Reportedly, the terrorist mastermind was killed during a 40-minute firefight in the town of Abbottabad, Pakistan. After achieving the death of bin Laden, the American kill squad seized his body so that DNA tests may be conducted to verify his identity. According to early reports by ABC News, the U.S. military had the body in its possession, but subsequent reports announced that bin Laden’s body had been “buried at sea.”
During his address to the nation from the White House, President Obama explained that Osama bin Laden was killed by a small special operations team deployed from the Joint Special Operations Command forces in Pakistan working with intelligence supplied by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Early reports indicate that the American intelligence agents operating inside Pakistan have been effectively tracking the movements of bin Laden since August.
The story developed as media representatives were informed by the White House that the president would be delivering a speech of historic importance.
Finally, at 11:30 pm EDT, President Barack Obama began his address with the following narrative of the relevant sequence of events that led to the death of the man assumed to have planned the terrorist attacks on the United States carried out on September 11, 2001:
Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound, in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama Bin Laden and took custody of his body.
Besides Osama bin Laden, there were three other people accompanying him at the compound in northern Pakistan where the successful mission was carried out. Reportedly, one of the other people was bin Laden’s eldest son.
No sooner had the President concluded his announcement then scores of people flooded the streets outside the White House and in Times Square in New York City, celebrating wildly and chanting “U.S.A.” The atmosphere was redolent of the madness of Mardi Gras or New Year’s Eve.
President Obama informed his two immediate predecessors of the death of the man who had for a decade eluded American special forces.
Former President George W. Bush said, “This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.”
Former President Bill Clinton declared the successful mission to be “a profoundly important moment for people all over the world who want to build a common future of peace, freedom, and cooperation for our children.”
Photo: Osama bin Laden
