In December, 2001 GW Bush promised to get Osama bin Laden, dead or alive. If he had done so then, the US could have declared victory and come home, but Bush, in typical Republican fashion, proved too incompetent for the task. He was too busy trying to conquer Afghanistan to run a gas pipeline through that country and grab Iraq’s oil. He proved too incompetent for those tasks too although he had seven years. Now Barack Obama, after less than three years, has succeeded. How ironic it is that Republicans have claimed that Democrats want that terrorists to win and called him Obama bin Laden. He may be too gracious to rub their noses in it, but I’m not.
Nearly 10 years after he launched the deadliest domestic attack in U.S. history, al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden has been killed by American forces. Late Sunday evening, President Barack Obama addressed the American people from the White House while Vice President Joseph Biden called congressional leaders to inform them of the news. “Justice has been done,” Obama said.
Bin Laden’s death marks a long-awaited victory for the U.S. and its allies: for the families of nearly 3,000 victims killed at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania on Sept.11, 2001, and for the military and intelligence forces that have been hunting him since. Massive crowds gathered outside the White House on Sunday night, singing the national anthem in a celebration that quickly spread nationwide.
In his statement to the country, Obama said the operation showed that “America can do whatever we set our minds to. It is the story of our history.” Former President George W. Bush called the raid a “momentous achievement [that] marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.”
Obama said the U.S. received a tip about Bin Laden’s whereabouts last August and pursued it over the intervening months. A senior administration official told reporters early Monday morning that intelligence officials had learned from detainees that Bin Laden used a particularly trusted courier, who was a protege of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Four years ago the officials were able to identify the courier’s real name, but not his location.
Last August, the U.S. got a lead on the courier’s location–a high-walled, $1 million compound in an affluent neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad. Eight times larger than other houses in the area, the roughly five-year old compound had two security gates, no telephone or internet connections and its residents burned their garbage rather than putting it out for collection, as others in the neighborhood did, the senior administration official said. “The physical security measures of the compound are extraordinary,” the official said, and U.S. officials concluded that it had been built for the purpose of hiding Bin Laden.
On Sunday, Obama ordered a small team of American forces to attempt to capture Bin Laden. In the process of executing that operation, Obama said, the team engaged in a firefight. There were no American casualties, but one U.S. helicopter was lost. Three men were killed along with Bin Laden, including one of his sons and a courier. One woman was killed as a man in the compound attempted to use her as a shield, the senior official said Monday morning. Bin Laden resisted the assault team and was killed. The raid lasted approximately 40 minutes…
Inserted from <Time>
Here is the video of the President’s announcement.
And here is video from Rachel Maddow covering the celebration outside the Whitehouse.
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She raised a good point. In all probability, Al Qaeda will be seeking revenge so we can expect an attack. GW ChickenHawk and the Republicans would whip up such a frenzy of fear that they would render themselves incapable. Instead, let us be vigilant without being fearful. There is no need to be. After all, Democrats are much more capable of dealing with national security issues than Republicans as this demonstrates.
Now if only Obama would use this triumph as an occasion to declare victory and bring out troops home.
Remember, Al Dubya is a far greater threat to America than Al Qaeda ever was.
25 Responses to “Obama Got Osama!”
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“Remember, Al Dubya is a far greater threat to America than Al Qaeda ever was.” Truer words were never spoken. But the Amerikan public has such a short memory I doubt the reminder will help, unfortunately. Besides… I don’t buy this BS piece of propaganda anyway. Burial at sea? After 10 years? Christ… you need wings to stay above the bullshit. The truth is that we’ll never know the truth.
Cletus, it pains me to see some of the same things I see coming from so far right that a tinfoil hat is required for entry echoed from the left. After killing bin Laden the best way to minimize blowback from the Muslim world is to treat his body with respect, which for them, means according to Shariah. They offered his body to his family in Saudi Arabia. They wanted nothing to do with it. Sharia requires burial within 24 hours. In Pakistan, his dead ass would have become a shrine. Burial at sea makes perfect sense.
I Couldn’t agree with you more! Plus, by respecting this evil S-O-B in death and ditching the body overboard, there won’t be any “shrine” to go to. And, our military personnel overseas won’t be quite as big of a Target.
Welcome Susan! 🙂
Thanks. Sometime the loony wing of the left can be as insane as the rabid right.
They did this well.
Right down to the burial.
SJ, I fully agree.
President Obama: “Justice has been done.” So well-deserved congratulations to Pres. Obama and all the military people who accomplished this amazing feat!
Yet it’s unlikely that Bin Laden’s death in this targeted operation will end the threat by al-Qaeda to us and the rest of the world. But the death of the person most responsible for killing almost 3,000 people on 9/11 surely represents a major psychological setback to terrorist organizations – but raises the possibility of retaliation.
One would also expect a sizable boost for the president and our country for finally being able to say, “Mission Accomplished!” But I’ve strolled over to Free Republic, Gateway Pundit and other rabid hate-mongering right-wing sites – and the conspiracy theories have started already. You’ll get the idea from these parodies of what they are actually saying over there …
Trump: Where’s the long-form Death Certificate?
Palin: It’s a hoax, folks!
Bachmann: I think it looks Photoshopped.
It’ll never end as long as the MSM continuously features the hatred of those trolls. And as far as I’m concerned, They can all go to HELL!
Nameless, as least some Republicans are giving him credit, although almost all are trying to carve out a share of it for Texas Torquemada.
While I’m relieved at this development, I’m also concerned about possible extremist retaliation against the U.S. You’re right — we must be vigilant without being terrified.
By the way, does anyone know if burial at sea is acceptable under traditional Muslim burial protocol? If not, I worry about the reaction from extremists.
Most likely won’t be a problem. Muslim guidelines for burial say it has to occur within 24 hours. Osama bin Laden was a Saudi national, but they refused to accept his body. Given that it’s highly unlikely that any other country would be willing to accept his remains, burial at sea was entirely appropriate. Also factoring in this Muslim guideline:
http://www.seaservices.com/Muslim.htm
Thanks for this.
You’re most welcome. I’ve long maintained that Facts have a definite liberal bias.
Perhaps it that liberals allow facts to deter us from Republican lie-based truth.
Ditto.
Ahab, while extremist reaction is a concern, what can Republican extremists do that they have not already done. 😉
This is a monumental achievement for the entire country. Maybe now – FINALLY – all these far right paranoid crazies will at long last SHUT THE F*CK UP about Obama being a Muslim, being soft on (and “palling around with”) terrorists, and misdirecting our “war on terror.”
Take THAT, Liz and Dick Cheney!
Take THAT, Sarah “half Governor” Palin!
Take THAT, paranoid, warmongering, pre-emptive strike and “torture is ok” neocons!
Obama SUCCEEDED where Bush and Cheney failed miserably!
Now it’s time to get our troops home and stop fattening Halliburton’s and Xe’s wallets at our expense!
Jack, I fully agree, and commend you for having the faith to believe the impossible… that Republicans will ever stop lying.
And we await the new sideshow from the ridiculous Right to begin. “Show us the Death Certificate!”
Shhhh…. Don’t give them idea’s Dave! 😉
Like everyone else, I too am thrilled. I’m also pleased that many conservatives are rising to the occasion and giving Obama credit: Bush, Cheney, Pawlenty, Kind and others. It’s only the right-wing extremists who are being unpatriotic and acting like the ass-hats they are.
Leslie, I think they are pulling a “We did it”, so they don’t have to face “We failed. You did it”.
I find it interesting that there have been a lot of Bushies out there crediting the previous administration for this capture. Bush’s strategy was a losing one amd Obama got it right. Plain and simple. Why are these people so afraid to give the president full credit?
I find it especially interesting that the right is constantly complaining about the president doing nothing but playing golf, and then there is this – clear proof that there is a lot of behind-the-scenes activity going on.
Kevin I agree. The right is in a total quandary over this.
You know that when Rush Limbaugh gives the President credit for this, that the world has just turned around and taken a good long hard look at this. He PRAISED Obama – although he did get his name confused with Osama plenty of times. Thank you Obama – I think he just sealed his re-election! 😆
Lisa, he was being sarcastic.