Posted on 05/07/2011 1:24:01 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The compound in Pakistan where U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden was an active command center from which he directed al Qaeda, a senior intelligence official said on Saturday as he released videos showing bin Laden watching himself on tape and rehearsing speeches.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said information carted away from the compound by U.S. forces following Monday's raid represented the largest trove of intelligence ever obtained from a single terrorism suspect.
"This compound in Abbottabad was an active command and control center for al Qaeda's top leader and it's clear ... that he was not just a strategic thinker for the group," the official said. "He was active in operational planning and in driving tactical decisions."
The official released five video clips of bin Laden taken from the compound, most of them showing the al Qaeda leader, his beard dyed black, evidently rehearsing the videotaped speeches he occasionally distributed to his followers.
One video segment, however, showed a gray-bearded bin Laden in a more casual setting wrapped in a blanket and apparently wearing a ski cap while watching videotapes of himself. The official said the personal nature of the videos was further evidence that the man killed in the raid was bin Laden.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
VIDEO - The United States has made public several videos seized during the Osama bin Laden raid, part of what US officials described Saturday as the largest terrorism data collection ever. In one of the carefully edited videos, bin Laden is seen sitting on the floor watching his own image on TV. Duration: 01:29. (AFPTV/ US Department of Defense)
“an active command and control center” — with no phones and internet?
Having a courier take letters back and forth, that takes days and bring back a response in another few days, then another instruction back in several days again... Sure, that makes a lot of sense for “an active command and control center”...
A command center without phone lines or internet access. Hmmm
I think bin laden suffered from dementia or Alzheimers and was under virtual house arrest and monitored by both the US and Pakistan for years. That may be the reason Bush refused to meet with Obama in New York- he knew the truth. I mean, come on, the guy is living in squalor with three wives and 13 kids and he’s supposedly leading this worldwide command center.
A “command center” with no phone service, no internet, no TV?
This is the reinvention of President Obama.
Our brave president took down a man who was only days away from blowing up every train in the world....a man who was in complete control of Al Qaeda....a man who Bush could not beat.
Yes, President Obama was the only man brave enough and strong enough to stop this madness in its tracks.
We no longer need wars in the Middle East, Al Qaeda is dead....their command and control is gone, we have the intelligence necessary to get the rest of their leaders and we know “Pukistan” is our enemy.
Yes, withdraw all troops from the ME, cut off all aid to Pakistan and let the caliphate continue to be built from the western edge of the islamic world, in toward the center.
Anyone else find the similarity between Obama and Osama and their speechifying kind of funny?
Yep. Osama knew that electronic communictions could be tracked. So he used couriers. And the fact that one of those were tracked apparently was his undoing.
I’m with you on this. It sure looks to me like Bin Laden was in a relatively comfortable prison. While some folks don’t like the idea that Bush would have known, I’m OK with it if it meant we were able to collect intell by that means.
I just fear that Obama may have seriously screwed us in the course of stroking his ego and propping up his miserable poll numbers.
The CIA has reported that this compound was under scrutiny for its lack of an electronic “thumbprint”. His own security measures made him stick out even more.
” A “command center” with no phone service, no internet, no TV? “
From all accounts, add ‘minimal security’ (two guards??) and ‘no indication of any kind of Command Support Staff present’......
Something just ain’t adding up, here....
what tipped ‘em off, that tangle of strings connected to the soup cans? Or was it the Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Ring they found?
Not a very efficient command center.
Why, why, why?
Just say "we got some possibly helpfull stuff, but the bulk was destroyed as soon as our raid was detected by the occupants".
Telling AQ we got good stuff is just insane.
It makes absolute sense if the largest intelligence operation in the world is scouring everything electronic for the slightest sign of your location, so that they can send a couple dozen men in stealth helicopters in the middle of the night and put two rounds into your head.
THAT’s funny!
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