Tuesday 3 May 2011
Sea burial of Osama bin Laden breaks sharia law, say Muslim scholars
Osama bin Laden's burial reportedly took place from the deck of the USS aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, above. Photograph: Timothy A. Hazel/AFP/Getty Images
Osama bin Laden's burial at sea was quickly criticised by Muslim scholars who claimed it had breached sharia law and warned that it may provoke calls for revenge attacks against US targets.
Others used the sea burial question to doubt whether he was, in fact, dead at all, with doubts fuelled by the absence of authentic photographs of his corpse.
US officials said tests using DNA from several of Bin Laden's family members had provided "virtual certainty" that it was was his body. A woman believed to be one of Bin Laden's wives identified the al-Qaida leader, and he was visually identified by members of the US raiding party, the Pentagon said. The body was photographed before being buried at sea, although it was not clear if the images would be released.
Burying the al-Qaida leader on land could have led to his grave becoming a focus of contention and pilgrimage as well as posing tough questions about where he should be laid to rest.
"Finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted terrorist would have been difficult," a US official said. "So the US decided to bury him at sea." The burial reportedly took place from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the North Arabian sea.
Senior US officials told news agencies that his body would be disposed of in accordance with Islamic tradition, which involves ritual washing, shrouding and burial within 24 hours.
The 24-hour rule has not always been applied in the past. For example, there was controversy when the bodies of Uday and Qusay Hussein - sons of the Iraqi dictator Saddam - were embalmed and held for 11 days after they were killed by US forces. Their bodies were later shown to media.
Standard Muslim practice involves placing the body in a grave with the head pointed toward the holy city of Mecca. Burial at sea is rare in Islam, though Muslim websites say it is permitted in certain circumstances. One is on a long voyage where the body may decompose and pose a health hazard to a ship's passengers, an exception noted on Monday by the Tunisian scholar Ahmed al-Gharbi. Another is if there is a risk of enemies digging up a land grave and exhuming or mutilating the body.
Dr Saud al-Fanisan, former dean of the faculty of sharia law in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said that if a body was buried at sea it should be protected from fish. In the words of alislam.org, the body should be lowered into the water "in a vessel of clay or with a weight tied to its feet".
Mohammed al-Qubaisi, Dubai's grand mufti, said of Bin Laden's burial: "They can say they buried him at sea, but they cannot say they did it according to Islam. Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in extraordinary circumstances. This is not one of them."
Abdul-Sattar al-Janabi, who preaches at Baghdad's Abu Hanifa mosque, said: "What was done by the Americans is forbidden by Islam and might provoke some Muslims.
"It is not acceptable and it is almost a crime to throw the body of a Muslim man into the sea. The body of Bin Laden should have been handed over to his family to look for a country to bury him."
The radical Lebanon-based cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed said: "The Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial, and I don't think this is in the interest of the US administration."
The Egyptian analyst and lawyer Montasser el-Zayat said Bin Laden's sea burial was designed to prevent his grave from becoming a shrine. But an option was an unmarked grave. "They don't want to see him become a symbol," he said. "But he is already a symbol in people's hearts."
Ian Black and Brian Whitaker @'The Guardian'
Others used the sea burial question to doubt whether he was, in fact, dead at all, with doubts fuelled by the absence of authentic photographs of his corpse.
US officials said tests using DNA from several of Bin Laden's family members had provided "virtual certainty" that it was was his body. A woman believed to be one of Bin Laden's wives identified the al-Qaida leader, and he was visually identified by members of the US raiding party, the Pentagon said. The body was photographed before being buried at sea, although it was not clear if the images would be released.
Burying the al-Qaida leader on land could have led to his grave becoming a focus of contention and pilgrimage as well as posing tough questions about where he should be laid to rest.
"Finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted terrorist would have been difficult," a US official said. "So the US decided to bury him at sea." The burial reportedly took place from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the North Arabian sea.
Senior US officials told news agencies that his body would be disposed of in accordance with Islamic tradition, which involves ritual washing, shrouding and burial within 24 hours.
The 24-hour rule has not always been applied in the past. For example, there was controversy when the bodies of Uday and Qusay Hussein - sons of the Iraqi dictator Saddam - were embalmed and held for 11 days after they were killed by US forces. Their bodies were later shown to media.
Standard Muslim practice involves placing the body in a grave with the head pointed toward the holy city of Mecca. Burial at sea is rare in Islam, though Muslim websites say it is permitted in certain circumstances. One is on a long voyage where the body may decompose and pose a health hazard to a ship's passengers, an exception noted on Monday by the Tunisian scholar Ahmed al-Gharbi. Another is if there is a risk of enemies digging up a land grave and exhuming or mutilating the body.
Dr Saud al-Fanisan, former dean of the faculty of sharia law in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said that if a body was buried at sea it should be protected from fish. In the words of alislam.org, the body should be lowered into the water "in a vessel of clay or with a weight tied to its feet".
Mohammed al-Qubaisi, Dubai's grand mufti, said of Bin Laden's burial: "They can say they buried him at sea, but they cannot say they did it according to Islam. Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in extraordinary circumstances. This is not one of them."
Abdul-Sattar al-Janabi, who preaches at Baghdad's Abu Hanifa mosque, said: "What was done by the Americans is forbidden by Islam and might provoke some Muslims.
"It is not acceptable and it is almost a crime to throw the body of a Muslim man into the sea. The body of Bin Laden should have been handed over to his family to look for a country to bury him."
The radical Lebanon-based cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed said: "The Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial, and I don't think this is in the interest of the US administration."
The Egyptian analyst and lawyer Montasser el-Zayat said Bin Laden's sea burial was designed to prevent his grave from becoming a shrine. But an option was an unmarked grave. "They don't want to see him become a symbol," he said. "But he is already a symbol in people's hearts."
Ian Black and Brian Whitaker @'The Guardian'
Two experts of English language
Roman Weidenfeller, goalkeeper of new German Football champion Borussia Dortmund, interviewed by a reporter of Dubai Sports.
The 10 Tools of Online Oppressors
The world’s worst online oppressors are using an array of tactics, some reflecting astonishing levels of sophistication, others reminiscent of old-school techniques. From China’s high-level malware attacks to Syria’s brute-force imprisonments, this may be only the dawn of online oppression. A CPJ special report by Danny O’Brien
READ IT HERE
13 and God – Own Your Ghost (2011 - Albumstream)
13 & God is an American and German electronic collaboration group between Weilheim, Germany-based The Notwist and Oakland, California-based anticon members Themselves. The group is signed both to anticon and Alien Transistor. They are joined live by Jordan Dalrymple who now plays Dax Pierson's parts following a 2005 Subtle tour accident which left Dax quadriplegic.
The band's name stems from the concept of the 12 apostles and Jesus Christ forming a group that comprises 13 mortal men as well as God. Distinguishing between The Notwist and Themselves in the context of which group is the '13' and which is 'God' is thus disingenuous; in the example above, God is inherently contained within the '13', creating a symbiotic relationship so strong it is unable to be severed. As 13 & God are not a Christian group, but do explore elements of philosophy, spirituality and existentialism, the name 13 & God is generally considered to be more of a reflection of those elements, as well as the concept of 'identity' itself.
In a recent interview with Pitchfork, Doseone was quoted as saying "in 2010 there will be a brand new shiny 13 & G record out in the world."[1] On the third of February 2011, a new album entitled "Own Your Ghost" was announced to be released on Anticon on May 17th 2011. The album is set to feature ten tracks, including a song written and performed on the 2007 tour, entitled "Sure as Debt" This announcement was accompanied by a preview clip of the song "Armoured Scarves" from the album (wikipedia)
As a seven-headed conglomerate comprised of two genre-pushing bands, 13 & God are admirably accessible and ego-free. Adam “Doseone” Drucker of Themselves keeps his scene-stealing vocal delivery succinct, stepping out altogether at times and even singing it straight at others. The recompense is the occasional, well-timed breakout of his galloping, head-spinning prose. It’s countered by bucolic vocals, acoustic guitars and glitch electronics from The Notwist, laying down some typically sublime cuts.
Album highlight Armored Scarves is indicative of what works best with this side-project, a rich tapestry of disparate vocal harmonies and staccato percussion that would fall apart with any attempt to study its constituent parts. At other times the delineations are clearer. It’s Own Sun will be pure Notwist to most ears, with follow-up Death Major much the same story for Themselves. No bad thing of course, and with 13 & God being touted as a bigger concern by both parties, Own Your Ghost should stand as a solid bedrock. [Darren Carle]
1. Its Own Sun (2:44)
2. Death Major (4:26)
3. Armored Scarves (4:29)
4. Janu Are (3:32)
5. Old Age (3:24)
6. Et Tu (3:18)
7. Death Minor (3:56)
8. Sure as Debt (3:49)
9. Beat on Us (5:06)
10. Unyoung (3:39)
ALBUMSTREAM
Labor foiled bomb treaty
Australia secretly worked with the United States to weaken a key international treaty to ban cluster bombs, according to leaked US diplomatic cables.
Despite taking a high-profile stance against cluster munitions - condemned as the cause of large numbers of civilian casualties - Australia was privately prepared to pull out of international negotiations for a global ban of the weapons if this threatened ties with US forces.
The US continues to claim cluster munitions are ''a legitimate and useful weapon'', including for use in Afghanistan, and has affirmed that it will not sign the treaty to ban the bombs.
The draft legislation has attracted sharp criticism from non-government organisations for not meeting the spirit of the treaty to ban the weapons.
Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic complained the legislation could be interpreted to ''allow Australian military personnel to load and aim the gun, so long as they did not pull the trigger''.
Diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Canberra passed on to to WikiLeaks and provided exclusively to The Age reveal that, in 2007, Kevin Rudd's newly elected government immediately told the US it was prepared to withdraw from the negotiations if key ''red line'' issues were not addressed - especially the inclusion of a loophole to allow signatories to the convention to co-operate with military forces still using cluster bombs...
Despite taking a high-profile stance against cluster munitions - condemned as the cause of large numbers of civilian casualties - Australia was privately prepared to pull out of international negotiations for a global ban of the weapons if this threatened ties with US forces.
The US continues to claim cluster munitions are ''a legitimate and useful weapon'', including for use in Afghanistan, and has affirmed that it will not sign the treaty to ban the bombs.
Advertisement: Story continues below
The disclosure comes as Federal Parliament prepares to consider a bill to ratify Australia's signature of the cluster munitions convention.The draft legislation has attracted sharp criticism from non-government organisations for not meeting the spirit of the treaty to ban the weapons.
Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic complained the legislation could be interpreted to ''allow Australian military personnel to load and aim the gun, so long as they did not pull the trigger''.
Diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Canberra passed on to to WikiLeaks and provided exclusively to The Age reveal that, in 2007, Kevin Rudd's newly elected government immediately told the US it was prepared to withdraw from the negotiations if key ''red line'' issues were not addressed - especially the inclusion of a loophole to allow signatories to the convention to co-operate with military forces still using cluster bombs...
Continue reading
Phillip Dorling @'The Age'
We must do more to help rid the world of these foul weapons
Monday 2 May 2011
Bring me coffee or tea
Last week, 29 April, would have been the 63rd birthday of Michael Karoli, the German musician who died in 2001 at the age of 53, after a long battle with cancer. A talented and creative musician, possessed of the rare gift of being able to get a tune out of any instrument he picked up, it is nevertheless his work as the guitarist in Can which for me, at least, is his most enduring legacy.Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.
Can constructed their music largely through collective spontaneous composition - which the band differentiated from improvisation in the jazz sense - sampling themselves in the studio and editing down the results; bassist/chief engineer Holger Czukay referred to Can's live and studio performances as "instant compositions". [Wikipedia]
I remember buying the band's 1971 album Tago Mago pretty much 'on spec' after reading the (admittedly hyperbolic) sleeve notes which namechecked other bands I liked at the time, but it took only seconds from dropping the stylus on to side one, track one, to realise that the music was like nothing else I'd ever heard. Even now, forty years later, it's impossible for me to pick out just one favourite track from that album - but I still remember two distinct 'click' moments from that first listen. The first is Michael's lead guitar break at around 5m 45s into side two's Halleluwah; the second is in the middle of Bring Me Coffee Or Tea, the closing track of the album: the combination of Michael's acoustic guitar and the plaintive murmur of Damo Suzuki nearly reduced me to tears. I can't really argue with Julian Cope's description of Tago Mago in his 1995 book Krautrocksampler, that it "sounds only like itself, like no-one before or after".
From there, I began to delve further into Can's back catalogue and bought all their official releases from then on, always finding something inspiring and uplifting on each of them, invariably something played by Michael. I was fortunate enough not only to see the band play at the (long since demolished) Liverpool Stadium in March 1973, but also to actually meet them all backstage before they played. Suffice to say, the evening is etched into my memory as one of the best in my life.Over the years, time and distance hasn't dulled my love of Can's music and the coming of the internet has, from time to time, enabled me to add various unofficial recordings to my collection - and my sense of anticipation and pleasure at hearing Michael play has never dulled, be it a not-great quality live recording made by another fan, or a leaked outtake from a recording session, or an official recording by another artist on which Michael guested. It also has to be said that Can's output was prolific; they seemed to tour endlessly with the time between tours spent jamming for hours on end in their own Inner Space studios in Köln.
I can think of only three albums that I've loved unconditionally (uncritically?) from the moment I heard them and Tago Mago was the first - the others being John Martyn's Solid Air (1973) and Lee 'Scratch' Perry and The Upsetters' Super Ape (1976). Each of the three profoundly affected my own approach to making music, each in its own way - although, with the benefit of hindsight, it's perhaps the importance of the spaces in music that has struck me most and stayed with me longest. Julian Cope again: "Writers often celebrate the musician with sense enough to leave space in music, but Michael Karoli was one of the very few real masters". And with that in mind, it's time for me to leave some space in this vaguely elegaic, very personal, retrospective piece and go and listen to the music of one of the greats: Michael Karoli.
Can - Oh Yeah
Via Bird of Paradox
Flying under the radar...
TomWrightAsia Tom Wright
ISI now says U.S. took off from Afghanistan and were not detected. #binladen
gatormason Tom Mason
Fox News clearly giving credit to Bush and not Obama for the killing of OBL #Osama http://fxn.ws/bfZZns
Instra:mental - Giles Peterson BBC Worldwide mixtape
01. Boddika - You Tell Me (Nonplus Records)
02. Jon Convex - Vacuum States (3024)
03. Instra:mental - Vicodin [Skudge Remix] (Naked Lunch)
04. Jon Convex - Radar (Forthcoming 3024)
05. Instra:mental - Thomp (Nonplus Records)
06. Instra:mental - Pyramid (3024)
07. Boddika - Soul What (Swamp81)
08. Boddika & Joy O - Swims (Swamp81)
09. Instra:mental - 8 (Nonplus Records)
10. Jon Convex - Falling Again (3024)
02. Jon Convex - Vacuum States (3024)
03. Instra:mental - Vicodin [Skudge Remix] (Naked Lunch)
04. Jon Convex - Radar (Forthcoming 3024)
05. Instra:mental - Thomp (Nonplus Records)
06. Instra:mental - Pyramid (3024)
07. Boddika - Soul What (Swamp81)
08. Boddika & Joy O - Swims (Swamp81)
09. Instra:mental - 8 (Nonplus Records)
10. Jon Convex - Falling Again (3024)
The timeline of the mission to kill Osama bin Laden
The mission to kill Osama bin Laden was years in the making, but began in earnest last fall with the discovery of a suspicious compound near Islamabad, and culminated with a helicopter based raid in the early morning hours in Pakistan Sunday.
"Last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground," President Obama told the nation in a speech Sunday night.
"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body," he said.
Sitting in a row of chairs beside the podium were National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director Leon Panetta, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullin, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Vice President Joe Biden. White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley and Press Secretary Jay Carney stood in the back with about a dozen White House staffers.
Since last August, Obama convened at least 9 meetings with national security principals about this operation and the principals met 5 times without the president, a senior administration official said. Their deputies met 7 times formally amid a flurry of other interagency communications and consultations.
ABC News reported that the principals' meetings were held on March 14, March 29, April 12, April 19 and April 28.
Last week Obama finally had enough intelligence last to take action. The final decision to go forward with the operation was made at 8:20 AM on Friday, April 29 in the White House's Diplomatic Room. In the room at the time were Donilon, his deputy Denis McDonough, and counterterrorism advisor John Brennan. Donilon prepared the formal orders.
On Sunday, Obama went to play golf in the morning at Andrews Air Force Base. He played 9 holes in chilly, rainy weather and spent a little time on the driving range, as well. Meanwhile, the principals were assembling in the situation room at the White House. They were there from 1:00 PM and stayed put for the rest of the day.
At 2:00, Obama met with the principals back at the White House. At 3:32 he went to the situation room for another briefing. At 3:50 he was told that bin Laden was "tentatively identified." At 7:01 Obama was told there was a "high probability" the high value target at the compound was bin Laden. At 8:30 Obama got the final briefing.
Before speaking to the nation, Obama called former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Three senior administration officials briefed reporters late Sunday night on the surveillance, intelligence, and military operations that ended with bin Laden's death at the hands of U.S. operatives.
"The operation was the culmination of years of careful and highly advanced intelligence work," a senior administration official said.
The stream of information that led to Sunday's raid began over four years ago, when U.S. intelligence personnel were alerted about two couriers who were working with al Qaeda and had deep connections to top al Qaeda officials. Prisoners in U.S. custody flagged these two couriers as individuals who might have been helping bin Laden, one official said
"One courier in particular had our constant attention," the official said. He declined to give that courier's name but said he was a protégé of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and a "trusted assistant" of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, a former senior al Qaeda officer who was captured in 2005.
"Detainees also identified this man as one of the few couriers trusted by bin Laden," the official said. The U.S. intelligence community uncovered the identity of this courier four years ago, and two years ago, the U.S. discovered the area of Pakistan this courier and his brother were working in.
In August 2010, the intelligence agencies found the exact compound where this courier was living, in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The neighborhood is affluent and many retired Pakistani military officials live there.
"When we saw the compound where the brothers lived, we were shocked by what we saw," one official said.
The compound was 8 times larger than the other homes around it. It was built in 2005 in an area that was secluded at that time. There were extraordinary security measures at the compound, including 12 to 18 foot walls topped with barbed wire.
There were other suspicious indicators at the compound. Internal sections were walled off from the rest of the compound. There were two security gates. The residents burned their trash. The main building had few windows.
The compound, despite being worth over $1 million, had no telephone or internet service. There's no way the courier and his brother could have afforded it, the official said.
"Intelligence officials concluded that this compound was custom built to hide someone of significance," the official said, adding that the size and makeup of one of the families living there matched the suspected makeup of bin Laden's entourage.
The intelligence community had high confidence that the compound had a high value target, and the analysts concluded there was high probability that target was bin Laden, one official said.
When the small team of U.S. operatives raided the compound in the early morning hours Sunday Pakistan time, they encountered resistance and killed three men besides bin Laden and one woman. The three men were the two couriers and one of bin Laden's sons. The woman was being used as a human shield, one official said. Two other women were injured.
One U.S. helicopter was downed due to unspecified "maintenance" issues, one official said. The U.S. personnel blew up the helicopter before leaving the area. The team was on the ground for only 40 minutes.
A senior defense official told CNN that US Navy SEALs were involved in the mission.
No other governments were briefed on the operation before it occurred, including the host government Pakistan.
"That was for one reason and one reason alone. That was essential to the security of the operation and our personnel," one official said. Only a "very small group of people" inside the U.S. government knew about the operation. Afterwards, calls were made to the Pakistani government and several other allied countries.
"Since 9/11 the United States has made it clear to Pakistan that we would pursue bin Laden wherever he might be," one official said. "Pakistan has long understood we are at war with al Qaeda. The United States had a moral and legal obligation to act on the information it had."
Americans abroad should stay indoors be aware of the increased threat of attacks following bin Laden's killing, the State Department said in a new travel warning issued Sunday night. State also issued a specific travel warning for Pakistan.
"Al Qaeda operatives and sympathizers may try to respond violently to avenge bin Laden's death and other terrorist leaders may try to accelerate their efforts to attack the United States," one official said. "We have always understood that this fight would be a marathon and not a sprint."
Josh Rogan @'FP'
"Last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground," President Obama told the nation in a speech Sunday night.
"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body," he said.
Sitting in a row of chairs beside the podium were National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director Leon Panetta, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullin, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Vice President Joe Biden. White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley and Press Secretary Jay Carney stood in the back with about a dozen White House staffers.
Since last August, Obama convened at least 9 meetings with national security principals about this operation and the principals met 5 times without the president, a senior administration official said. Their deputies met 7 times formally amid a flurry of other interagency communications and consultations.
ABC News reported that the principals' meetings were held on March 14, March 29, April 12, April 19 and April 28.
Last week Obama finally had enough intelligence last to take action. The final decision to go forward with the operation was made at 8:20 AM on Friday, April 29 in the White House's Diplomatic Room. In the room at the time were Donilon, his deputy Denis McDonough, and counterterrorism advisor John Brennan. Donilon prepared the formal orders.
On Sunday, Obama went to play golf in the morning at Andrews Air Force Base. He played 9 holes in chilly, rainy weather and spent a little time on the driving range, as well. Meanwhile, the principals were assembling in the situation room at the White House. They were there from 1:00 PM and stayed put for the rest of the day.
At 2:00, Obama met with the principals back at the White House. At 3:32 he went to the situation room for another briefing. At 3:50 he was told that bin Laden was "tentatively identified." At 7:01 Obama was told there was a "high probability" the high value target at the compound was bin Laden. At 8:30 Obama got the final briefing.
Before speaking to the nation, Obama called former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Three senior administration officials briefed reporters late Sunday night on the surveillance, intelligence, and military operations that ended with bin Laden's death at the hands of U.S. operatives.
"The operation was the culmination of years of careful and highly advanced intelligence work," a senior administration official said.
The stream of information that led to Sunday's raid began over four years ago, when U.S. intelligence personnel were alerted about two couriers who were working with al Qaeda and had deep connections to top al Qaeda officials. Prisoners in U.S. custody flagged these two couriers as individuals who might have been helping bin Laden, one official said
"One courier in particular had our constant attention," the official said. He declined to give that courier's name but said he was a protégé of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and a "trusted assistant" of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, a former senior al Qaeda officer who was captured in 2005.
"Detainees also identified this man as one of the few couriers trusted by bin Laden," the official said. The U.S. intelligence community uncovered the identity of this courier four years ago, and two years ago, the U.S. discovered the area of Pakistan this courier and his brother were working in.
In August 2010, the intelligence agencies found the exact compound where this courier was living, in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The neighborhood is affluent and many retired Pakistani military officials live there.
"When we saw the compound where the brothers lived, we were shocked by what we saw," one official said.
The compound was 8 times larger than the other homes around it. It was built in 2005 in an area that was secluded at that time. There were extraordinary security measures at the compound, including 12 to 18 foot walls topped with barbed wire.
There were other suspicious indicators at the compound. Internal sections were walled off from the rest of the compound. There were two security gates. The residents burned their trash. The main building had few windows.
The compound, despite being worth over $1 million, had no telephone or internet service. There's no way the courier and his brother could have afforded it, the official said.
"Intelligence officials concluded that this compound was custom built to hide someone of significance," the official said, adding that the size and makeup of one of the families living there matched the suspected makeup of bin Laden's entourage.
The intelligence community had high confidence that the compound had a high value target, and the analysts concluded there was high probability that target was bin Laden, one official said.
When the small team of U.S. operatives raided the compound in the early morning hours Sunday Pakistan time, they encountered resistance and killed three men besides bin Laden and one woman. The three men were the two couriers and one of bin Laden's sons. The woman was being used as a human shield, one official said. Two other women were injured.
One U.S. helicopter was downed due to unspecified "maintenance" issues, one official said. The U.S. personnel blew up the helicopter before leaving the area. The team was on the ground for only 40 minutes.
A senior defense official told CNN that US Navy SEALs were involved in the mission.
No other governments were briefed on the operation before it occurred, including the host government Pakistan.
"That was for one reason and one reason alone. That was essential to the security of the operation and our personnel," one official said. Only a "very small group of people" inside the U.S. government knew about the operation. Afterwards, calls were made to the Pakistani government and several other allied countries.
"Since 9/11 the United States has made it clear to Pakistan that we would pursue bin Laden wherever he might be," one official said. "Pakistan has long understood we are at war with al Qaeda. The United States had a moral and legal obligation to act on the information it had."
Americans abroad should stay indoors be aware of the increased threat of attacks following bin Laden's killing, the State Department said in a new travel warning issued Sunday night. State also issued a specific travel warning for Pakistan.
"Al Qaeda operatives and sympathizers may try to respond violently to avenge bin Laden's death and other terrorist leaders may try to accelerate their efforts to attack the United States," one official said. "We have always understood that this fight would be a marathon and not a sprint."
Josh Rogan @'FP'
RBReich Robert Reich
Apparently knowledge of BL's hideout came from careful analysis rather than from anyone imprisoned, coerced, or tortured. A lesson here?
evgenymorozov Evgeny Morozov
So the compound has no telephone or Internet service? Wait, Osama wasn't in charge of the world's first cyber-jihad?...
The Man Who Broke the News of the US Attack (But Didn't Know It)
Late on Sunday night, Athar became the first witness --- although he never realised it --- to the US operation to kill Osama Bin Laden:
Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event)....Three hours ago, Athar resumed Tweeting, still unaware or unconvinced --- despite President Obama's announcement --- of the US operation against Bin Laden: "Interesting rumors in the otherwise uneventful Abbottabad air today....Leave Abbottabad alone, Osama and Obama...."
Go away helicopter - before I take out my giant swatter :-/ ...
A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope its not the start of something nasty :-S ...
All silent after the blast, but a friend heard it 6 km away too... the helicopter is gone too....
http://bit.ly/ljB6p6 seems like my giant swatter worked ! [The link is to a blog that reported, "A big blast is heard near the biggest military academy of Kakool, in Abbottabad . People are saying that it is due to a helicopter crash near the Kakool academy's residential academy. Security forces have surrounded the place and investigations are underway."] ....
The few people online at this time of the night are saying one of the copters was not Pakistani....
Funny, moving to Abbottabad was part of the 'being safe' strategy....
Technically, it is unidentified until identified, and it is a flying object, so year, why the hell not, we have seen weirder stuff....
The abbottabad helicopter/UFO was shot down near the Bilal Town area, and there's report of a flash. People saying it could be a drone....
People are saying it was not a technical fault and it was shot down. I heard it CIRCLE 3-4 times above, sounded purposeful....
It was too noisy to be a spy craft, or, a very poor spy craft it was....
An hour ago, however, the situation sunk in: "Uh oh, now I'm the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it....And here come the mails from the mainstream media....*sigh*"
Scott Lucas @'EnduringAmerica'
daveblev Dave Blevins
Oh great, it's the return of the right-wing patriotic redneck people and their stupid flag waving. patriotism is lame.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
