So now that Osama bin Laden has gone on to his just deserts, what impact — if any — will his demise have on the war in Afghanistan next door?
The military answer: none.
The political answer: accelerate that troop pullout.
Kerrey: Getting bin Laden only gets you so far, at least politically
Former Nebraska Democrat Sen. Bob Kerrey told Battleland Tuesday that eliminating Osama bin Laden represents a significant national security achievement for President Obama. “On a national security basis, it is an accomplishment that helps him a great deal,” Kerrey said in an interview.
But given the stratified electorate, the …
SEAL team members tell all to a select few following raid
Cruising the azure waters of the Arabian Sea with the Navy’s Carl Vinson Strike Group in the hours immediately following the daring raid in Pakistan, the SEAL team member who put a bullet through Osama bin Laden’s left eye had some explaining to do. In fact, while they won’t be able to tell their own families much, all of the SEAL …
Sarah Palin forgets that Obama guy in killing of bin Laden
Here is the video of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin thanking President Bush for helping to hunt down Osama bin Laden. President Bush probably deserves some credit. So does some other guy, who Palin doesn’t name.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/ktRaCh_Y7GQ]
And You Think You’re Happy bin Laden Is Dead
Imagine how the Oregon schoolteacher who pledged not to shave until Osama bin Laden was history feels today:
A teacher who vowed nearly 10 years ago not to cut his beard until Osama bin Laden was captured or proven dead said he cried Sunday night upon hearing of the terrorist’s death. “I spent my first five minutes crying and then
…
The Final Room-by-Room Hunt For Osama Bin Laden
A senior U.S. intelligence official described Osama bin Laden’s compound with two words that are rarely spoken together: “opaque windows.” Once the U.S. became aware of the compound, a closer look made them even more curious. “The walls around the compound were up to 18 feet high,” a senior U.S. intelligence operative said Monday. …
Thirty years after Iran, the art of the counter-terror assault
Highly trained, modern counter-terrorism units like the Navy SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden grew out of the ashes of a charred RH-53D helicopter that lay resting in the Iranian desert after the disastrous 1980 attempt to free American hostages in Tehran. Navy SEAL Team Six, now called the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, …
Bin Laden: Betrayed By His Face, His DNA…And His Wife
Senior U.S. officials say the U.S. government used several sophisticated methods to confirm that the tall man Navy SEALs killed early Monday in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was, indeed, Osama bin Laden:
1. CIA experts compared known photos of bin Laden with photographs of the corpse, and concluded they were 95% sure the dead man was bin
…
Bin Laden’s Final Resting Place
Osama bin Laden left this world from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the North Arabian Sea about mid-day Monday. In a strange twist on an ancient military tradition, he was buried at sea. The ceremony was in accord with Muslim law, which requires burial within 24 hours of death, Pentagon officials said.
Bin …
SEAL Team Six established after disastrous 1980 raid
SEAL Team Six, which is actually called the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, is one of a small handful of military detachments deployed to conduct the kind of kinetic counter-terrorism raid the unit pulled off in Pakistan over the weekend, resulting in the death of Osama bin Laden.
Based in Virginia, the unit was established …
Capture or kill issue is a non-issue
Mark Hosenball has a Reuters story up which raises the question of whether U.S. forces sent to capture or kill Osama bin Laden were essentially dispatched only to do the latter. Did President Obama send out a squad of assassins?
This issue is a non-story. Without getting too much into the web of international treaties that make up the …
Bin Laden: A Tale Of Two Mornings, Three Decades Apart
Just over 31 years ago, a much bleaker dawn greeted Americans awakening and getting ready to go to work than was the case Monday morning. Back in 1980, the U.S. military had just been humiliated at Desert One, deep inside Iran, trying to rescue the 52 hostages that had been held by Iran for six months. The U.S. military was forced to …
Abbottabad: Pakistani military didn’t notice giant, walled compound?
It turns out that Abbottabad, Pakistan is just the sort of town you’d expect to find a character like Osama bin Laden hiding — in just the sort of compound where he was found and killed.
The temperate town in northern Pakistan known for attracting tourists is also apparently a popular destination among suspected terrorists. Pakistani …