Osama Bin Laden DEAD (MERGED THREAD) (1 Viewer)

[southeastjerome]

What would be ironic is if information received from Gitmo and in particular waterboarding provided the key lead which lead to Osama.

A Gitmo detainee gave them the info on the courier according to multiple sources. So this likely would not have gone down like this without the interrogation at gitmo.

 

[Shtaym Syek]

What I find confusing is that the U.S. had captured OBL's courier who knew where he was, yet OBL didn't move? Makes me wonder how bad of shape he was in.

From what I read - we didn't capture his courier, we only captured someone who knew of the courier. We just followed the trail from there.

 

[cstu]

sorry if a repost....A guy who lives in the are twittered through the whole operation, but he didn't realize what was happening.http://twitter.com/#!/reallyvirtual

ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar@@raihak Funny, moving to Abbottabad was part of the 'being safe' strategy19 hours ago

Funny, OBL thought the same thing!

 

[cstu]

Picture of his hideout.

 

[Joe Summer]

The thread title is funnier if you picture Bluto Blutarsky saying it.

 

[Rayderr]

There are much more effective interrogation techniques that could have led to this information.

Interrogator 1: Now, prisoner -- you are accused of being in Al Qaeda on three counts -- Al Qaeda by thought, Al Qaeda by word, Al Qaeda by deed, and Al Qaeda by action -- *four* counts. Do you confess?GITMO Detainee: I don't understand what I'm accused of.Interrogator 1: Ha! Then we'll make you understand! Interrogator 2! Fetch...THE CUSHIONS![JARRING CHORD][interrogator 2 holds out two ordinary modern household cushions]Interrogator 2: Here they are, sir.Interrogator 1: Now, prisoner -- you have one last chance. Confess the heinous sin of being Al Qaeda, reject the works of the ungodly -- *two* last chances. And you shall be free -- *three* last chances. You have three last chances, the nature of which I have divulged in my previous utterance.GITMO Detainee: I don't know what you're talking about.Interrogator 1: Right! If that's the way you want it -- Interrrogator! Poke her with the soft cushions![interrogator 2 carries out this rather pathetic torture]Interrogator 1: Confess! Confess! Confess!Interrogator 2: It doesn't seem to be hurting her, sir.Interrogator 1: Have you got all the stuffing up one end?Interrogator 2: Yes, sir.Interrogator 1: [angrily hurling away the cushions]: Hm! He is made of harder stuff! Interrogator 3! Fetch...THE COMFY CHAIR![JARRING CHORD][Zoom into Interrogator 3's horrified face]Interrogator 3 [terrified]: The...Comfy Chair?[interrogator 2 pushes in a comfy chair -- a really plush one]Interrogator 1: So you think you are strong because you can survive the soft cushions. Well, we shall see. Interrogator 2! Put him in the Comfy Chair![They roughly push him into the Comfy Chair]Interrogator 1: [with a cruel leer]: Now -- you will stay in the Comfy Chair until lunch time, with only a cup of coffee at eleven. [aside, to Interrogator 2] Is that really all it is?Interrogator 2: Yes, sir.Interrogator 1: I see. I suppose we make it worse by shouting a lot, do we? Confess, prisoner. Confess! Confess! Confess! ConfessInterrogator 2: I confess!Interrogator 1: Not you!

 

[bosoxs45]

 

[Thunderlips]

Thank you President Obama and the brave troops who carried this mission out. Well done, men!

 

[Arizona Ron]

Obama should have started off with simply saying: "BOOM, HEADSHOT!!!"

 

[RudiStein]

They should have waited until they came up with something funny.

 

[ClownCausedChaos]

I'm sure its been said already, but I feel the need to say...Those in the Special Forces have a level of guts that I can't even begin to wrap my head around. To be dropped, in the middle of the night, into the teeth of quite possibly the most dangerous man in the world...their level of bravery is without comparison.

 

[BigJohn]

Picture of his hideout.

 

[meanjoegreen]

I'm sure its been said already, but I feel the need to say...Those in the Special Forces have a level of guts that I can't even begin to wrap my head around. To be dropped, in the middle of the night, into the teeth of quite possibly the most dangerous man in the world...their level of bravery is without comparison.

 

[culdeus]

What would be ironic is if information received from Gitmo and in particular waterboarding provided the key lead which lead to Osama.

I'm pretty sure I already read somewhere that this is the case.

This is true. The waterboarding bit is the dangerous speculation. People like Jon will immediately jump to that conclusion, and it will become "fact" like the fake birth certificate, like the $2 million Obama spent to defend it, etc.

There are much more effective interrogation techniques that could have led to this information. What I find confusing is that the U.S. had captured OBL's courier who knew where he was, yet OBL didn't move? Makes me wonder how bad of shape he was in.

NOTEure speculationI'm betting the guy got along fine with only having contact directly with 5-10 people in total. Those people had contact with perhaps even fewer. This was obviously working for OBL and he didn't leave. In fact, it was such a crazy concept that it took us what? 7 months to go in and check the place out for fear that we might have been one or two layers away.

 

[Kumerica]

I'm sure its been said already, but I feel the need to say...Those in the Special Forces have a level of guts that I can't even begin to wrap my head around. To be dropped, in the middle of the night, into the teeth of quite possibly the most dangerous man in the world...their level of bravery is without comparison.

Agreed on all counts, except that THEY are the most dangerous men in the world!

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Anybody else a little creeped out by all the celebratory stuff and the USA! USA! chants? I think it's great that the guy is dead and everything, but something about the way people have reacted is rubbing me the wrong way.

Not at all. Go watch the twin towers fall again. I wouldn't have minded if they put his head on a pole on the white house lawn.

 

[cstu]

I'm sure its been said already, but I feel the need to say...Those in the Special Forces have a level of guts that I can't even begin to wrap my head around. To be dropped, in the middle of the night, into the teeth of quite possibly the most dangerous man in the world...their level of bravery is without comparison.

Respect to those guys, but please, what did OBL ever do? Sat around and told other people to do his dirty work.

 

[cstu]

Anybody else a little creeped out by all the celebratory stuff and the USA! USA! chants? I think it's great that the guy is dead and everything, but something about the way people have reacted is rubbing me the wrong way.

Not at all. Go watch the twin towers fall again. I wouldn't have minded if they put his head on a pole on the white house lawn.

Facing Mecca, of course.

 

[jon_mx]

What would be ironic is if information received from

Gitmo and in particular waterboarding provided the key lead which lead to Osama.

I'm pretty sure I already read somewhere that this is the case.

This is true. The waterboarding bit is the dangerous speculation. People like Jon will immediately jump to that conclusion, and it will become "fact" like the fake birth certificate, like the $2 million Obama spent to defend it, etc.

You got everything wrong. I have always said the COLB was real and never questioned it's authenticity. Second, I neve stated any number concerning Obama's legal expenses except to point out there is no source for it. Third the two suspect whom we obtained this information from were two of the few suspects who were waterboarded, so it is not wild speculation to suggest it may have been a factor.

 

[El Floppo]

What would be ironic is if information received from Gitmo and in particular waterboarding provided the key lead which lead to Osama.

I'm pretty sure I already read somewhere that this is the case.

This is true. The waterboarding bit is the dangerous speculation. People like Jon will immediately jump to that conclusion, and it will become "fact" like the fake birth certificate, like the $2 million Obama spent to defend it, etc.

There are much more effective interrogation techniques that could have led to this information. What I find confusing is that the U.S. had captured OBL's courier who knew where he was, yet OBL didn't move? Makes me wonder how bad of shape he was in.

NOTEure speculationI'm betting the guy got along fine with only having contact directly with 5-10 people in total. Those people had contact with perhaps even fewer. This was obviously working for OBL and he didn't leave. In fact, it was such a crazy concept that it took us what? 7 months to go in and check the place out for fear that we might have been one or two layers away.

I thought intelligence found out WHO the courier was from detainees, and then monitored him to find out where he would go. I don't think they captured the courier before the operation?

 

[El Floppo]

What would be ironic is if information received from

Gitmo and in particular waterboarding provided the key lead which lead to Osama.

I'm pretty sure I already read somewhere that this is the case.

This is true. The waterboarding bit is the dangerous speculation. People like Jon will immediately jump to that conclusion, and it will become "fact" like the fake birth certificate, like the $2 million Obama spent to defend it, etc.

You got everything wrong. I have always said the COLB was real and never questioned it's authenticity. Second, I neve stated any number concerning Obama's legal expenses except to point out there is no source for it. Third the two suspect whom we obtained this information from were two of the few suspects who were waterboarded, so it is not wild speculation to suggest it may have been a factor.

This is the first I'm hearing of the bolded... link please?

 

[cstu]

There are much more effective interrogation techniques that could have led to this information.

Interrogator 1: Now, prisoner -- you are accused of being in Al Qaeda on three counts -- Al Qaeda by thought, Al Qaeda by word, Al Qaeda by deed, and Al Qaeda by action -- *four* counts. Do you confess?GITMO Detainee: I don't understand what I'm accused of.

Interrogator 1: Ha! Then we'll make you understand! Interrogator 2! Fetch...THE CUSHIONS!

[JARRING CHORD]

[interrogator 2 holds out two ordinary modern household cushions]

Interrogator 2: Here they are, sir.

Interrogator 1: Now, prisoner -- you have one last chance. Confess the heinous sin of being Al Qaeda, reject the works of the ungodly -- *two* last chances. And you shall be free -- *three* last chances. You have three last chances, the nature of which I have divulged in my previous utterance.

GITMO Detainee: I don't know what you're talking about.

Interrogator 1: Right! If that's the way you want it -- Interrrogator! Poke her with the soft cushions!

[interrogator 2 carries out this rather pathetic torture]

Interrogator 1: Confess! Confess! Confess!

Interrogator 2: It doesn't seem to be hurting her, sir.

Interrogator 1: Have you got all the stuffing up one end?

Interrogator 2: Yes, sir.

Interrogator 1: [angrily hurling away the cushions]: Hm! He is made of harder stuff! Interrogator 3! Fetch...THE COMFY CHAIR!

[JARRING CHORD]

[Zoom into Interrogator 3's horrified face]

Interrogator 3 [terrified]: The...Comfy Chair?

[interrogator 2 pushes in a comfy chair -- a really plush one]

Interrogator 1: So you think you are strong because you can survive the soft cushions. Well, we shall see. Interrogator 2! Put him in the Comfy Chair!

[They roughly push him into the Comfy Chair]

Interrogator 1: [with a cruel leer]: Now -- you will stay in the Comfy Chair until lunch time, with only a cup of coffee at eleven. [aside, to Interrogator 2] Is that really all it is?

Interrogator 2: Yes, sir.

Interrogator 1: I see. I suppose we make it worse by shouting a lot, do we? Confess, prisoner. Confess! Confess! Confess! Confess

Interrogator 2: I confess!

Interrogator 1: Not you!

Or cookies.

 

[El Floppo]

Anybody else a little creeped out by all the celebratory stuff and the USA! USA! chants? I think it's great that the guy is dead and everything, but something about the way people have reacted is rubbing me the wrong way.

Not at all. Go watch the twin towers fall again. I wouldn't have minded if they put his head on a pole on the white house lawn.

Twin towers falling made me literally sick to my stomache.As did watching people actually celebrate their fall.

 

[culdeus]

What would be ironic is if information received from Gitmo and in particular waterboarding provided the key lead which lead to Osama.

I'm pretty sure I already read somewhere that this is the case.

This is true. The waterboarding bit is the dangerous speculation. People like Jon will immediately jump to that conclusion, and it will become "fact" like the fake birth certificate, like the $2 million Obama spent to defend it, etc.

There are much more effective interrogation techniques that could have led to this information. What I find confusing is that the U.S. had captured OBL's courier who knew where he was, yet OBL didn't move? Makes me wonder how bad of shape he was in.

NOTEure speculationI'm betting the guy got along fine with only having contact directly with 5-10 people in total. Those people had contact with perhaps even fewer. This was obviously working for OBL and he didn't leave. In fact, it was such a crazy concept that it took us what? 7 months to go in and check the place out for fear that we might have been one or two layers away.

I thought intelligence found out WHO the courier was from detainees, and then monitored him to find out where he would go. I don't think they captured the courier before the operation?

Yes, but my theory is that they thought this guy was one layer away from OBL and had this sweet pad to protect him. If they popped him too soon then OBL would go deeper underground. If they really thought OBL was there chilling on his air mattress back in September they would have rolled in there sooner.

 

[Leviathan]

Yay!

This pretty much made my year. Thank you Special Forces!

 

[Carver]

Obama should have started off with simply saying: "BOOM, HEADSHOT!!!"

 

[jon_mx]

I am mobile and it is hard to link, but the couries name was provided by both KSM and al-Libby.

 

[El Floppo]

What would be ironic is if information received from Gitmo and in particular waterboarding provided the key lead which lead to Osama.

I'm pretty sure I already read somewhere that this is the case.

This is true. The waterboarding bit is the dangerous speculation. People like Jon will immediately jump to that conclusion, and it will become "fact" like the fake birth certificate, like the $2 million Obama spent to defend it, etc.

There are much more effective interrogation techniques that could have led to this information. What I find confusing is that the U.S. had captured OBL's courier who knew where he was, yet OBL didn't move? Makes me wonder how bad of shape he was in.

NOTEure speculationI'm betting the guy got along fine with only having contact directly with 5-10 people in total. Those people had contact with perhaps even fewer. This was obviously working for OBL and he didn't leave. In fact, it was such a crazy concept that it took us what? 7 months to go in and check the place out for fear that we might have been one or two layers away.

I thought intelligence found out WHO the courier was from detainees, and then monitored him to find out where he would go. I don't think they captured the courier before the operation?

Yes, but my theory is that they thought this guy was one layer away from OBL and had this sweet pad to protect him. If they popped him too soon then OBL would go deeper underground. If they really thought OBL was there chilling on his air mattress back in September they would have rolled in there sooner.

Ok- my understanding was that this wasn't the courier's house... just a house on his route. And one that was bigger and better protected so that it raised red-flags.

 

[ClownCausedChaos]

I'm sure its been said already, but I feel the need to say...Those in the Special Forces have a level of guts that I can't even begin to wrap my head around. To be dropped, in the middle of the night, into the teeth of quite possibly the most dangerous man in the world...their level of bravery is without comparison.

Agreed on all counts, except that THEY are the most dangerous men in the world!

I stand corrected.

I'm sure its been said already, but I feel the need to say...Those in the Special Forces have a level of guts that I can't even begin to wrap my head around. To be dropped, in the middle of the night, into the teeth of quite possibly the most dangerous man in the world...their level of bravery is without comparison.

Respect to those guys, but please, what did OBL ever do? Sat around and told other people to do his dirty work.

I wasn't necessarily referring to him specifically, more to his capabilities. Obviously, the place was under heavy, heavy surveillance over the past several months, but I wouldn't have written off "security" measures in the form of ambushes or traps that he could have had set up.

 

[jon_mx]

The most dangerous man in the world? Is this a Chuck Norris thread???

 

[Rayderr]

The most dangerous man in the world? Is this a Chuck Norris thread???

Yes.

 

[Keerock]

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkks0aVfdh1qcxcjfo1_500.png

 

[Pick]

Usama Bin Laden - World Hide and Go Seek Champion 2001-2011

 

[saintfool]

I am mobile and it is hard to link, but the couries name was provided by both KSM and al-Libby.

Weekly Standard discusses this:

A recently leaked Guantanamo file names Osama bin Laden’s “designated courier.” The file, which summarizes the available intelligence on top al Qaeda operative Abu Faraj al Libbi, reads:

In July 2003, detainee received a letter from UBL’s designated courier, Maulawi Abd al-Khaliq Jan, requesting detainee take on the responsibility of collecting donations, organizing travel, and distributing funds to families in Pakistan. UBL stated detainee would be the official messenger between UBL and others in Pakistan. In mid-2003, detainee moved his family to Abbottabad, PK and worked between Abbottabad and Peshawar.

Here are several thoughts on this:

First, U.S. intelligence officials got to bin Laden by following his most trusted courier. It is certainly possible, although we need to get confirmation, that this courier was Maulawi Abd al-Khaliq Jan – the “designated courier” named in the paragraph above.

Second, the courier’s ties to Abu Faraj al Libbi fits with what one Obama administration official had to say in a press briefing last night:

One courier in particular had our constant attention. Detainees gave us his nom de guerre or his nickname and identified him as both a protégé of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of September 11th, and a trusted assistant of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, the former number three of al Qaeda who was captured in 2005.

Third, the Associated Press is reporting that the courier’s nom de guerre was found out during the CIA’s interrogations of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and al Libbi. The New York Times and others have reported that unnamed “detainees” at Guantanamo gave up this information. But if it came from KSM and al Libbi, then that is a bit misleading because neither KSM nor al Libbi were held at Guantanamo at the time. They were subsequently transferred out of the CIA’s black sites to Gitmo.

Fourth, note that Abu Faraj al Libbi moved his own family to Abbottabad in mid-2003. That’s where Osama bin Laden was killed. The file goes on to note that al Libbi subsequently moved his family out Abbottabad before his capture. The compound where Osama bin Laden was hiding was reportedly built in 2005 – the same year al Libbi was captured.

Fifth, al Libbi reportedly admitted that he was responsible for facilitating al Qaeda’s activities inside Pakistan’s “settled areas” prior to his capture. The file contains a footnote that reads: “…detainee stated [as] of early May 2005, he was responsible for facilitation within the settled areas of Pakistan, communication with UBL and external links.” This gives us a sense of just how long al Qaeda has been operating in Pakistan’s “settled areas” – not just the tribal areas. Of course, this isn’t surprising since both al Libbi and KSM were captured in Pakistani cities.

Sixth, al Libbi himself was captured, according to the leaked Guantanamo assessment, while waiting to meet Abd al-Khaliq – again, Osama bin Laden’s designated courier. The file reads (footnote omitted):

Detainee tried to meet with Abd al-Khaliq again in mid-April [2005] and again in early May. In mid-April 2005, detainee began arranging for a store front to be used as a meeting place and drop point for messages he wanted to exchange with Abd al-Khaliq. On 2 May 2005, while he was waiting to meet with Abd al-Khaliq in Mardan, Pakistani Special Forces arrested detainee.

If Maulawi Abd al-Khaliq Jan was still Osama bin Laden’s most trusted courier, then he unwittingly led to both Abu Faraj al Libbi’s capture and the death of his boss.

 

[beer 30]

How Osama bin Laden was found and killed

 

[Billy Bats]

I posted this picture last night/this morning, but thought it was worth a repost for the afternoon visitors.

 

[Guest]

How Osama bin Laden was found and killed

Team 6, baby.

 

[Guest]

I posted this picture last night/this morning, but thought it was worth a repost for the afternoon visitors.

Iconic.

 

[Wingnut]

This is a great video, worth watching. The "I Believe" chant at around 3:30 minutes in is all kinds of awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-GTUyUNVjE

ETA: Speech start 1:00 minute in

 

[Statorama]

Stayed up way later than I should have last night watching all of this unfold. The crowd chanting "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye" caught my attention the most.

 

[biggamer3]

RealGilbert Gilbert Gottfried

I refuse to say anything that might seem insensitive about #Osama Bin Laden's death so let me say my thoughts & prayers are with Al-Qaeda

 

[Arizona Ron]

RealGilbert Gilbert GottfriedI refuse to say anything that might seem insensitive about #Osama Bin Laden's death so let me say my thoughts & prayers are with Al-Qaeda

 

[Doctor Detroit]

How Osama bin Laden was found and killed

This is very comprehensive, good stuff.

 

[[icon]]

Taiwan news outlet "recreates" the Osama Raid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw0AXjAaf3g&feature=player_embedded#at=54

 

[JZilla]

Taiwan news outlet "recreates" the Osama Raid:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw0AXjAaf3g&feature=player_embedded#at=54

Love these guys

 

[BigJohn]

Taiwan news outlet "recreates" the Osama Raid:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw0AXjAaf3g&feature=player_embedded#at=54

I haven't even clicked it and I'm already laughing.

 

[glumpy]

How Osama bin Laden was found and killed

Osama bin Laden was ultimately tracked down by pursuing one his trusted couriers based on a "clue" provided by "a terrorist detainee" being held at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, The Hill reports.

 

[Charlie Frown]

Usama Bin Laden - World Hide and Go Seek Champion 2001-2011

I thought Jimmy Hoffa held that title?

 

[Rayderr]

Usama Bin Laden - World Hide and Go Seek Champion 2001-2011

I thought Jimmy Hoffa held that title?

Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, and Frank Morris all have them beat.

 

[Doug B]

Not news to DD, but the rest of the house might find this interesting: President Obama Watched Live Video Of Bin Laden Raid As It Happened

EDIT: wanted to note that the linked report is obviously speculative.