Osama Bin Laden Dead in Abbottabad Raid

Sunday night May 1^st, 2011, the world found out from the President Barrack Obama, that the most wanted man in the world, Osama Bin Laden was dead. An announcement that the American public had been waiting nearly ten years for, sent cheers of USA throughout the country everywhere the announcement was heard.

It was announced that United States Special Forces, that included twenty four Navy Seals, had raided a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, Located about thirty miles from Islamabad. The raid was said to have lasted approximately forty minutes and had no US casualties in a firefight that resulted in the Bin Laden being shot twice, once in the chest and once in the head. The was reported that the raid used four US helicopters, of which one was left behind due to mechanical failure. The helicopter left behind was destroyed by US forces before departure in order to insure that no critical hardware could be co-opted by enemy forces. The raid was reported to be a “Fast Roped Raid” sent the Navy Seals from the helicopters directly into the compound behind 18 foot high security walls. Bin Laden was shot in the head and killed, the members of the Navy Seal team removed the body for DNA testing.

Some reports have it that he was offered the chance to surrender and refused and participated in the fire fight. Other reports offer that he wasn’t armed but refused to leave peacefully and was shot during a firefight with body guards. Some initial reports had said there had been a woman used as human shield, however, that report has been revised to say that she was caught killed by a possible stray bullet during the fight.

The body was delivered to the USS Carl Vinson, where his body was buried at sea early this morning, Islamic tradition calls for burial within twenty four hours of death. Reports have it that the body was cleaned, wrapped in white cloth and discharged from the ship in an undisclosed location in the North Arabian Sea.

When asked about the choice for burial at sea, the official word “was to prevent the Al-Qaida lead having a site that could be memorialized by his followers.” They say that the DNA was tested and that it was reported to be a 99.9% match once the body was in custody of the US. The Navy Seals involved in the raid, had used facial recognition to locate Bin Laden once inside the compound. The CIA had “eye’s on” involvement during the operation and live feeds were watched inside the White House as the raid happened.

According to US official the raid was a CIA led covert operation that targeted a large compound where intelligence agencies had suspicions that the Al-Qaida leader had been staying for some time. Some new reports have suggested that Bin Laden had been there for up to three years or more. Also, that with the proximity of the compound to a Pakistan military training center, it is apparent to some reporters that the likely hood of the Pakistan government not knowing he was there is unlikely. Official reaction from the Pakistan government, reject this out right saying “they just did not know.”

Right now the release of new information is coming out minute by minute and updates are disputing previous released reports as quickly as they are coming out. One thing for sure there will be a lot more information coming out for weeks to come. Several questions are still yet to be answered; will they release the photos of Bin Laden’s body? Will terrorist try to strike the US on our own soil for retaliation? Will Pakistan close the compound? What’s next for the war or terror?Stay tuned for updates throughout the week and for new and breaking news as it occurs. But for now, the main thing to remember is that the head of Al-Qaida is dead and the person that orchestrated the attacks on the Twin Towers has been brought to justice. USA, USA, USA, USA!!!!

• Update media reporting, Osama or Usama depending who you are watcing, that he was unarmed and the woman involved was shot in the leg, not killed. Also, new reports have stated that the Pakistan government is claiming that they had no knowedge of who was at the compound, even though the compound was within 800 yards of a military facility. It has been rereported that at the Pakistan government has been protesting the fact whe when into the compound alone and the them befor the raid.
• US governmet offices are still pondering whether or not to the release of the photo's of Bin Laden to the Amereican public. The biggest fears they have is two fold; the mid east people will use the photos to gain members and the second US soldiers may have harder time getting help in the field, especially in areas with existing ties to the Taliban .
• ABC news was reporting that Osama had been watching the entire invasion into the compound from the White House situation room. Even though the raid was intentionally planed for Saturday, April 30th, weather conditions had posponed it until Sunday. Sunday night was a low light night according the Seals.
• There are still hundred of rumors surrounding the death and removal of Osama's body from the compound. Many reports of what happened that Sunday have already been contridicted by fact, and many more down the line will also shown to be just rumors and not fact.

God Bless the brave men and women in all our armed forces, still the greatest fighting force in the world. God Bless Ameria, land of the free!