The raid on a walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan which was carried out by special operations troops from the U.S. Navy’s elite Special Warfare Development Group, commonly known as SEAL Team 6, lasted about 40 minutes. The roughly two dozen SEALs who carried out the raid were ferried to Abbottabad aboard Blackhawk helicopters from the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. There were no U.S. casualties, but Osama Bin Laden and four others were killed:

Three adult males were also killed in the raid, including one of bin Laden’s sons, whom officials did not name. One of bin Laden’s sons, Hamza, is a senior member of al-Qaida. U.S. officials also said one woman was killed when she was used as a shield by a male combatant, and two other women were injured.

Bin Laden was reportedly buried at sea… There’s not much else to say here, other than I hope Mr. Bin Laden spending eternity someplace very, very warm and if any of the SEALs, chopper pilots or OGA operatives who helped bring about his demise are ever in my neck of the woods… The first, and second round is on me! Bravo Zulu gentlemen!

Edit: I should note, the intelligence critical to finding Bin Laden came from detainees captured after 9/11:

Based on statements given by U.S. detainees since the 9/11 attacks, they said, intelligence officials have long known that bin Laden trusted one al-Qaida courier in particular, and they believed he might be living with him in hiding.

Four years ago, the United States learned the man’s identity, which officials did not disclose, and then about two years later, they identified areas of Pakistan where he operated. Last August, the man’s residence was found, officials said.

“Intelligence analysis concluded that this compound was custom built in 2005 to hide someone of significance,” with walls as high as 18 feet and topped by barbed wire, according to one official. Despite the compound’s estimated $1 million cost and two security gates, it had no phone or Internet running into the house.

Update: The U.S. Navy has released a statement detailing bin Laden’s burial at sea… Apparently he was buried at sea because no country would accept his remains.

Related

• U.S. team’s mission was to kill bin Laden, not capture – Reuters
• U.S. Forces Kill Osama bin Laden – Wall Street Journal
• Osama bin Laden: it took years to find him but just minutes to kill him – The Guardian
• U.S. Forces Unsure Bin Laden in Compound Until Face to Face – Bloomberg News
• Pakistan’s Musharraf: Bin Laden death “positive step” – Reuters
• How Bin Laden Was Found and Killed – Wall Street Journal
• Some White Knuckle Moments for Elite Navy SEALs Team – ABC News
• Intelligence break led to bin Laden’s hide-out – The Washington Times
• Did latest WikiLeaks revelations force U.S. to take out Bin Laden? – Daily Mail

A passenger on a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight tried Friday to detonate an explosive device strapped to his leg and later told investigators he had affiliations with al Qaeda and was trying to blow up the plane, according to a senior U.S. official.

“We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism,” said a White House official.

The suspect told investigators he was given the device by al Qaeda operatives in Yemen, along with detonation instructions, the official said. “This guy claims he is tied to al Qaeda, specifically in Yemen,” the official said. “He claims he was on orders from al Qaeda in Yemen. Who knows if that’s true?”

Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.) identified the man as a 23-year-old Nigerian named Abdul Mudallad. Officials said they believed the man boarded a KLM flight in Lagos, Nigeria, and changed planes in Amsterdam, although that couldn’t immediately be confirmed. The suspect’s name didn’t appear on any terrorist watch lists maintained by U.S. authorities, Mr. King said, but it turned up “hot” in other terrorism-related databases maintained by intelligence officials.

On Saturday morning, Britain’s Metropolitan Police Service was searching a “number” of properties in central London that may be related to the attempted bombing, according to a spokeswoman. “We are liasing with U.S. authorities and are conducting enquiries in conjunction with them,” she said, declining to give further details.

First how did he get the device on to the plane? I know the Transportation Security Administration has warned about Nigeria’s porous airport security in the past, so one would assume the suspect would have gone through some sort of additional screening in Amsterdam?

Second let’s resist the urge to somehow try and blame this on Pres. Obama and/or his administrations policies. The simple truth is there going to be another terrorist attack in this country; it’s inevitable. The bad guys only have to get lucky once, to stop them we have to be good every single day.

Update (11:25 a.m.): Via Hot Air, a Nigerian newspaper is reporting that the suspected bomber’s father reported him to authorities after his son’s jihadist rhetoric started to worry him:

The older Mutallab, as at the time of filing this report, had just left his Katsina hometown for Abuja to speak with security agencies, family sources say. According to the family members, Mutallab has been uncomfortable with the boy’s extreme religious views and had six months ago reported his activities to United States’ Embassy, Abuja and Nigerian security agencies.

The older Mutallab was said to be devastated on hearing the news of Abdul Farouk’s attempted bombing and arrest. A source close to him said he was surprised that after his reports to the US authorities, the young man was allowed to travel to the United States.

~~~

At the secondary school, he was known for preaching about Islam to his school mates and he was popularly called “Alfa”, a local coinage for Islamic scholar. After his secondary school, the suspect went to University College London to study engineering and later relocated to Egypt, and then Dubai. While in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, he declared to his family members that he did not want to have anything to do with any of them again.

Update (1:05 p.m.): Fox News is reporting that U.S. officials have known for two years that Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the suspect in the attempted Northwest Airlines bombing could have terrorist ties:

An official briefed on the foiled attack on a Detroit airliner says the U.S. has known for at least two years that the suspect could have terrorist ties.

The official tells The Associated Press that the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, has been on a list that includes people with known or suspected contact or ties to a terrorist or terrorist organization.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Multiple law enforcement officials identified Mutallab as a Nigerian national who was reportedly an engineering student at London’s University College.

Update (4:50 p.m.): Reuters reports that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national, has been charged with attempting to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253. A preliminary analysis by the FBI shows that he tried to ignite pentaerythritol (PETN) which had been attached to his body.

Related

• Nigerian arrested in failed plane attack claims links to al-Qaeda – Washington Post
• Failed plane attack thought to be terror act – Washington Times
• King: Airline bombing suspect had ‘significant terrorist connections’ – The Hill
• Detroit terror attack: Scotland Yard probes ‘British student airline bomber’ – Telegraph
• Passenger details fight to stop alleged terrorist – NYPOST.com

From the Politico:

Former Sen. Fred Thompson today intensified his party’s criticism of President Obama’s long deliberation over policy in Afghanistan, announcing that Obama’s delay signals that “the war has been lost” and that nothing the president now does will “make any difference.”

“It really doesn’t matter how President Obama divides the Afghan baby, how he splits the difference between McChrystal and Biden. Because the war has been lost,” Thompson said on his radio show today.  “I say this because of one sad and simple fact. The president does not have the will and determination to do what’s necessary to win it. His heart’s not in it, and never has been. The Taliban knows it. Al Qaeda knows it. Our allies know it. And the American people know it.

“Our enemies are now emboldened and our friends are discouraged. We cannot prevail if the American people are not willing to make the sacrifices necessary for an extended effort. The case has not been made to them to justify this effort. The case can only be made by the president. This president is unable or unwilling to make that case,” Thompson said.

Kathryn Jean Lopez has the audio here.

Ouch… Barack Obama made winning the war in Afghanistan a central part of his Presidential campaign and yet 10 months into his term in office he’s still formulating a policy… Unfortunately, I think Sen. Thompson is right, President Obama lacks the temerity to prosecute the war in Afghanistan and is instead voting ‘present’ just as he has done with everything else.

Jim Hanson laid it out months ago Mr. President, wars do not end, they are either won or lost:

The buck stops with you Mr. President, it’s time to make a decision… Do we give our war fighters the resources they need to fight and win or do we cut and run?

Update (5:15 p.m.): Pete Hegseth has a good post over at The Corner that takes Sen. Thompson to task for his remarks:

Let’s go back to an interview Senator Thompson gave on Hannity and Colmes on May 1, 2007:

HANNITY: The biggest battle we have is this war on terror, this battle in Iraq. We have a really deep divide in the country. Senator Reid the war is lost. We still have to finish the job there. Where do you stand in general on the war on terror and, more specifically, in Iraq, and on the divide surrounding Iraq?

THOMPSON: Well, let’s talk about Senator Reid for a moment. Right before I came over here, I was sitting outside, getting a bite to eat, before we did our interview. A young woman [former Army captain] came up and asked if she could sit down and talk to me a minute. . . . I asked her what she thought about this. She said, “How in the world can anyone, any one of our leaders, declare war, declare that the war has been lost when we’ve got troops in the field? My friends are over there in the field. I know what they think about this.”

And, of course, it’s just like all other Americans think. The very idea that they would do this and undercut our efforts over there is unprecedented. And it’s not only unprecedented; it’s awful politics.

We should not be fearful of these people politically. We just need to concentrate on what’s right. What is right? We need to take advantage of any opportunity we’ve got down there. I’ve got a lot of faith in Petraeus. I knew him when he was at Fort Campbell when I was in the Senate. He tells me we’ve got a shot? We’ve got to take that shot.

I’m sure Senator Thompson made many similar comments in 2007, and he was right. Sen. Harry Reid’s statement was unprecedented, and it was awful politics. And if Petraeus says we have a shot, then we’ve got to take that shot.

In light of the above, what is Senator Thompson doing undercutting the mission in Afghanistan? Is the mission less justified? Is it less achievable? Or is McChrystal less capable? No. Senator Thompson’s issue with the Afghanistan mission is President Obama. And while I share many of his frustrations — indecisiveness, lack of will, unwillingness to articulate the need to win — none of them give him, or anyone, grounds to declare the war lost.

I have a lot of respect for Fred Thompson but the more I think about his remarks the less comfortable I am with them…  Pete Hegseth is right, regardless of our frustrations with the President Obama’s lack of action there are just some things that shouldn’t be said while men and women are in harms way.

A top aide to  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attended a CIA briefing in early 2003 in which it was made clear that waterboarding and other harsh techniques were being used in the interrogation of an alleged al-Qaeda operative, according to documents the CIA released to Congress on Thursday.

Pelosi has insisted that she was not directly briefed by Bush administration officials that the practice was being actively employed. But Michael Sheehy, a top Pelosi aide, was present for a classified briefing that included  Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), then the ranking minority member of the House intelligence committee, at which agency officials discussed the use of waterboarding on terrorism suspect Abu Zubaida.

A Democratic source acknowledged yesterday that it is almost certain that Pelosi would have learned about the use of waterboarding from Sheehy. Pelosi herself acknowledged in a December 2007 statement that she was aware that Harman had learned of the waterboarding and had objected in a letter to the CIA’s top counsel.

This would seem to conform earlier reports that Sen Pelosi new what was going on and didn’t raise objections until it was politically expedient. As far  as I can tell Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) was the only member of Congress to raise questions at the time.

Regardless these tit for tat politically motivated leaks have to stop… Barack Obama opened this can of worms with the release of the OLC memos on Enhanced Interrogations, since then we’ve seen a series of competing leaks designed for political advantage.

It’s time to make the complete record available… As Ed Morrissey notes:

We need to see all of the documentation, with only the most sensitive information redacted, in order to know exactly what was done, who ordered it, who approved it, and who knew about it — and what we discovered as a result of it.

Only by getting all of the information on the table can we have an informed, rational discussion about methods, values, and responsibilities.  Obama opened Pandora’s Box, and now we need to let it all escape in order to get the full picture.  The drip-drip-drip leaks and releases are akin to a Chinese water torture on rational discussion of this topic, irony definitely intended.

Previous

• CIA Says Pelosi Was Briefed on Use of ‘Enhanced Interrogations’
• No Criminal Prosecution for ‘Torture Memo’ Authors?

From the Wall Street Journal:

Mark down the date. Tuesday, April 21, 2009, is the moment that any chance of a new era of bipartisan respect in Washington ended. By inviting the prosecution of Bush officials for their antiterror legal advice, President Obama has injected a poison into our politics that he and the country will live to regret.

Policy disputes, often bitter, are the stuff of democratic politics. Elections settle those battles, at least for a time, and Mr. Obama’s victory in November has given him the right to change policies on interrogations, Guantanamo, or anything on which he can muster enough support. But at least until now, the U.S. political system has avoided the spectacle of a new Administration prosecuting its predecessor for policy disagreements. This is what happens in Argentina, Malaysia or Peru, countries where the law is treated merely as an extension of political power.

Pres. Obama would do well to back-off of the dangerous precedent he set on Tuesday, he has already banned the use of the interrogation techniques in question and declared the CIA personnel who used them will not be charged. Investigating and attempting to criminalize the actions of Bush administration lawyers who advised the CIA will only undermine the ability of this president and his successors to obtain candid advice, as lawyers fear they may in turn by scapegoated by a future administration.

Realted

• Congress Knew About the Interrogations – Wall Street Journal
• Torture Cases Would Face Legal Hurdles- Wall Street Journal
• Top legislators knew of interrogations – Washington Times
• Congress Debates Fresh Investigation Of Interrogations – Washington Post

DUBAI (Reuters) – An al Qaeda leader has called for President George W. Bush and the Republicans to be “humiliated,” without endorsing any party in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, according to a video posted on the Internet.

“O God, humiliate Bush and his party, O Lord of the Worlds, degrade and defy him,” Abu Yahya al-Libi said at the end of sermon marking the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, in a video posted on the Internet.

Libi, one of the top al Qaeda commanders believed to be living in Afghanistan or Pakistan, called for God’s wrath to be brought against Bush equating him with past tyrants in history.

Translation: They’re getting are butts kicked on the battlefield and they know John McCain won’t give up the fight.

Most of the the article rehashes what I’ve read previously… That the US relied on its allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan to block his escape. What caught my eye though was this paragraph:

What went wrong? One, the US unwisely trusted Pakistan to patrol its border. Two, NATO allies objected to the use of “GATOR” mines, which are dropped from planes and could have sealed up the Tora Bora area. But mostly, Fury says the decision to let Afghan allies form “the tip of the spear” was the biggest mistake. “The idea worked like a charm when we faced a common foe, the oppressive Taliban . . . but they were fighting Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden . . . we might as well have been asking for them to fight the Almighty Prophet Mohammed himself.” Bin Laden thought the US would invade Tora Bora with a large ground force, like the Soviets had, and cut and run at the first casualties, like in Mogadishu. Instead, Delta Force units dressed as Afghans were dispatched, assigned to advise and sometimes accompany Afghan forces, who were paid for their efforts. Fury describes a CIA agent bringing in a canvas bag of $250,000 in cash for Hazret Ali’s services.

That’s the first I’ve ever heard about two NATO allies blocking the use of GATOR mines… I’m curious to know which of our erstwhile allies it was… mining potential escape routes would have been a effective way keeping Bin Laden bottled up.

Personally, I’m inclined to ascribe both to Washington Post reporter Anne Kornblut. In a page one news story, she accuses Sarah Palin of asserting “that the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda plan the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.”

There’s just one problem that’s not what Gov. Palin said… What she said was:

You’ll be there in service to the same cause of freedom from tyranny and from violence. You’ll be there to defend the innocent from the enemies who planned, carried out, and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans.

Here’s the video Gov. Palin’s speech:

Interestingly enough the the Post’s editors seem to be walking back, at least partially, Kornblut’s distortion. The first two paragraphs of her story originally read:

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska, Sept. 11 — Gov. Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would “defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans.”

The idea that Iraq shared responsibility with al-Qaeda for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, once promoted by Bush administration officials, has since been rejected even by the president himself. On any other day, Palin’s statement would almost certainly have drawn a sharp rebuke from Democrats, but both parties had declared a halt to partisan activities to mark Thursday’s anniversary.”

They now read:

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska, Sept. 11 — Gov. Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would “defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans.”

The idea that the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda plan the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a view once promoted by Bush administration officials, has since been rejected even by the president himself. But it is widely agreed that militants allied with al-Qaeda have taken root in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion.

Exit question: Is it me or is the media so far in the tank for Obama that they should be wearing scuba gear?

As an aside… I don’t recall the Bush administration ever specifically linking Iraq under Saddam Hussein to 9-11. I do remember them correctly pointing out his support of terrorist activities/groups.