President Barack Obama addressed the nation late Sunday evening to report that Osama bin Laden was killed by a group of U.S. Navy Seals and buried at sea.
U.S. forces killed the al-Qaeda leader on Sunday at his compound in Pakistan where he had been hiding since last summer. The 54-year-old led a self declared war against the United States as head of one of the most ruthless terrorist networks in history.
The world’s most wanted man, with a $25 million bounty for his capture, dead or alive, was able to elude a massive manhunt for nearly ten years. He reached the end of the line on May Day 2011, when a small group of highly trained Navy Seals stormed his mansion hideout and shot him in the head.
The compound was “custom built for someone of significance” in 2005. Physical security included 12 to 18 foot walls and restricted access by two security gates. U.S. intelligence analysts concluded in mid-March that it could be where bin Laden was living with family members.
Obama, working with only a small group of our own government people, gave the go-ahead on Friday to begin the helicopter operation. The 40 minute raid commenced when 24 men were dropped by four Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters into the compound under cover of darkness at 1:30 a.m. Pakistani time. Their mission was an order to kill, not capture.
Bin Laden reportedly exchanged gun fire with the Navy Seals and died of a gunshot to the head in the early minutes of the U.S. operation. A total of three adult men and one woman were killed. One of the men was believed to be bin Laden’s son, and the woman, who was used as a human shield, is rumored to be one of bin Laden’s wives.
The President was able to watch the events as they unfolded, beginning at 3:30 p.m. eastern, in ‘real time’ via live video feed from his vantage point in the White House Situation Room. It is expected that this historic footage will be released.
A fake death photo of bin Laden is circulating on the internet, but is reported to be a phony image that was first published two years ago. A senior U.S. official reports that the Obama administration is still deciding whether to release a still photo of dead bin Laden. The official said: “It is really, really graphic.”
Bin Laden shaped and financed the plot to hijack U.S. airliners and fly them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 – photo gallery. That act of terror prompted President George W. Bush to galvanize U.S. forces against him in the “first war of the 21st century.”
President Obama told the nation: “Justice has been done. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al-Qaeda.”
DNA testing revealed, with 99.9 percent accuracy, that Osama bin Laden perished in the siege. This confirmation paved the way for the President to address the nation with the news six hours after the operation ended.
View a photo of the team that conferred with the President prior to the operation. We’ve also included video from inside the compound where bin Laden was killed, followed by the full Obama statement below:
Watching it unfold in ‘real-time’ …
Photos: Courtesy WENN