WASHINGTON —
After nearly a decade of anger and fear, America rejoiced Monday at the demise of Osama bin Laden, the terror mastermind behind the horrific 9/11 attacks.
Navy SEALs who killed the world’s most-wanted terrorist seized a trove of al-Qaida documents to pore over, and President Barack Obama laid plans to visit New York’s ground zero.
Bin Laden, killed in an intense firefight in a daring raid at his fortified hideout in Pakistan, was hunted down based on information first gleaned years ago from detainees at secret CIA prison sites in Eastern Europe, officials disclosed.
His body was quickly taken away for burial at sea, but not before a DNA match was done to prove his identity. A U.S. official said there also were photos showing bin Laden with the fatal wound above his left eye, a gunshot that tore away part of his skull. The photos were not immediately released.
“The world is safer. It is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden,” Obama declared, hours after U.S. forces killed the al-Qaida leader in the middle-of-the-night raid on his compound in Abbottabad. Obama was expected to visit New York, the site of al-Qaida’s attack on the World Trade Center, and meet with the families of those killed, an administration official said.
The CIA already was poring over confiscated hard drives, DVDs and other documents looking for inside information on al-Qaida, including clues that might lead to his presumed successor, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Bin Laden’s death after a decade on the run unloosed a national wave of euphoria mixed with remembrance for the thousands who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Crowds celebrated throughout the night outside the White House and at ground zero in Lower Manhattan where the Twin Towers once stood. Thousands of students at Penn State University and in other college towns spilled into the streets and set off firecrackers to mark the moment.
Obama reaped accolades from world leaders he’d kept in the dark about the operation as well as plaudits from political opponents at home. Republican and Democratic congressional leaders alike gave him a standing ovation at an evening meeting that was planned before the assault but became a celebration of its success.
“Last night’s news unified our country” much as the terrorist attacks of 2001 did, Republican House Speaker John Boehner said earlier in the day. Obama later appealed for that unity to take root as the U.S. presses the fight against a terrorist network that is still lethal — and vowing vengeance.
The SEALs dropped ropes from helicopters at the compound, killed bin Laden aides and made their way to the main building where U.S. officials say the terror leader was slain in a gunfight. Within 40 minutes the Americans were gone, taking bin Laden’s body to the USS Carl Vinson where he was slipped into the sea.
“For my family and I, it’s good, it’s desirable, it’s right,” said Mike Low of Batesville, Ark., whose daughter Sara was a flight attendant aboard the hijacked plane that was flown into the World Trade Center North Tower. “It certainly brings an ending to a major quest for all of us.”
Halfway around the world, a prominent al-Qaida commentator vowed revenge for bin Laden’s death. “Woe to his enemies. By God, we will avenge the killing of the Sheik of Islam,” he wrote under his online name Assad al-Jihad2. “Those who wish that jihad has ended or weakened, I tell them: Let us wait a little bit.”
U.S. officials conceded the risk of renewed attack. The terrorists “almost certainly will attempt to avenge” bin Laden’s death, CIA Director Leon Panetta wrote in a memo that congratulated the agency for its role in the operation. “Bin Laden is dead. Al-Qaida is not.”
Within a few hours, the Homeland Security Department warned that bin Laden’s death was likely to provide motivation for attacks from “homegrown violent extremists” seeking revenge.”
FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said, “While there are no specific, bin Laden-related threats at this time, every logical and prudent step is being taken to mitigate any developing threats.” There were questions, as well, about Pakistan’s role in bin Laden’s years in hiding. Both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said cooperation from the Pakistani government had helped lead U.S. forces to the compound where he died.
But John Brennan, White House counterterrorism adviser, told reporters it was inconceivable that the terrorist fugitive didn’t have some support in Pakistan, where his hideout had been custom built six years ago in a city with a heavy military presence. “I am not going to speculate about what type of support he might have had on an official basis,” he added.
Others were not as reticent.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Pakistani Army and intelligence agency “have a lot of questions to answer, given the location, the length of time and the apparent fact that this was actually — this facility was actually built for bin Laden, and its closeness to the central location of the Pakistani army.”
By their condemnations, bin Laden’s supporters confirmed his death in what U.S. officials said was an operation years in the making. Even so, officials were weighing the release of at least one photo taken of bin Laden’s body as part of what Brennan called an effort to make sure “nobody has any basis to try and deny” the death.
U.S. officials said the information that ultimately led to bin Laden’s capture originally came from detainees held in secret CIA prison sites in Eastern Europe. There, agency interrogators were told of an alias used by a courier whom bin Laden particularly trusted.
It took four long years to learn he was a Kuwaiti-born man named Sheikh Abu Ahmed, then years more before investigators got a big break in the case, these officials said. Sometime in mid-2010, Ahmed was overheard using a phone by intelligence officials, who then were able to locate his residence — a specially constructed $1 million compound with walls as high as 18 feet topped with barbed wire.
U.S. counterterrorism officials considered bombing the place, an option that was discarded by the White House as too risky, particularly if it turned out bin Laden was not there.
Instead, Obama signed an order on Friday for a team of SEALs to chopper onto the compound under the cover of darkness. In the ensuing 48 hours, the president toured tornado-damaged Alabama and delivered a joke-filled after-dinner speech to the White House Correspondents’ Association. When the operation got under way, though, he slid into his chair in the Situation Room in the White House, where Brennan said the president and his aides “were able to monitor in a real-time basis the progress of the operation” from beginning to end.
Brennan strongly suggested a live video feed was available — SEALs customarily have video cameras attached to their helmets — and the White House released a photo showing the commander in chief, Vice President Joe Biden and top aides staring intently at something outside the picture. The White House did not say what they were looking at.
According to officials who declined to be identified by name, bin Laden was shot in the head during a firefight, and his body was identified to near 100 percent certainty through DNA testing. Photo analysis by the CIA, confirmation by a woman believed to be one of bin Laden’s wives, who was also at the compound, and matching physical features added confirmation, they said.
In addition to bin Laden, one of his sons, Khalid, was killed in the raid, Brennan said. Bin Laden’s wife was shot in the calf but survived, a U.S. official said.
Top Story 2
UPDATE: Bin Laden’s death brings joy, reflection
- Top Story 2
-
-
Powerball jackpot closing in on another record
DES MOINES, Iowa — Less than 10 months after three tickets split a world-record lottery prize, the jackpot for Saturday's Powerball drawing was nearing historic territory once again.
-
A battle of secret tactics
The embarrassing arrest of a suspected CIA officer in Moscow is the latest reminder that, even after the Cold War, the U.S. and Russia are engaged in an espionage battle with secret tactics, spying devices and training that sometimes isn't enough to avoid being caught.
-
UPDATE: Fire damages buildings in downtown Greencastle
GREENCASTLE, Ind. — Fire badly damaged several buildings today near the courthouse square in Greencastle, with flames shooting through the roofs as firefighters from several communities were called in to the central Indiana city to help.
-
Terre Haute to host MVC baseball championship in 2014
After 32 years, Terre Haute will once again host the Missouri Valley Conference baseball championship tournament next season.
-
Former Peabody mine to be industrial mega site
A new industrial mega site is ready for development in southwestern Vigo County.
-
Records: Cleveland suspect faced prior complaints
A man charged with holding three women captive for about a decade had been accused of threatening his neighbors, attacking his common-law wife and committing violations during his career as a school bus driver, according to records released Monday.
-
What are you doing this weekend?
Here are some suggestions from the Tribune-Star's 'BASH section.
-
Block where women found a friendly, careful place
The block where horror happened has many faces. On one end, magnificent stained-glass windows rise two stories up a handsome brick church. At the other end, truck bays open into a bleak warehouse. In between are about 20 houses, some tidy, some with boards or broken glass instead of windows. Back yards melt into a block-long cemetery filled with long grass and crooked tombstones.
-
Details emerge in Cleveland captivity case
In the years after his friend's daughter vanished while walking home from school, Ariel Castro handed out fliers with the 14-year-old's photo and performed music at a fundraiser held in her honor.
-
Gov. Otis Bowen dies at 95
Otis R. Bowen, who overhauled Indiana’s tax system as governor before helping oversee the federal response to the burgeoning AIDS epidemic during President Ronald Reagan’s second term, has died. He was 95.
-
George Jones, 81, dies today in Nashville
Nashville, Tenn. – Country Music Hall of Famer, Grand Ole Opry member, and Kennedy Center Honoree George Glenn Jones died today, April 26, 2013, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. He was hospitalized April 18 with fever and irregular blood pressure.
-
Cross-country walker finds new enlightenment on purposeful journey
With each mile, each new town, Dave Brown enlightens others and learns something himself. The 61-year-old Philadelphian left Atlantic City, N.J., on Feb. 28 on a walk across America along historic U.S. 40. His goal is to raise awareness of ovarian cancer,
-
VIDEO: 1 Boston bombing suspect dead; 1 on the run
A massive manhunt is under way in a Boston-area neighborhood for one of two suspects in Monday's Boston Marathon bombings. A second suspect is dead after a high-speed chase and shootout with police.
-
UPDATE: Frantic search ongoing after deadly Texas blast
WEST, Texas — Rescue workers are searching the smoldering ruins of a fertilizer plant today for survivors of a monstrous explosion that leveled homes and businesses in every direction across the Texas prairie. As many as 15 people were feared dead and more than 160 others injured.
-
Indiana officials relay phone number for family contacts
Hoosiers who are having trouble contacting family members in Boston to check on their safety following bomb blasts Monday afternoon at the Boston Marathon can call the following number to check on them: 617-635-4500.
-
Terre Haute's J.T. Corenflos named ACM Guitarist of the Year
The resume speaks for itself.
J.T. Corenflos’ guitar virtuosity has put the sparkle in hit songs and albums by legendary singers, from Alan Jackson to Bob Seger, Brooks and Dunn, Don Henley and George Jones, as well as country music chart-toppers such as Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and Rascal Flatts. -
Coroner: Heart attack preceded Andersons’ car crash
A heart attack has been ruled the cause of death for Brent Anderson, 72, of Terre Haute, who was pronounced dead at the scene of a single-car accident in Putnam County on Sunday.
-
U.S. Postal Service to cut Saturday mail to trim costs
WASHINGTON — Apparently trying an end-run around an unaccommodating Congress, the financially struggling U.S. Postal Service says it will stop delivering mail on Saturdays but continue to disburse packages six days a week.
-
Texas official: 3 wounded in college shooting
A shooting on a Texas community college campus wounded three people today and sent students fleeing for safety as officials placed the campus on lockdown, officials said.
-
Harbaugh brothers — Jim and John — to face off in Super Bowl
Get ready for the Brother Bowl.
-
‘The Wabash’ varies in style, pace, heritage and feeling
In 13 cuts, an album simply titled “The Wabash” varies in style, pace, heritage and feeling as much as does the river itself.
-
New ISU grid coach has eyes on national championships
Indiana State’s football program broke the shackles of losing under former coach Trent Miles.
-
BREAKING: ISU taps Sanford as gridiron coach
Indiana State University will announce today that Utah State assistant coach Mike Sanford will be the Sycamores¹ next head football coach.
-
Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’ leads Golden Globes with 7 nominations
Steven Spielberg’s Civil War epic “Lincoln” led the Golden Globes today with seven nominations, among them best drama, best director for Spielberg and acting honors for Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones.
-
Travel Channel to film Santa Claus, Indiana
The Travel Channel will film the famous town of Santa Claus, Indiana, during the Santa Claus Christmas Celebration this month, for a new special called “Christmas Showdown.”
-
For 30 years, Parke County couple have approached art form with passion, love
-
Neglect case carries possible 48-year prison sentence
Six criminal counts of child neglect and five counts of criminal confinement have been filed against a Terre Haute couple accused of “cruelly” tying their children to beds with ropes and duct tape, and with denying their children food, water and access to a bathroom.
-
Starbase Indy to honor astronaut Neil Armstrong with special NASA exhibit
View a real moon rock during the Tribute to Neil Armstrong NASA Exhibit at Starbase Indy, a Midwest science fiction convention, during Thanksgiving weekend, Friday through Sunday.
-
Christmas tree contest raises money for needy
Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree. How will Vigo County students decorate thee?
The public can find out – and vote for their favorites – when trees from 24 schools are displayed in the Honey Creek Mall from Friday, Nov. 23, through Sunday, Nov. 25. -
Obama wins re-election
President Barack Obama won re-election Tuesday night despite a fierce challenge from Republican Mitt Romney as well as the weak economy and high unemployment that encumbered his first term and crimped the middle class dreams of millions.
- More Top Story 2 Headlines
-




