briefing for reporters.
Bin Laden was finally found - more than 9-1/2 years after the 2001 attacks on the United States - after authorities discovered in August 2010 that the courier lived with his brother and their families in an unusual and extremely high-security building, officials said.
"When we saw the compound where the brothers lived, we were shocked by what we saw: an extraordinarily unique compound," a senior administration official said.
"The bottom line of our collection and our analysis was that we had high confidence that the compound harbored a high-value terrorist target. The experts who worked this issue for years assessed that there was a strong probability that the terrorist who was hiding there was Osama bin Laden," another administration official said.
The home is in Abbotabad, a town about 35 miles (60 km) 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Wonder if they blew that luxury compound to smithereens? If they didn’t, they should. It was probably built with the money we give to Pakistan. We seriously need to stop this overseas ad. The money is never used for what it’s suppose to be used for and the dictators and despots always end up getting fat and rich off our tax dollars.
OBL was supporting Taliban operations in Afghanistan. His demise will cripple their operations. No pay = no IEDs. It will be similar to the effect of the removal of the Iranian paymasters in Iraq in December 2006 (aka The Surge).
The Taliban will only have the ISI to support them, with dubious funding. The focus should be upon Pakistan and the ISI for sheltering him. They will of course plead ignorance but it should buy us some quiet time in Afghanistan once current Taliban operations wind down.
Fox news just got more info from the Pentagon.
The only body they took was OBL’s, they left the other bodies at the compound.
There was about 12 other family members at the compound. (that was not killed) - They were marched into a field while our military lit our crashed helicopter on fire. (it went down inside the complex walls and that is what you see on fire in the GEO video that the media is showing)
Pakistan forces showed up before out military left and it is believed that the remaining living people at the compound were taken into custody by the Paki’s.
Saudi’s were offered OBL’s body but they refused it. OBL was buried at sea at 2:00am eastern time on May 2, 2011
You know what I want to see, is the body prepared for burial by the naval cooks,following a long held tradition of wrapping the body in bacon before burial. Then image of a splash and 3-4 slices of bacon floating to the top of the water. THAT would be the best.
“For all the talk by liberals of the “military adventures in Iraq” being a “recruiting tool” for al-Qaeda, they are now awfully silent...”
I base neither my information nor my reasoning upon liberal information sources. I have no idea what you are talking about. No offense intended but I am very grateful for that.
The “Arab/Pakistani street exploding” is a myth for most parts. It didn’t happen after the wars started in Afghanistan, Iraq or Cast Lead. It won’t start now.
Actually not, Those operations are well funded by the opium trade. OB was increasingly irrelevant to the Taliban’s operations.
Actually not, Those operations are well funded by the opium trade. OBL was increasingly irrelevant to the Taliban’s operations.
8 times larger than the other houses, a wall that was over 17 meters high, owned by unemployed persons. Yeah think it was a cover up.
As I recall, OBL was the single child of a Syrian mother married to OBL’s father. If mother and father are dead, wouldn’t a DNA sample show a general match with members of the huge Bin Laden family but still be unspecific?
This is the end of a big proponent of suicide martyrdom. he spent the whole last 10 yeas trying to avoid being a martyr. All the time he was living in a mansion while the suckers who followed him in the path of jihad were living in caves and getting themselves blown up voluntarily.
To those who fail to study history or don't care, this was the genius part of the entire operation. One wants not one thread of anything of Osama Bin Laden for muslims to enshrine, worship or hold up in honor. The body is simply gone. No shrine can be built anywhere near where it was dropped. Perfect.
Buried 50 feet down in a landfill would have served.
Taliban has for a long time resented the “betrayal” by their “guests” al-Qaeda and bin Laden, when they left Afghanistan to Iraq and Pakistan in late 2001 and 2002.
Financially, most of bin Laden’s financial support and attention was on the Iraq front; very little trickled down to Taliban. He might have been a vessel / pipeline of the money donated / funneled by others for specific “Taliban account,” but that is not a big deal to replace.
For all practical purposes, in respect to planning and operational activity or capacity, bin Laden himself has been “dead” for a very long time, replaced by al-Zwahiri and the leaders of other fractured, decentralized, and/or loosely attached to al-Qaeda affiliate groups in countries or regions far from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
This is too convenient, and, comes at a time that Obama needs a boost in the polls to deflect the birthers, the economy and the daily sky rocketing oil prices.
You’re right, but gas prices are still climbing, the economy is still being sabotaged and the federal government is still being managed by the three stooges. This will hardly count next November.
I understand that and didn't mean to imply otherwise.
Sorry if I didn't make it more clear that it was a general comment on the topic [of al-Qaeda] that I have not seen mentioned in either general or, surprisingly, conservative media.
There were over 40 involved, and over 20 hit the ground to carry it out. (that’s what I just heard on Fox)
I can understand burying him at sea to prevent the final resting place of his body becoming a rallying point, but there are so many unanswered questions by such a rapid disposal of the body. For instance, there was the rumor that he had health problems, with possible kidney failure and the requirement for frequent dialysis. I hope a thorough autopsy was at least performed before disposal.
I’m not debating that there wasn’t a concerted effort on the ground to execute this, I’m simply questioning the verity of the claim that it’s Osama. And if it was Osama, why the Hell did we just dump his body at sea? This man should’ve been put on a meat hook and dragged around DC like Mussolini during WWII.
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