Osama Bin Laden Killed In Pakistan

Perhaps I’m not telling you anything new at this point. I missed this important news last night, I rarely look at the news late on a Sunday night’

Osama bin Laden, hunted as the mastermind behind the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, has been killed, President Obama announced tonight.

The president called the killing of bin Laden the “most significant achievement to date” in the effort to defeat al Qaeda.

“Justice has been done,” Obama said.

Bin Laden was located at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, which was monitored and when the time was determined to be right, the president said, he authorized a “targeted operation.”

“A small team of Americans carried out the operation,” Obama said. “After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.”

DNA testing confirmed that it was bin Laden, sources told ABC News.

Congratulations to President Obama, our awesome folks in the military who carried this out, and to America. Fighting the war on terrorism overseas is one of the things you’ll remember that I mostly agree with in the way Obama is handling it. But, what does this mean?

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s death is politically momentous for US president Barack Obama – witness the cheering crowds which gathered outside the White House even before his speech on Sunday night.

Its impact on al-Qaeda, though, is harder to measure.

Peter Bergen, an American journalist, said on CNN that bin Laden’s death marked “the end of the war on terror”. But many other analysts would disagree: Al-Qaeda, after all, is a very different organisation in 2011 than in 2001, with a new cadre of leaders and a wider range of affiliate groups.

It is by no means the end of al Qaeda and Islamic jihad. They’ve lost a figurehead who makes pronouncements, but, has he really been in control? While Americans were cheering in the streets last night, and rightly so, expect the Islamists to look to ramp up their attacks in short order for this. Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas in the Gaza strip said

We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We ask God to offer him
mercy with the true believers and the martyrs.

We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood.

And the Democratic Underground reaction

  • Now can we leave Iraq and Afgan??
  • End The War Mission Accomplished!
  • The making of a Martyr. They knew that. What better way? to ensure that “the terrorists” have a renewed reason to “attack” us. It’s not enough to kill women and children, daily, to guarantee high “recruitment” numbers for “the terrorists” than to martyr their “leader”…aka..an old Arab man hiding in a cave with a dialysis machine.
  • yellow terror alert – campaign time – bullshit detection now put my show back on – this sucks
  • This is what they interupted “Brothers & Sisters” for? I thought the big announcement was going to be something important. I wonder what the excuse(s) for continuing the war(s) will be now.
  • I think I am going be sick…

Granted, and to be fair, there are also several comments saying this is a good thing there. But, it looks to me that more are using this as a political kudos for Obama than a win for America. We’ll see what happens with the Islamists now.

Of course, DNC head Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the DNC make it All About Obama

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) praised Obama and specifically credited Obama for “refocusing” U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which Wasserman Schultz asserted led to bin Laden’s death.

“President Obama’s leadership in making the targeting of Osama Bin Laden our highest military and intelligence priority, warrants our gratitude,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. “He deserves credit for refocusing U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan to root out terrorism which no doubt helped lead to this historic announcement.” (snip)

Beyond the Wasserman Schultz statement, the DNC is looking to add bin Laden’s death to Obama’s mantle.

The group wrote on Twitter: “#ThankYouPresidentObama” before adding an updated iteration: “Thank you to our men and women in uniform and #ThankYouPresidentObama.”

President Bush comments

Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001.

I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission. They have our everlasting gratitude.

This momentous achievement 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. The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.

More: a couple of extra thoughts

1: someone emailed to ask why I’m not super excited. Four or five years ago, I might have been. Nothing to do with Obama being president, if it was McCain, I’d still be rather blasé. Islamists didn’t start with Osama, they won’t end with his death. This was a great moral victory, but, it will not change anything. OBL was as much a figurehead as anything else. Still, it is good that he’s getting his 72 male virgins

2: now we wait to see if the other shoe drops. Supposedly, AQ has nukes primed to go in Europe if OBL is killed. We’ll see if the jihadis care

3: on reflection, I do have to give Obama credit for have great big brass ones on this. We normally excoriate Obama for not being able to make a decision, but, he made this one fast, and choosing to send a SEAL team deep into a sovereign country to an area near their capitol was a damned tough call.

4: from a political aspect, this earns him some well deserved capital, but won’t affect the election. Also, Manu in his base might be celebrating now, but they will quickly turn on Obama as he continues to prosecute the GWoT.

5: don’t question the timing. It’s what it is. There is no grand conspiracy.

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5 Responses to “Osama Bin Laden Killed In Pakistan”

  1. gitarcarver says:

    While the DNC is making this about Obama, they are taking their cue from him when he said in his remarks:

    These efforts weigh on me every time, as Commander in Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one. Or look into the eyes of service member whose been gravely wounded. So Americans understand the costs of war.

    Even now, he wants to make this event about him or at least let the world know how much he has “suffered” in the hunt for Bin Laden. (He looked for Bin Laden on every golf course he could, you know.) George Bush was often labeled by his detractors as not intelligent, but Bush did things for the troops that were often unnoticed. Bush not only cared about the troops, he visited them without thought to how it would be perceived politically. To him, it was the right thing to do, not just the political thing to do.

    The fact that Obama brought himself into this continues to show the lack of leadership this man has. He just can’t lead. A real leader would have given all the praise and spotlight to the people who actually performed the operation and support efforts. A real leader would have only commented on the men and women serving beneath him. Only a REMF such as Obama would ever seek to shine the spotlight on himself as well.

    The major news and cause of celebration is that Bin Laden is dead. It is hard to be disappointed in that news.

    On the other hand, it is not hard to be disappointed in Obama’s lack of leadership he has once again displayed.

  2. mojo says:

    Ismail needs to get his ticket next, if ya ask me.

  3. david7134 says:

    I felt the same attitude to the announcement of bin’s death. Sure I was glad, but I know that we are not addressing the real issue, which is Islam. Also, Obama is as much an enemy of the US as bin was. So we still have a lot of work to do.

  4. PatriotUSA says:

    I give obama credit that this event happened on his watch and that is all. Let us not forget who put in place after 9/11 the rebuilding of our intelligence agencies(still have a long way to go) and making obl atop priority. It was President Bush.

    This hurts al Queda but does not eliminate them and there will be as severe retaliation from them at some point, somewhere. This does nothing to stop the islamization of our country and the west. Nor does this alter anything that obama is doing to islamize the USA as fast as he can. This will make obl a martyr in the muslim world and I am sure there are many in the muslim world plotting revengeful attacks as we speak.

    I watched the mullah in the White House speech and here is what I posted:

    http://callofthepatriot.blogspot.com/2011/05/osama-bnin-laden-has-been-eliminated.html

    This was shameful that obama made this event his. The kool-Aid drinkers will hail this moment in time and want to close up shop. WE ARE AT WAR WITH ISLAM, period.

  5. david7134 says:

    I agree that O is stepping forward to take the credit for something that he had nothing to do with and for which he hates the concept. More information is necessary as there are a few references to the fact that bin was at the house for 4 years and I would bet that Bush and group had knowledge of the fact and sat back watching the activity. If they didn’t, then someone made a huge mistake going right in. Thus, there is every possiblity that O made the wrong move or is taking credit for the work of others.

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