A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.
America and Americans have lived upto this quote today by Elbert Hubbard. In a stunning military operation in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, US special operations forces killed the most wanted terrorist in the world - Osama Bin Laden.
Almost a decade back, Osama Bin Laden unleashed the worst terror attack in the world - with his Al-Qaeda operatives flying commercial airliners into the World Trade Center Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.
These terror attacks resulted in the destruction of four airplanes, the on board passengers, the people working at the WTC and its vicinity, and those engaged in rescue operations. The death toll was more than 3000 and America was hurt in it heart.
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| Osama Bin Laden FBI Profile |
These terror attacks resulted in the destruction of four airplanes, the on board passengers, the people working at the WTC and its vicinity, and those engaged in rescue operations. The death toll was more than 3000 and America was hurt in it heart.
America wanted the guilty to be punished and within just six weeks it launched the war on terror. Osama was believed to be in Afghanistan and the USA bombed virtually all of the country. Yet, Osama managed to escape and since then had been untraceable.
The Americans spent billions of USD on finding Osama. It was like finding needle in a haystack. Osama was presumed to be anywhere in Afghanistan and Pakistan. With his exact location unknown, finding and killing him was difficult.
But you will remember the quote - the smartest of the criminals also leaves a trail. And it was one such trail that resulted in pin pointing the exact location of the most wanted man on earth.
A couple of men - who acted as couriers - were spotted frequenting a house in Abbottabad. This was when the intelligence men from the CIA thought something was fishy. A closer inspection revealed that the house was heavily protected. Even the trash was not dumped into the outside world - it was set on fire.
And after several months of ground work by the American intelligence agencies, they came to a conclusion - a very big terrorist was hiding in the house. Maybe it was their most wanted man - Osama Bin Laden.
Surprisingly, just a week back, Al-Qaeda had threatened a nuclear hell storm if Osama is caught or killed. Read more here.
However, taking out Osama in the heartland of Pakistan was not an easy task. USA had to undertake a military operation on the Pakistani territory. This would mean a severe infringement on the sovereignty of Pakistan. And if something goes wrong - like the death of American military personnel, or the loss of civilian life - it world reflect badly on Obama and his administration. And if he escapes, it would be a major embarrassment.
However, at stake was Osama Bin Laden - the man responsible for unleashing mass terror across the world. America had its best chance to get their man. And just three days back, on April 29 - Barack Obama signed an order to kill Osama Bin Laden.
As England and the world celebrated a royal wedding between Price William and Kate Middleton, the American intelligence and the armed forces prepared for the task to get their man. The operation must have been planned in a very exclusive manner - to ensure that the cat does not slip out of the bag and Osama doesn't do a Houdini trick again.
And as the whole of Asia slept on a quiet Sunday night, at approximately at 1 AM Pakistan time, the American forces started their operations. Around three helicopters were seen hovering around the sleepy town of Abbottabad. Out of them descended the American Navy Seals on the most important mission of their life - to kill Osama Bin Laden.
In what must have been a deadly and bloody battle, the Americans bombarded the house with massive gun fire. Osama and his aides responded to battle at hand. The Americans must have unleashed a lethal firepower to kill Osama. Osama and his son tried their best come out of this unscathed.
However, their luck had run out. In a operation that lasted more than 40 minutes, the Americans killed Osama Bin Laden and his son and a couple of aides. They also captured his wife - presumed to be the youngest out of his many ones. And they secured his dead body and flew out of the town.
This entire operation was monitored and handled from the CIA headquarters at Langley, Virginia. There is also a huge possibility that President Barack Obama was in the loop in those final moments.
Well, these pictures confirm the fact. Almost the entire US administration, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton et all, watched and controlled the operation from a White House control room.
You can see a tense Barack Obama and a gasping Hillary Clinton. The rest of the administration also looked very very tense in this high profile operation to kill the world's most wanted man.
If you are interested in checking out more pictures of the White House Situation Room for the Osama Bin Laden operation (a.k.a. Operation Geronimo), then you can check out the Official White House Photo Stream here.
It would surprise you that this entire operation was played out live on Twitter - courtesy this man from Abbottabad. He didn't know what was going on in his sleepy town. Yet he twitted all of it for the world to read it in astonishment.
The world was unaware of the mammoth operation that was executed to kill Osama. And if US officials are to be believed, even Pakistan was unaware of the operation to get the most wanted terrorist.
However, this seems extremely unlikely - given the fact that the town of Abbottabad is just 50 kms away from the capital, Islamabad. Just a few kms away is a Pakistan military academy. All of this makes the US denial look more of a tactic to save Pakistan from an internal backlash.
And at approximately 9 AM IST, Barack Obama announced to the world that they had triumphed in killing Osama Bin Laden.
~~
Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.
Read Obama's complete speech here.
~~
Barack Obama, who more than three years back said - Yes, We Can - did it. And almost certainly, he will go down in history for his words - Justice has been done.
Most importantly, Obama said that the USA was not in war against Islam. And in line with their religious faith, the Americans ensured that Osama was buried at sea within 24 hours of his death. This was done considering the fact that it would be difficult for a find a country to accept his remains for burial.
There are a several questions to be answered in this extensively secret operation. How many men were involved on the ground? Where did they fly in from? Was there a traitor who said it all? What has Osama's wife said about Bin Laden? Where did they bury Bin Laden? Was the Pakistan's ISI aware of the operation? Was the Pakistan's political circuit informed before the operation? Did ISI and Pakistan shield Osama all along?
There are a few situations which are yet to shape up. How will the war against terror in Afghanistan go on in the next few months? How will Al-Qaeda react to the news? How will supporters of Bin Laden react to his death? Will the killing of Bin Laden be a political trump card in Obama's re-election campaign?
Well, we don't have the answers yet. It will take some time for the news to trickle out of the corridors of power onto the common man.
While America and the world can sleep with a bit of comfort tonight, we can only hope and pray that Al-Qaeda does not unleash further retaliatory terror attacks.
However, today, we can only salute the brave men who took up a difficult task to set the world on a path of lasting peace.
The Americans spent billions of USD on finding Osama. It was like finding needle in a haystack. Osama was presumed to be anywhere in Afghanistan and Pakistan. With his exact location unknown, finding and killing him was difficult.
But you will remember the quote - the smartest of the criminals also leaves a trail. And it was one such trail that resulted in pin pointing the exact location of the most wanted man on earth.
A couple of men - who acted as couriers - were spotted frequenting a house in Abbottabad. This was when the intelligence men from the CIA thought something was fishy. A closer inspection revealed that the house was heavily protected. Even the trash was not dumped into the outside world - it was set on fire.
 |
| Osama Bin Laden Abbottabad Compound |
Surprisingly, just a week back, Al-Qaeda had threatened a nuclear hell storm if Osama is caught or killed. Read more here.
However, taking out Osama in the heartland of Pakistan was not an easy task. USA had to undertake a military operation on the Pakistani territory. This would mean a severe infringement on the sovereignty of Pakistan. And if something goes wrong - like the death of American military personnel, or the loss of civilian life - it world reflect badly on Obama and his administration. And if he escapes, it would be a major embarrassment.
However, at stake was Osama Bin Laden - the man responsible for unleashing mass terror across the world. America had its best chance to get their man. And just three days back, on April 29 - Barack Obama signed an order to kill Osama Bin Laden.
As England and the world celebrated a royal wedding between Price William and Kate Middleton, the American intelligence and the armed forces prepared for the task to get their man. The operation must have been planned in a very exclusive manner - to ensure that the cat does not slip out of the bag and Osama doesn't do a Houdini trick again.
And as the whole of Asia slept on a quiet Sunday night, at approximately at 1 AM Pakistan time, the American forces started their operations. Around three helicopters were seen hovering around the sleepy town of Abbottabad. Out of them descended the American Navy Seals on the most important mission of their life - to kill Osama Bin Laden.
 |
| Abbottabad Compound that housed Osama |
However, their luck had run out. In a operation that lasted more than 40 minutes, the Americans killed Osama Bin Laden and his son and a couple of aides. They also captured his wife - presumed to be the youngest out of his many ones. And they secured his dead body and flew out of the town.
This entire operation was monitored and handled from the CIA headquarters at Langley, Virginia. There is also a huge possibility that President Barack Obama was in the loop in those final moments.
Well, these pictures confirm the fact. Almost the entire US administration, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton et all, watched and controlled the operation from a White House control room.
 |
| White House Control Room For Osama Operation |
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| Barack Obama After The Osama Operation In The White House Control Room |
It would surprise you that this entire operation was played out live on Twitter - courtesy this man from Abbottabad. He didn't know what was going on in his sleepy town. Yet he twitted all of it for the world to read it in astonishment.
The world was unaware of the mammoth operation that was executed to kill Osama. And if US officials are to be believed, even Pakistan was unaware of the operation to get the most wanted terrorist.
However, this seems extremely unlikely - given the fact that the town of Abbottabad is just 50 kms away from the capital, Islamabad. Just a few kms away is a Pakistan military academy. All of this makes the US denial look more of a tactic to save Pakistan from an internal backlash.
And at approximately 9 AM IST, Barack Obama announced to the world that they had triumphed in killing Osama Bin Laden.
~~
Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.
Read Obama's complete speech here.
~~
 |
| Barack Obama Announces Death Of Osama Bin Laden |
Most importantly, Obama said that the USA was not in war against Islam. And in line with their religious faith, the Americans ensured that Osama was buried at sea within 24 hours of his death. This was done considering the fact that it would be difficult for a find a country to accept his remains for burial.
 |
| US Military Personnel in Kandahar Afghanistan Watching Obama's Address - Courtesy BBC |
There are a few situations which are yet to shape up. How will the war against terror in Afghanistan go on in the next few months? How will Al-Qaeda react to the news? How will supporters of Bin Laden react to his death? Will the killing of Bin Laden be a political trump card in Obama's re-election campaign?
Well, we don't have the answers yet. It will take some time for the news to trickle out of the corridors of power onto the common man.
While America and the world can sleep with a bit of comfort tonight, we can only hope and pray that Al-Qaeda does not unleash further retaliatory terror attacks.
However, today, we can only salute the brave men who took up a difficult task to set the world on a path of lasting peace.
Osama Bin Laden Dead
Reviewed by Vyankatesh
on
Monday, May 02, 2011
Rating:
Reviewed by Vyankatesh
on
Monday, May 02, 2011
Rating:
Wow! that was a lot of information. Well researched. Celebrations for the Americans and finally a closure.
ReplyDeleteAgreed UB. The way the Americans pursued him relentlessly was amazing.
ReplyDelete