On the eighth anniversary of George W. Bush's infamous "mission accomplished" speech President Obama has announced the killing of Osama bin Laden. The reported killing of Osama bin Laden raises many questions. Did Pakistan know where Osama was? What will now be the justification for continuing the war in Afghanistan? Will al Qaeda fade away or be emboldened? -- SMG/RSN

File photo, Osama bin Laden. (photo: AP)

BREAKING: President Obama: "We Have Killed Osama bin Laden"

By Richard Adams and Declan Walsh, Guardian UK

01 May 11

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qzB5N9MW9A

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sama bin Laden, the criminal mastermind behind al-Qaida and the world's most sought-after terrorist since the attacks of 11 September 2001, has been killed by a US operation, President Barack Obama has announced.

In an address to the nation, President Barack Obama said Bin Laden was killed in a "targeted operation" in Abbottabad, a highland town north of Islamabad, last night.

The operation started with an intelligence lead last August, and culminated in an operation involving a "small team of Americans". "After a firefight they killed bin Laden."

None of the Americans were killed. Pakistani cooperation "helped to lead us to him" he said.

Osama's body is in possession of the US, according to the first leaks of reporting from the US television networks.

As the news spread, crowds gathered outside the gates of the White House in Washington DC, singing the national anthem and cheering.

President Obama is to make a highly unusual Sunday night live statement to announce the news, around 11.30pm eastern time.

The news comes eight years to the day that President George Bush declared "Mission accomplished" in Iraq. As president, Bush declared he wanted bin Laden "dead or alive" � but it is now the unlikely figure of Barack Obama who announces the final triumph as the US commander in chief.

This is a turning point in the global "war on terrorism" that has been waged since 9/11 � and the news will reverberate around the world.

The news comes as an unparalleled boost for US foreign policy, the key aim of which since 2001 has been the disarming and dismemberment of al-Qaida, and coincidentally probably insures the re-election of Obama in the 2012 presidential contest.

As a candidate, during the 2008 election campaign Obama repeatedly vowed: "We will kill Osama bin Laden." And so it proved.

The Obama statement was originally scheduled for 10.30pm, but the need to inform US congressional leaders caused the delay.

In the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, one western diplomat described the news as a "game changer" - not just for al Qaida, but also for US foreign policy in Pakistan and Afghanistan, a region embroiled in turmoil and violence since 2001.

"I'm overjoyed," said the diplomat. "But what this exactly means is really not clear."

Some analysts fear bin Laden's death could spark a precipitous US withdrawal from the region, with the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan still unresolved.

It will likely also reconfigure relations with Pakistan, where the CIA is engaged in an controversial assassination campaign against senior al Qaida figures using Predator and Reaper drones.

"He's dead," said an official with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, declining to give another other details other than to say that it was "highly sensitive intelligence operation."

The official said he was "not at liberty" to give more details on the killing, including on reports that Pakistani intelligence was involved in the operation. "We'll release more information later this morning," he said.

Comments

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+18 # PhilO 2011-10-04 21:58

After graduating from college many years ago I moved back to my home town. That fall I tried to vote in a local election but was turned away because I hadn't changed my voter registration. I felt embarrassed and was treated like a criminal by the poll-watchers. That experience was traumatic enough to send a chill down my spine every time I ave gone to vote since.

I can imagine that the new voter laws will do nothing to curb voter fraud (as if it ever occurs!!), but will dissuade many people who are unsure about their voter registration.

Clearly these laws are a disingenuous ploy meant to keep people away from the polls.

-11 # MidwestTom 2011-10-05 09:19

When does one learn that one must register to vote? Without registration laws we would go back to the periods where in some districts more votes were cast than there were voters.

+16 # noitall 2011-10-04 22:40

You know what the republicans say, "we do very well in elections when the turnout is low". All you guys out there pissed off at the Repubs, the Teabaggers and their schenanigans, I know, we all vote for the worst of two evils, but this time the Dems guy is BAD but their guy (whoever that might be) will only be on the ballot because he's REALLY BAD. This is not a good time to demonstrate your pissed-off-dom by not voting. Its like rewarding the guy that gave you a crap sandwitch. I guess I'll vote for bad, I really don't have the stomach for really bad and he might turn out to be really, really bad. This is America today and they wonder why its the youth out there demonstrating. This is THEIR future that we're dealing with here. I was out there in the good old Nam days and it eventually did some good although you'd never know it today or by watching Kerry or any of those other one-time young people. I guess we just decided that we deserve YOURS too. Sorry.

+12 # Regina 2011-10-04 23:33

The Republican Party is committing the real voting fraud. It's time to blow whistles and get control over enfranchisement -- not in their way of denial but in the American way of inclusion. The noisiest "patriots" are the most criminal anti-patriots this country has ever had to cope with.

+10 # angelfish 2011-10-05 01:51

Wake up, America! These Fascist ReTHUGlicans will rig the Elections so NO Democrat can win! WHAT are they so afraid of and WHY don't they trust the American People to do the right thing? They rigged Bush's appointments to the Presidency, I hope they don't think that they'll be allowed to get away with that egregious Bull-Puckey again! As their god and mentor George W. Bush once said, "Fool me once, Shame on you. Fool me twice, Shame on ME!...and NO, Georgie, They WON'T fool us again!

+18 # maddave 2011-10-05 02:43

This coordinated drive by the GOP to pass nearly identical anti-voter laws in red-state after red-state is an naked, criminal conspiracy to disenfranchise targeted groups of voters.

Time & space preclude a history lesson, but think of the successful voter suppression in Florida & Ohio in 2000 & 2004 . . . before the roof fell in in 2008.

Vowing that "it will never happen again", the GOP embarked on a uniform, organized program to "clean house", and so far their shameless, immoral efforts are succeeding all across America.

So where is the DNC and the DOJ? Why are RICO laws NOT being invoked in this unified case of organized, naked criminal violation of the 1960's Voting Rights Act and the 15th Amendment to the Constitution?

Steal $50,000 and go to jail. Steal 500,000 votes and go to the White House.

+7 # fredboy 2011-10-05 07:45

The GOP/teabagger focus is on eventually ending voting altogether. They hate democracy, hate America, and prefer a regime that would dictate their fanatical beliefs.

+6 # ABen 2011-10-05 09:03

THE VOTE: use it or lose it! Vote Democratic in 2012!

+5 # fredboy 2011-10-05 09:15

The GOP sees voting as simply a manipulative game, while many of us see it as a cherished and essential right.
Let's make it a felony to deprive any citizen of their right to vote with a five year mandatory prison sentence and a $500,000 fine for each and every offense, with no statute of limitations.

-18 # MidwestTom 2011-10-05 09:16

Can a person who cannot read or write our language know the issues and cast an intelligent vote?

+5 # Uncle Joe 2011-10-05 13:24

In a real democracy (the real American Way) we have public education & we engage neighbors & friends to give direction in a positive way. If you KNOW someone who is going to the polls to vote who is incapable of making an informed choice then its up to you & me @ the grass-roots to make them aware and educate them.

+8 # Regina 2011-10-05 17:08

As the daughter, granddaughter, and niece of immigrants who were schooled in another language, and later qualified for American citizenship, I can tell you with authority that (1) translations are now routinely available for purposes of enhancing comprehension; (2) intelligent thought is not exclusive to literacy in English; (3) you're just flapping the Republican Party line, and none are more uneducable than the echo-chamber Republicans, who keep chanting their mantras even when disproven by the facts.

+7 # PGreen 2011-10-05 13:27

It may well be that this is the opening shot in a war to further control the political agenda through gerrymandering. It is not a new tactic, but given that the population is polarizing along class lines with an increasingly greater majority on one side, it may be a tctic whose time has come, so to speak. In a democracy, a small minority cannot control a majority without the manufacturing of consent; when this process breaks down, when there is no longer a coherent national narrative to manipulate, then I would expect to see a shift to this kind of tactic. Questions remain: Can we stop it? Will exposure (such as this) make a difference? Will the Democratic party fight it or fold? And what will come next?

+5 # ALinSTL 2011-10-06 23:01

What FOOLS we are deemed to be...All these years we thought it was the Commies & Al-Queda trying to destroy America, making us all slaves, stealing all our rights...Funny that all this time it has been the TRAITOROUS REPUBLICAN PARTY trying to close our schools, kill our elderly, starve the poor, murder your children, make us their factory slaves, take away all our rights, DESTROY OUR AMERICA FOR THEIR AMERICA. Time to stop them in every election & never let NONE of them EVER hold an American political office again...their motto:" A govt of "US" people, by "US" people & for "US" people..." their "US" will never include any of "us"...

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