After nearly a decade of anger and fear, America rejoiced yesterday at the demise of Osama bin Laden, the terror mastermind behind the horrific Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Navy SEALs who killed the world's most-wanted terrorist seized a trove of al-Qaida documents to pore over, and President Obama laid plans to visit New York's ground zero.
Bin Laden, killed in an intense firefight in a daring raid at his fortified hideout in Pakistan, was hunted down based on information first gleaned years ago from detainees at secret CIA prison sites in Eastern Europe, officials disclosed.
His body was quickly taken away for burial at sea, but not before a DNA match was done to prove his identity. A U.S. official said there also were photos showing bin Laden with the fatal wound above his left eye, a gunshot that tore away part of his skull. The photos were not immediately released.
"The world is safer. It is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden," Obama declared, hours after U.S. forces killed the al-Qaida leader in the middle-of-the-night raid on his compound in Abbottabad. Obama was expected to visit New York, the site of al-Qaida's attack on the World Trade Center, and meet with the families of those killed, an administration official said.
The CIA already was poring over confiscated hard drives, DVDs and other documents looking for inside information on al-Qaida, including clues that might lead to his presumed successor, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Bin Laden's death after a decade on the run unloosed a national wave of euphoria mixed with remembrance for the thousands who died in the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Crowds celebrated throughout the night outside the White House and at ground zero in Lower Manhattan where the Twin Towers once stood. Thousands of students at Penn State University and in other college towns spilled into the streets and set off firecrackers to mark the moment.
The SEALs dropped down ropes from helicopters at the compound, killed bin Laden aides and made their way to the main building where officials say the terror leader was slain in a gunfight. Within 40 minutes the Americans were gone, taking bin Laden's body to the USS Carl Vinson where he was slipped into the sea.
"For my family and I, it's good, it's desirable, it's right," said Mike Low of Batesville, Ark., whose daughter Sara was a flight attendant aboard the hijacked plane that was flown into the World Trade Center North Tower. "It certainly brings an ending to a major quest for all of us."
Halfway around the world, a prominent al-Qaida commentator vowed revenge for bin Laden's death. "Woe to his enemies. By God, we will avenge the killing of the Sheik of Islam," he wrote under his online name Assad al-Jihad2. "Those who wish that jihad has ended or weakened, I tell them: Let us wait a little bit."
U.S. officials conceded the risk of renewed attack. The terrorists "almost certainly will attempt to avenge" bin Laden's death, CIA Director Leon Panetta wrote in a memo that congratulated the agency for its role in the operation. "Bin Laden is dead. Al-Qaida is not."
Within a few hours, the Department of Homeland Security warned that bin Laden's death was likely to provide motivation for attacks from "homegrown violent extremists" seeking revenge."
FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said, "While there are no specific, bin Laden-related threats at this time, every logical and prudent step is being taken to mitigate any developing threats." There were questions, as well, about Pakistan's role in bin Laden's years in hiding. Both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said cooperation from the Pakistani government had helped lead U.S. forces to the compound where he died. (next page »)
Now that Osama is gone it is time to focus on getting our troops home.
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Mission Accomplished sign kickin' around out there somewhere that we can borrow... yes?
And you bring up a pretty good point: Why did we go over there in the 1st place?
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We have more than 365,000 troops, on 760 bases in 150 foreign countries (not to mention the 6000 bases in our "territories" and at home).
This war has no end. It will only continue to escalate as our influence in the world and the world's resources become more and more scarce.
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Is it?
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I feel safer today than I did 30 years ago, when 10,000 nuclear missiles controlled by Communist gangsters were aimed at our country. You have to put these things in context.
And look, I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that the one thing I wanted above all else was for Osama bin Laden to pay, and pay hard, for the murders he committed. Most of the rest of the debate is just meaningless conversation. Osama has now paid and we'll handle what comes next, whatever it is.
On the subject of politics, did none of you geniuses notice that this intelligence was first developed in August 2010, six weeks before Obama and the Dems got their clocks cleaned in the midterms? If they were playing politics, or if they'd had their own equivalent of Rumsfeld and Cheney, that compound would have been rubble in October 2010. Then you might have been right to yell about politics. In this case? No.
Finally, Obama could announce tomorrow that he'd cured cancer while developing warp drive and you guys wouldn't be satisfied. You'd be throwing Skip Gates at him while he was strapping the warp nacelles onto Air Force One. Get real, for Pete's sake.
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Michael what intelligence was first developed in August 2010? Not sure what you meant by that statement. Thanks
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According to reports, the CIA first identified the Abbottabad compound as Osama's likely hideout in August of 2010. The months since then were spent confirming the intelligence (as much as possible), debating various scenarios. and finalizing plans to go in and get him.
http://www.google.com/#q=bin+laden+august+2010&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=ivns&...
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Yes there are a lot of unanswered questions here. A big one is why did the Pakistan Army facility not know he was there. A huge compound with barbed wire in a poor neighborhood. We know that Pakistan is sometimes helpful and sometimes corrupt. We gave them 3 billion last year. Where they hiding him?
I would assume many of these questions will be answered.
But the way it works on this forum, if you have any questions or doubts, it is all about the idea that you hate Obama and you are a racist. That is how folks who support this President play. And unfortunately this administartion has done nothing to address playing the race card. If anything they have allowed this kind of rhetoric to go on, which is sad. Started right from the get go with the Harvard Professor incident.
I do not assume anything till we find out more. I like to believe that folks are telling the truth. But these past 2 years have shown me that folks are all about doing what they can to stay in office. And the folks who support them have decided that it is all about color, not policies, or being informed about the economy, foreign policies or anything else. They have the liberal media on their side to boost their agenda.
They also play the game of being hypocrites to the max. When they attack you and you remind them of how they reacted to issues and people they despise, they brush it off and say we are covering up for our biases. So you cannot get through to any of them.
Their support for Obama is without question, common sense and to a degree what is right for this country in their eyes.
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You are free to hate Obama in a non-racist way, and I haven't seen anyone suggest otherwise. The point being made, over and over, is that birtherism is racist because no one ever questioned the legitimacy of a white president. Birtherism=racism and xenophobia. THERE IS NO OTHER EXPLANATION. It certainly is not a factually based movement.
Now, you want to make sure that Obama doesn't have a private elite attack force that will manufacture evidence for him?
As for "reverse racism," sure it exists. IT GIVES YOU A SMALL TASTE OF HOW RACISM FEELS. You don't like it. I know a lot of black people and everyone of them can list several indignities and humiliations based on race they have had to face in their lives. Whatever you think you have felt as "reverse racism" pales in comparison. The Skip Gates incident was nothing, but even Gates, a highly reputed scholar, is familiar with being treated as a second class citizen and it led to him overreacting. You just don't understand the historic dynamics of race in America, and if you live in NH, why would you?
Obama is not dishing out reverse racism. He studiously avois it. His ability to do so was a big factor in him getting elected. He also does not have deep seated anger that many black people do, because unlike most African Americans, he is not descended from slaves.
And your statement about the strawmen "people who support Obama." There are many of us who question many of his policies. You focus more on personality than policy though.
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but even Gates, a highly reputed scholar, is familiar with being treated as a second class citizen and it led to him overreacting.
wow. a total rewrite of history there.
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It was all the cop's fault after all.....
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http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&biw=1024&bih=583&sa=X&ei=LTDB...
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acting stupidly
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I thought the American people were stupd when they thought obama had something to do with this dirtbag's killing.
Now I see they are a whole new kind of stupid to believe they are safer.
To quote a friend of mine " When they retaliate, and they will, we will be out here dying while obama and his secret service are cowering in an undergorund bunker somewhere."
Do any of us really believe that this is how it happened? Funny how it happened just as political campaigns are amping up and obamas numbers are crashing.
How sad he would claim a victory for himself when it was the military who had done all the work.
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are amping up and obamas numbers are crashing."
Riigggghhhht... wouldaya preferred that he have waited a couple of years until after the next elections?
We already had the last administrator let him escape when we he was cornered in Tora Bora... ring a bell?
After all how can ya be expected to keep a populace petrified without a bogyman and color-coded terrorist alerts?
I've seen a lot of sour-grapes comments here re Obama's roll in this, but I believe that you have just taken the cake.
BTW, are ya aware that ya can purchase about $15.00 with of freeze-dried food (for the upcoming Apocalypse, of course) in a Glenn Beck backpack for ridiculously low-low prices starting around $199.00? http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1283&bih=760&q=glenn+be...
How could any true conservative possibly survive without this?
And Sean Hannity told me that we must read battlefield combatants their Miranda rights.
Can anybody confirm that he was afforded this privilege before he lost his ability to view 72 Virginians in stereoscopic vision?
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....they faked all the audio and video footage. Maybe it's all a big ploy by Obama to win a second term. Maybe W let (or even aided!!) the terrorists hit the WTC on 9/11 so he could galvanize support for a war in Iraq? Maybe the Mob killed JFK for Castro.....they probably didn't land on the moon either (actually they used the SAME SET to film the recent Bin Laden raid!!).
What I can't figure out is why didn't Obama wait until late September? It would have been FAR more effective politically had he waited given our national ADD.
Now...my favorite quote:
"How sad he would claim a victory for himself when it was the military who had done all the work."
Do you think Bush 43 still has that "Mission Accomplished" banner? At least the mission was accomplished under Obama's leadership.
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The post violates the Discussion Guidelines.
vulgar
yes...it is your opinion, but no facts. sad.
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n/t
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tkanks too you so much president bush for safing us all
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I was in NYC on 9/11 and witnessed the twin towers collapse from a mile away. To this day, I have never felt in imminent danger of a terrorist attack. Of course, it crosses my mind when I get on a plane, but not to a level I would call "fear." Frankly, I was surprised Americans were so willing to give up their rights because of this one attack. These terrorists are rather primitive people with poor weapons, poor communications and a limited following. They have not really done much since 9/11 except to stir up inordinate fear among those residing in the former "home of the brave."
Osama deserved what he got, but I don't know if it will change a lot. I hope so.
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Statistically, I was far more likely to get hit by lightning on the day I won Powerball than to be involved in a terrorist attack.
Most of these people won't even wear their seat belt or motorcycle helmet but they are ok living in a police state to prevent "terrorism" a word that means whatever the President says it does.
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