The Unbelievable Story Of How The CIA Found Osama Bin Laden

Table Of Content

• Late 1990s attacks
• Newly released White House photos capture the day bin Laden was killed
• Videos of bin Laden Practicing for Public Speeches
• Osama bin Laden’s family’s abandoned Bel Air estate lists for $28M
• He Had the Compound Custom-Built
• Stephan Sterns, accused of murder in death of 13-year-old Madeline Soto, expected to enter plea
• Osama bin Laden: Worldwide Jihad

The paint was peeling outside the building and there was no sign of airconditioning. "The concern was that Bin Laden would oppose any type of capture operation. Indeed he did. It was a firefight. He, therefore, was killed in that firefight." Here are the main areas where the official story of the raid on the al-Qaida leader's Abbottabad compound have changed.

Late 1990s attacks

These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded. At the conclusion of the raid, the SEALs evacuated the area with bin Laden’s body, with an extra Chinook helicopter flown in to provide transportation. President Barack Obama discussed the decision to attack with "60 Minutes" after the raid. “This was a very difficult decision, in part because the evidence we had was not absolutely conclusive,” he said. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks.

Newly released White House photos capture the day bin Laden was killed

Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. We stopped at what seemed like a vacant lot, where a local resident had agreed to meet us. We just got off of a major highway and rolled past a blue and white sign that says Welcome to Abbottabad. Then they finally came to Bin Laden himself, who the White House eventually admitted was "unarmed", after initially saying he opened fire. Officials have since said that he in fact had two Russian made firearms within reach – an AK-47 assault rifle, most likely his personal short-barrelled version which Bin Laden supposedly seized from a Soviet general in 1987. By that time, Bin Laden was being linked with Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), which made up the core of al-Qaeda.

Videos of bin Laden Practicing for Public Speeches

His time at the university was key to his future role as leader of al-Qaeda, not only in influencing his radical views but also in providing him with the skill to market al-Qaeda. The terrorist leader was not only a major player within al-Qaeda but also a figurehead that attracted supporters and recruits from around the world. The assassination of Osama bin Laden was a significant victory for the U.S. government and the American people at large.

Osama bin Laden’s family’s abandoned Bel Air estate lists for $28M

After the Seal members shot and killed Kuwaiti and a woman in the guesthouse the Americans were never fired upon again, the paper reported. The SEALs quickly made their way up to the third floor, where they found the terrorist leader in his bedroom and killed him. SEAL Matt Bissonnette, who entered the room at the same time and wrote about the operation in the book "No Easy Day," also claims to have fired shots into bin Laden's fallen body. Meanwhile, U.S. forces had continued to hunt for bin Laden, who was still thought possibly to be hiding either in Afghanistan or in the tribal regions of Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan. U.S. intelligence eventually located him in Pakistan, living in a secure compound in Abbottabad, a medium-sized city near Islamabad. On May 2, 2011, bin Laden was killed when a small U.S. force transported by helicopters raided the compound.

In the Gulf War (1990–1991), Bin Laden's offer for support against Iraq was rebuked by the Saudi royal family, which instead sought American aid. Bin Laden's views on pan-Islamism and anti-Americanism resulted in his expulsion from Saudi Arabia in 1991. He subsequently shifted his headquarters to Sudan until 1996 when he left the country to establish a new base in Afghanistan, where he was supported by the Taliban.

Osama bin Laden hideout 'worth far less than US claimed' - The Guardian

Osama bin Laden hideout 'worth far less than US claimed'.

Posted: Wed, 04 May 2011 07:00:00 GMT [source]

On board were special forces soldiers from the Navy Seal Team 6 battle group whom Barack Obama had entrusted with taking on the world's most wanted man face to face. The US president had eschewed a missile strike in favour of this kill-or-capture mission after US intelligence had discovered that the compound 35 miles from Islamabad ringed with 12- to 18-foot high walls. It was home to a Pakistani called Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, Bin Laden's most trusted courier whose identity had been discovered by the US four years earlier after he was identified by detainees as a protege of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged to be al-Qaida's main architect of the 9/11 attacks. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the U.S. searched for bin Laden for nearly 10 years.

As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us.

Pakistan's Osama bin Laden Report: Was Pakistan Clueless or Complicit in Harboring Bin Laden? Brookings - Brookings Institution

Pakistan's Osama bin Laden Report: Was Pakistan Clueless or Complicit in Harboring Bin Laden? Brookings.

Posted: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 07:00:00 GMT [source]

It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. Using known photos and facial recognition software, as well as measuring the corpse, CIA specialists determined with 95% certainty that the body was that of Osama bin Laden. Other specialists in the intelligence community performed initial DNA analysis, which resulted in a virtual 100% DNA match of the body against DNA of several bin Laden family members. The actual raid on bin Laden’s compound was called Operation Neptune Spear, after the trident that appears on the U.S.

The police were first to arrive on the scene after the Americans left, followed by the military and then the ISI intelligence agency. There were communication problems at first as none of the Pakistanis spoke Arabic. Another room on the first floor was used as a classroom, with a whiteboard and numerous pieces of paper featuring Arabic writing, as well as children's textbooks. Neighbours say that none of the children living at the house went to school. The foodstuffs found in the house also suggested a simple diet, consisting of dates, olive oil, walnuts, dried meat and eggs.

In 1998 bin Laden ordered an operation larger than any of al-Qaeda’s previous operations—simultaneous bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which altogether killed 224 people. The United States retaliated by launching cruise missiles at sites believed to be bin Laden’s bases in Afghanistan. Another al-Qaeda bombing in 2000 targeted the USS Cole, an American warship harboured in Yemen, and killed 17 sailors.

This puzzled the builder, both because the Bilal Town neighborhood was safe and peaceful—and because it was significantly higher than the architect’s plans called for. “Arshad” warned him that if he asked more questions, he would be fired. Customization went as far as applying an anti-snooping film on the upper floor windows. "It’s a lot of history. The house made it to 97 years, almost to 100, so many different people lived here," says a woman who used to live in the house. McDonough, involved in the planning of the operation from its earliest stages, “sweated the details,” as Obama recalled.