Osama Bin Laden is dead, President Obama announced Sunday night, in a televised address to the nation. After a firefight, a small team of American forces killed bin Laden and took possession of his body, the president said.
“Tonight I can report to the American people and the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden,” Obama said during brief remarks at the White House.
The president said U.S. intelligence operatives received a tip in August on bin Laden’s whereabouts, which ultimately led to Sunday’s attack. “After a fire fight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body,” the president said. Obama said the 9/11 attacks that bin Laden and his lieutenants orchestrated nearly 10 years ago remain “the worst attack on the American people in our history” and said the images of the crumbling Twin Towers “are seared into our national memory.”
The failure to snare bin Laden weighed most heavily, perhaps, on the Bush Administration, which occupied the White House during the 9/11 attacks, and the al Qaeda leader’s killing falls exactly eight years to the day when Bush famously declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq.
Bush said in a statement that Obama called him Sunday night to inform him of “the momentous achievement” of bin Laden’s death.
In a conference call with reporters just after President Obama spoke, senior administration officials provided a detailed sketch of how the intelligence on bin Laden’s whereabouts was gathered.
Intelligence officials had been conducting lengthy reconnaissance work prior to receiving their key tip in August. According to senior administration officials, suspected terrorists in custody since 9/11 -- including the attack’s mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- identified a courier who had a close relationship with bin Laden.
“This man was one of the few al Qaeda couriers trusted by bin Laden,” one senior administration official said. “They indicated he might be living with and protecting bin Laden. One senior administration official suggested bin Laden had been staying at the compound for at least six months without moving. Prior to the operation, Obama convened nine meetings with his national security team to review intelligence. Twenty minutes after that, he learned that bin Laden had been “tentatively identified.” No other intelligence operatives in other countries were told of the attack before it occurred -- including Pakistani operatives -- according to administration officials. Bin Laden himself “did resist the assault force,” a senior administration official said. Officials warned that in the aftermath of the attack, Americans should be on alert for a reprisal from al Qaeda. sama bin Laden is dead. Few additional details have been confirmed about bin Laden's death at this time, but President Barack Obama will address the nation shortly to provide them.
The administration is still gathering intelligence and will be briefing congressional officials in advance of the President’s address to America tonight.
Obama will deliver the news to the nation in an address from the White House, almost 10 years after the catastrophic attacks bin Laden orchestrated.
