Posted on 05/02/2011 3:14:56 AM PDT by CutePuppy
U.S. forces finally found al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden not in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan's border, but in a million-dollar compound in an upscale suburb of Pakistan's capital, with his youngest wife, U.S. officials said early on Monday.
They 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 Sept. 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.
"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 Abbotabad, a town about 35 miles (60 km) north of Islamabad, that is relatively affluent and home to many retired members of Pakistan's military.
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Ask the families of the 9-11 victims if their loved ones were given full burial rights by the terrorists. Is our Muslim in chief going to offer special prayers at his mosque on Friday? I thought Obama would give Bin Laden a state funeral conducted by Rev. Wright. I could hope that some of the Navy Seals gave Bin Laden's corpse a ham sandwich for his journey to hell.
True. But the possibility of Bin Laden’s capture and interrogation was not something even the official Saudi government would comfortable with.
There is no word or evidence he suddenly exposed himself. To the contrary he was hidden within a compound that was in effect a prison.
Hardly, Al Qaeda and the Taliban are way too smart to not have thought for a day like this. They probably had planned for something before September 11th. Which is why Al Qaeda and even the Taliban have splintered. Easier to fund and difficult to track.
Caution: Do we know that it was KSM or one of the other two that were waterboarded?
It would be a vindication of the method if true, I agree. I wonder if any reporter will ever ask Obama or even the little press secretary if it was after waterboarding and if that "taints" the operation in their mind.
I heard, the body was burned then released to the sea. This was done so the body could not be retrieved. We did the same to the German leaders after WWII, then released the ashes somewhere along the Rhine River.
I hope he was buried at see when they dumped the latrine he was in.
Made ‘em watch “The View” 24/7.
Was it Islamic custom to bury people in planes and towers? Give me a break
You forgot to add, the house is 100 yards from a Pakistan Army training center, also Abbotabad is a favorite military retiree town (like US places like Sierra Vista AZ or San Diego or Colorado Springs). So why didn't SOMEBODY notice?
I say respect their wishes and trot out the the whole family and friends for gangplank duty, and throw in CNN for good measure.
I think the decision of how to dispose of his body was made a long time ago.
Burial at sea is NOT Islamic custom, so I’m further questioning that line of logic.
I don’t understand why his body wasn’t flown here to the USA. Don’t dump it in the sea. Call it a war trophy.
Of course it isn’t. It was WH spokesperson who said that...they’re just making up a nice story for anyone who might be offended. I doubt very seriously that anyone took the time to wash the body and do all that would have been done by his family.
Too many problems associated with doing that.
The decision to just get rid of it and end any arguments over it was a good one, and was probably made yrs ago.
Elvis died the day Lisa Marie married Michael Jackson.
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