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 Post subject: Osama Bin Laden, dead
PostPosted: 02 May 2011, 05:53 
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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was killed in an operation led by the United States.
A small team of Americans carried out the attack and took custody of bin Laden's remains, the president said Sunday in a dramatic late-night statement at the White House.
A jubilant crowd gathered outside the White House as word spread of bin Laden's death after a global manhunt that lasted nearly a decade.
"Justice has been done," the president said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
President Barack Obama says Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was killed in an operation led by the United States.
A small team of Americans carried out the attack and took custody of bin Laden's remains, the president said Sunday in a dramatic late-night statement at the White House.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States, is dead, and the U.S. is in possession of his body, a person familiar with the situation said late Sunday.
President Barack Obama was expected to address the nation on the developments Sunday night.
Two senior counterterrorism officials confirmed that bin Laden was killed in Pakistan last week. One said bin Laden was killed in a ground operation, not by a Predator drone. Both said the operation was based on U.S. intelligence, and both said the U.S. is in possession of bin Laden's body.
Officials long believed bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world, was hiding a mountainous region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak ahead of the president.
The development comes just months before the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon, orchestrated by bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, that killed more than 3,000 people.
The attacks set off a chain of events that led the United States into wars in Afghanistan, and then Iraq, and America's entire intelligence apparatus was overhauled to counter the threat of more terror attacks at home.
Al-Qaida organization was also blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 231 people and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen, as well as countless other plots, some successful and some foiled.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7546213.html

Biggles


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PostPosted: 02 May 2011, 09:28 
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While I'm happy that he is no more, I'm afraid that his demise will not make too much difference and another will just pop up in his place.


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PostPosted: 02 May 2011, 09:31 
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Location: Marina da Gama, W. Cape, S Africa
I'm sure his death will also fuel reprisals from al-Qaida etc.

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PostPosted: 02 May 2011, 09:51 
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The other thing is that he may have been a figure head for terror, but their are a lot of terrorist groups that, although they support Bin Laden, are not directly linked to him.

As fix-a-dak says, they will all be hell bent on revenge.


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PostPosted: 02 May 2011, 09:57 
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I wonder how this will affect the annual spring offensive against the coalition in Afghanistan?

Biggles


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PostPosted: 03 May 2011, 02:15 
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Location: ILS RWY19, FACT
I'll think about reprisals and possible future terror attacks in another day or 2.

For now I'm celebrating. My heroes got their man. \:D/ I'm not even stressing over the media calling the guys SEAL Team 6. The correct term is Naval Special Warfare Development Group, usually just called DevGru and often nicknamed "Darth Vader's boys" or "the Jedi knights" or "the dark side".

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PostPosted: 03 May 2011, 03:30 
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Mrs Kremlin wrote:
For now I'm celebrating


Insomnolence or celebration?


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PostPosted: 03 May 2011, 10:39 
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The messanger is dead :D but not the message :evil:

He may be no more, the problem is that his ideas did not die with him. His ideas or ideaology are very much alive and kicking.


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PostPosted: 03 May 2011, 13:35 
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Eugene, I normally sit up till about 3am (SA time) since my US and Canadian friends are 6-9 hours behind me if I want to chat to them I have to be awake when everyone else is sleeping.

And yes it's definitely celebration. 9/11 broke my heart and took away one of my dreams. I've waited nearly 10 years for my heroes to kill that man. I woke up to a world that is pretty much the same this morning, the US military still has people in harm's way in Afghanistan and Iraq and there are still volitile situations in Yemen and Syria. My one friend still has both her brothers-in-law deployed in harms way. Only time will tell if the list of Fallen SEAL names I have grows longer or not. But at least from here on Bin Laden no longer draws breath. :D

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PostPosted: 03 May 2011, 17:35 
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it took 10 years to find and kill Osama Bin Laden who was holed up in the multi million rand property built in 2005 just 600m from Pakistan's top military academy.

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PostPosted: 03 May 2011, 23:03 
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He's still just as dead though ;)

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PostPosted: 04 May 2011, 05:02 
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Watch Zeitgeist or 911 Loose Change and you may just change your mind.

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that"
— Martin Luther King Jr.

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PostPosted: 04 May 2011, 12:13 
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Balerit wrote:
"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that"


Which is one of those fake quotes suddenly flooding the web - King never said it.


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PostPosted: 04 May 2011, 16:53 
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Doesn't matter who said it, it's the sentiment that counts.

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PostPosted: 04 May 2011, 17:18 
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Balerit wrote:
Doesn't matter who said it, it's the sentiment that counts.


Pity the same sentiment is never applied to the original perpetrator, only the one seeking revenge! Never mind me, I am one still mourning the abolition of hanging, drawing and quartering.


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