Free Republic

An air strike by NATO-led forces in Afghanistan killed Taliban fighters, including a local leader, who were responsible for a weekend helicopter crash that killed 38 troops, the worst single incident in 10 years of war. "We dealt with them in a kinetic strike," General John Allen, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told reporters at the Pentagon. Gen. Allen said the military tracked the Taliban fighters for several days after the helicopter went down. Forces reportedly trailed the fighters to a position in Chak District, Wardak Province, and then US F-16s struck and killed them Tuesday....

War On Terror: The deaths of more than 20 Navy SEALs from the unit that took out Osama bin Laden may be linked to a loose-lipped vice president and a presidential action figure. The last scene of the 1954 Korean War film "The Bridges at Toko-Ri," based on the James Michener novel, shows a carrier commander watching planes take off for another mission and asking, "Where do we get such men?" The same may be asked of the members of Navy SEAL (sea, air, land) Team 6 who died when the helicopter they were riding was hit by a Taliban-launched...

If you went to Ground Zero or Times Square or anywhere else to cheer and chant "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" after Navy SEAL Team Six brought justice to Osama Bin Laden, go back there Sunday. Go back and offer a moment of silence for the 22 men from SEAL Team Six and all the others aboard the helicopter that was shot down in Afghanistan yesterday. SEAL Team Six is divided into four squadrons and the one aboard the helicopter was not the one that actually got Bin Laden, but it had long been part of the effort to track him down. And,...

U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, secure the area after existing a Chinoonk helicopter, Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, in this Sunday, June 18, 2006 file photo. Insurgents apparently shot down a U.S. military helicopter Saturday Aug. 6, 2011 similar to this one shown during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the same elite Navy SEALs unit that killed Usama bin Laden, as well as seven Afghan commandos, U.S. officials said. An Afghan official says there is fighting in the area where a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter was apparently...

Georgetown University professor C. Christine Fair has written a post at Registan.net alleging that Nicholas Schmidle’s New Yorker cover story detailing the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound may be a fraud. At the very least, Fair alleges, Schmidle failed to interview the Navy SEALs involved in the operation–which is not mentioned anywhere in the article, but is apparent from a close analysis of the text. Is that really the way bin Laden dyed? (pun intended)

As the interest in counter-terrorism soars, the Walt Disney Company is attempting to trademark the name Navy “Seal Team 6,” the unit responsible for taking down Osama Bin Laden. Counter-terrorism is becoming a big market since the death of Osama Bin Laden and it appears the Walt Disney Company is ready to cash in. Disney is currently trying to trademark the name Navy “Seal Team 6,” the unit responsible for killing Bin Laden. On May 3, just one day after the news was out about the death of Bin Laden, Disney applied to trademark the name “Seal Team 6.” The...

Now being reported on MSNBC

The view from (some) on the right in regard to the Bin Laden news is: waterboarding is vindicated. One GOP Congressman tweeted: Wonder what President Obama thinks of water boarding now? The reason is that there's a direct line to be traced from the big news to data collected at GITMO -- data that was almost certainly collected under duress. Here's the key interrogation note regarding a courier going to Abottabad: Rest @ link

From Ghazi Air Base in Pakistan, the modified MH-60 helicopters made their way to the garrison suburb of Abbottabad, about 30 miles from the center of Islamabad. Aboard were Navy SEALs, flown across the border from Afghanistan, along with tactical signals, intelligence collectors, and navigators using highly classified hyperspectral imagers. After bursts of fire over 40 minutes, 22 people were killed or captured. One of the dead was Osama bin Laden, done in by a double tap -- boom, boom -- to the left side of his face. His body was aboard the choppers that made the trip back. One...

WASHINGTON - The Pakistani military was pounding a mud-walled fortress last night where a "very senior" Al Qaeda leader - possibly Osama Bin Laden's No. 2 - was holding out against a Pakistani siege. American intelligence officials were cautious about who might be inside the mountain stronghold, but Pakistani sources said they believe it was Bin Laden's top general, Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and he may be wounded. Al-Zawahiri, nearly always at Bin Laden's side during his taunting videotapes, helped create Al Qaeda and was considered the brains behind its operations. His capture or death would be a major blow to...