Osama bin Laden is DEAD

Osama bin Laden is Dead



Osama bin Laden, dead - buried at sea.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. forces finally found al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden not in a mountain cave on Afghanistan's border, but with his youngest wife in a million-dollar compound in a summer resort just over an hour's drive from Pakistan's capital, U.S. officials said.
A small U.S. team conducted a night-time helicopter raid on the compound early on Monday. After 40 minutes of fighting, bin Laden and an adult son, one unidentified woman and two men were dead, the officials said.
U.S. forces 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 September 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.
They said the courier and his brother were among those killed in the raid.
"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 Abbottabad, a town about 35 miles north of Islamabad, that is relatively affluent and home to many retired members of Pakistan's military.
It was a far cry from the popular notion of bin Laden hiding in some mountain cave on the rugged and inaccessible Afghan-Pakistan border -- an image often evoked by officials up to and including former President George W. Bush.
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. When it was constructed, it was on the outskirts of Abbottabad's center, at the end of a dirt road, but some other homes have been built nearby in the six years since it went up, officials said.
WALLS TOPPED WITH BARBED WIRE
Intense security measures included 12- to 18-foot outer walls topped with barbed wire and internal walls that sectioned off different parts of the compound, officials said. Two security gates restricted access, and residents burned their trash, rather than leaving it for collection as did their neighbors, officials said.
Few windows of the three-story home faced the outside of the compound, and a terrace had a seven-foot (2.1 meter) privacy wall, officials said.
"It is also noteworthy that the property is valued at approximately $1 million but has no telephone or Internet service connected to it," an administration official said. "The brothers had no explainable source of wealth."
U.S. analysts realized that a third family lived there in addition to the two brothers, and the age and makeup of the third family matched those of the relatives -- including his youngest wife -- they believed would be living with bin Laden.
"Everything we saw, the extremely elaborate operational security, the brothers' background and their behavior and the location of the compound itself was perfectly consistent with what our experts expected bin Laden's hide-out to look like," another Obama administration official said.
Abbottabad is a popular summer resort, located in a valley surrounded by green hills near Pakistani Kashmir. Islamist militants, particularly those fighting in Indian-controlled Kashmir, used to have training camps near the town.
"A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability," Obama said. "No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties."
News of Bin Laden's killing resounded throughout the world, but no where more so than in New York.
"After Sept. 11, 2001, we gave our word as Americans that we would stop at nothing to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden. After the contribution of millions, including so many who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, we have kept that word," Mayor Bloomberg said.
"New Yorkers have waited nearly 10 years for this news. It is my hope that it will bring some closure and comfort to all those who lost loved ones on Sept. 11, 2001."
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly called Bin Laden's death a welcome "milestone."
Authorities had been hunting for Bin Laden for nearly 10 years, mostly in the high mountains on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
U.S. troops had also bombed and raided a Bin Laden hideout in Tora Bora, Afghanistan, a network of caves deep in the mountains.
Bin Laden had vowed numerous times that he would never be taken alive.
News of the terror mastermind's death sparked wild celebrations from Ground Zero to the gates of the White House and around the world.
Even before the President appeared on TV, word filtered to New Yorkers, who have been forced to live life on constant guard for terrorist attacks because of Bin Laden's threat.
In Hell's Kitchen, people on cell phones passed the news to strangers and shouts of "He's dead!" began ringing along Ninth Ave. Strangers exchanged high-fives on sidewalks.
In Washington, a crowd gathered outside the White House, waving flags, singing the national anthem and chanting "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!"
"This is a profoundly important moment not just for the families of those who lost their lives on 9/11 and in Al Qaeda's other attacks, but for people all over the world who want to build a common future of peace, freedom and cooperation for our children," former President Bill Clinton said.
Former President George W. Bush said Obama called him Sunday with the news.
"The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done," Bush said.
One 9/11 worker, NYPD Detective John Walcott, who got sick working at Ground Zero, called it a "morale boost for the people who have been fighting in Afghanistan 10 years."
"It shows the resilience of our troops, who have been hunting him all this time," Walcott said. "It is a sign to the rest of the world that the U.S. stays with it, does not forget. People who weren't even in Al Qaeda when 9/11 happened will try to get revenge. [It's] far from over. In weeks and months to come, America better be on its toes."