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Five Meetings over Two Months lead to Kill Order (update)

Posted: May 1, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Breaking News, Foreign Affairs, Iraq, Pakistan | Tags: |46 Comments

CNN is getting more details as reporters are being briefed.

I just can't wait for the next South Park Osama adventure ...

Ed Henry has just clarified the timing of the Bin Laden killing.  Evidently, the President and the National Security Council met five times between March 4th and April 30th.  The President issued the kill order during the Royal Wedding.  Bin Laden was killed today.

Gloria Borger has been briefed too.  Borger says Bil Laden was killed in a compound that was built in 2005.  It was well armored.  The intelligence came from people watching messengers going in and out  and also reports that the compound burned trash instead of dumping it.  The mansion had been under surveillance for some time.  There were quite a few people living there  including one that met Bin Laden’s odd description It was a million dollar complex but there was no TV or internet.

Chris Lemon says the operations included a helicopter raid involving Navy Seals.  There were practice runs to minimize casualties in the area.  There was one helicopter that failed to get to the operations.  No one was hurt but the helicopter was destroyed.

Bin Laden was in Abbottabad; not in caves.   This is an affluent neighborhood filled with retired Pakistani military officals.  The compound was 8 times larger than similar homes in the area and had incredible security including enforced walls that were 12-18 feet tall and topped with barbed wire.   This situation attracted attention.

CNN says confirms the US has the body.

A team of U.S. Navy SEALs carried out the operation in Pakistan that ended in the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, CNN’s Chris Lawrence reported.  The operation lasted about 40 minutes, and the team had practiced the raid a few times.

Earlier, CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh, citing  a senior Pakistani intelligence official, reported that members of Pakistan’s intelligence service – the ISI – were on site in Abbotabad, Pakistan, during the operation that killed  bin Laden. The official said he did not know who fired the shot that actually killed Bin Laden.

[Updated, 12:11 a.m. ET]  Members of Pakistan’s intelligence service – the ISI – were on site in Abbotabad, Pakistan, during the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reports, citing a senior Pakistani intelligence official. The official said he did not know who fired the shot that actually killed Bin Laden.

The US has issued a worldwide travel alert.  The U.S. State Department warns that “enhanced potential for anti-American violence” is possible following bin Laden’s death.

GEO TV from Pakistan has a video of the fire at the compound.

46 Comments on “Five Meetings over Two Months lead to Kill Order (update)”

  1. Wonk the Vote says:
    May 1, 2011 at 11:32 pm

    The timing of all this is interesting.

    Obama releases his long form birth certificate, Head of CIA gets appointed to Pentagon, CIA kills Bin Laden, and right as news break a crowd erupts outside of WH on Sunday night cheering “USA USA… Obama got Osama.”

  2. Seriously says:
    May 1, 2011 at 11:33 pm

    Jesus, really? How long is the travel alert expected to continue?

    • dakinikat says:
      May 1, 2011 at 11:42 pm

      no detail right now

      • Jadzia says:
        May 1, 2011 at 11:59 pm

        This whole thing is just too weird in terms of the timing. All I’ve been hearing this week is that this is pretty much the start of the 2012 campaign. While I don’t doubt that he is actually dead, and I certainly am not mourning the man, I do wonder how long the Dems will expect us to forget that we have no jobs, millions are losing their homes, health care is gone for at least another generation, and our educational system is going down the tubes. Also, I do not think that my brothers in the military will be coming home a day sooner because of this. So I guess: two cheers for us.

  3. dakinikat says:
    May 1, 2011 at 11:34 pm

    Bill Clinton: Death of bin Laden ‘a profoundly important moment’ http://tpm.ly/kAFEc3

  4. gregoryp says:
    May 1, 2011 at 11:42 pm

    Listening to Obama’s speech on CNN as I just got off work a few minutes ago. Probably his best speech ever. Actually sounds like the President. Maybe this will be a game changer and he’ll grow a backbone and start standing up for what is right here in this country. One thing that does concern me is that he said they got the location back in August but had to do the proper diligence. That seems like an awful long time ago. SOB could have been dead months ago.

  5. dakinikat says:
    May 1, 2011 at 11:44 pm

    nytimespolitics NYTimes Politics
    Obituary | Osama bin Laden: The Most Wanted Face of Terrorism http://nyti.ms/jss5m8

    • Minkoff Minx says:
      May 1, 2011 at 11:47 pm

      Ding Dong the Dick is Dead….Sorry if I am a bit overly glad they got him. It is just so personal for me.

      • gregoryp says:
        May 1, 2011 at 11:50 pm

        Has there ever been a more deserving person? Yes, I’d say that there have been quite a few who have really deserved to die. However, he ranked right up there with the best of them. He got what he deserved.

      • dakinikat says:
        May 1, 2011 at 11:51 pm

        There’s a party at Ground Zero.

      • janicen says:
        May 2, 2011 at 12:07 am

        Me too, MM. I’m surprised, I didn’t think it would affect me like this, but I’m so glad he’s dead. I can’t explain it, but it feels like a cloud has lifted.

  6. Minkoff Minx says:
    May 2, 2011 at 12:05 am

    This tweet says it all:

    monaeltahawy 12:56am via Twitter for iPhone

    Wow. Tons of people. #GroundZero. Heal NYC.

  7. taggles says:
    May 2, 2011 at 12:08 am

    YaY he is DEAD! I am quite pleased!

    I am happy for the victims families.

    I am happy for All of us. 911 was such an awful day, this sort of brings it all back, but the man who masterminded it is DEAD! Yippeeeee!

    Tonight is a good night. Tomorrow will be a good day. No one should have any doubt that feeling great about the evil fuckers demise is a good and just feeling to have.

  8. dakinikat says:
    May 2, 2011 at 12:13 am

    They must’ve have sent John King home to sleep it off! He’s not on CNN now.

  9. Minkoff Minx says:
    May 2, 2011 at 12:17 am

    Bin Laden Killed Near Islamabad: Hillary Clinton was right! « Still4Hill

    I cannot find where she made the original statement, but the following day, on October 30, 2009, the issue of Bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan came up in this Townterview with Pakistani women journalists. It was a tough, gutsy thing for her to say on the ground in Pakistan. Tonight we know she was right.

  10. dakinikat says:
    May 2, 2011 at 12:20 am

    markknoller Mark Knoller
    Pres Obama made decision to undertake raid operation at 8:20am Friday, 4/29, before leaving for Alabama.

  11. taggles says:
    May 2, 2011 at 12:25 am

    I can’t reply directly to your post Dakinikat, but I am very glad you are all well.

    And I stand corrected, because I know, all your writers are very talented and make the blog what it is in a collective endeavor. My best to you all.

  12. Fredster says:
    May 2, 2011 at 12:27 am

    Apparently a few people were observing that John King was apparently drunk on the tube.

    http://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/52721532/ShowThread.aspx

    I googled John King drunk on cnn and it returned a number of links.

    He’ll make a statement tomorrow that it was a sugar imbalance or something.

  13. Minkoff Minx says:
    May 2, 2011 at 12:28 am

    More details are coming out:

    More Details | Talking Points Memo

    TPM’s Susan Crabtree was on the White House conference call that ended a short time ago. And she’ll be filing a report shortly. But we’re getting some basic details on how today’s operation in Abbottabad, about 35 miles north of Islamabad.

    Here are a few key details that have emerged.

    The entire operation took roughly 40 minutes. There was no advance notification to any Pakistani authorities. US forces used two helicopters in the operation. And one of the two apparently went down due to mechanical difficulties during the operation, though without casualties. The special operations forces destroyed the helicopter.

    The key thing is that bin Laden was living in a very big, fortified compound. The compound had no phone connection and no Internet connection. And that apparently was one of the many facts that initially led US intelligence to think bin Laden really might be there.

  14. Minkoff Minx says:
    May 2, 2011 at 12:40 am

    How U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden – CNN.com

    Osama bin Laden killed: how the deadly US raid unfolded – Telegraph

  15. janicen says:
    May 2, 2011 at 12:59 am

    I just read this on Deadline…Quipped one Twitter user: “Donald Trump demands Osama Bin Laden’s death certificate.”

  16. Woman Voter says:
    May 2, 2011 at 5:51 am

    nprnews NPR News
    Raid On Bin Laden Was Live-Blogged, Though The Blogger Didn’t Know It
    http://n.pr/kLeUt9

  17. Minkoff Minx says:
    May 2, 2011 at 5:52 am

    Why would Fox News be spelling Osama…Usama?

  18. mjr says:
    May 2, 2011 at 6:25 am

    is this gonna be like francisco franco is still dead? i’m with the donald, let me see the death certificate, and i want to see the date on it. why all of a sudden was it so easy for just 2 helicopters to go in, one gets mechanical failure, so it only took one helicopter 40 minutes after 10 years of supposedly looking for him? i dont believe anything they say. look at pat tillman and jessica lynch and how those stories were spun.

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