Final Update: Thanks everyone who read and helped out. I've got finals to study for, and they pay pundits and experts to reflect on these moments better than I could right now. Thanks all, and be sure to follow the Youth Kos 2.0 blog.
Feel free to skip right past this italicized text... this is what we know:
Following a tip in August, President Obama has been reviewing intelligence surrounding the location of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Last week, he ordered the attack. A select special forces unit engaged in a firefight with his security, that involved minimal civilian casualties and no American deaths. Following the firefight, bin Laden was shot, and his body taken into American captivity.
Hey everyone,
So I just saw on Twitter that the President will be making an address to the nation from the East Room of the White House at 10:30 PM EST tonight. Needless to say, I don't think it is every day that the President decided to hold an unexpected address on major networks with no prior warning late Sunday night - if there is a precedent for this, I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
Either way, in the event that this gets interesting, I'm going to be updating this post with everything I can find online. If you know anything, PLEASE let me know in the comments and I'll update the post.
Additionally, I apologize for how ugly the formatting on this post is - in a better world, I could automatically make my post beautiful as I go. Alas, we're stuck with this.
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As much of the text of the speech I can get will go here:
"Tonight I can report to the American people and the World that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden"
(Text about 9/11 that I can't hope to do justice to in this quick transcription)
"Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts. On 9/11 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors our hand, and the wounded, our blood"
"We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation, and bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice"
Talks about how al-Qaeda has worked in Pakistan
"I directed Leon Panetta to make the killing of bin Laden our top priority"
"Last August, I was briefed on a possible lead about bin Laden"
"Finally, last week, I determined we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation"
"Today the US launched an operation in Abadabad, Pakistan, no American were harmed, took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed bin Laden, and took his body... The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement in our effort to defeat al-Qaeda"
"The US is not, and never will be, at war with Islam... bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, he was a mass-murderer of Muslims"
"It is important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan led to his capture"
"The American people did not choose this fight, it came to our shores and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens... we know well the costs of war... yet, as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idlely by when our people are being killed... on nights like this one, we can say to the families of the vicitims of al-Qaeda's terror, 'justice has been done'"
"Tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed... the cause of securing our country is not complete, but tonight we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to"
"Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are - one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"
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Birth Certificate Update: - So, now I guess we know why the administration thought it was fine to put the birth certificate info out there this week. When I watched the video from last night, I was surprised that Obama really seemed to have his swagger back. This is the leader I campaigned for.
UPDATE after the speech - it is clear that certain elements of American special forces have been dedicated to this search for just shy of 10 years. It is still unclear how involved Pakistan was, though it does seem that Pakistani intelligence has been involved in some significant way.
UPDATE (maybe not): Well, I was going to say that President Obama is about to take the podium at any moment, but that apparently was also wrong. There is now conflicting reports as to whether he was killed in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
slightly more serious UPDATE:: CNN reporting that bin Laden was killed in a mansion in/around Islamabad - that's not being reported many other places though yet - hopefully you all can find me some more confirmation in the comments.
Less consequential update: Apparently, there is a large gathering outside of the White House right now chanting USA, USA, USA - would love to see video/photos, if anyone finds them via Twitter. NBC says it's also happening on 6th Avenue. Great moment.
UPDATE 11:17 PM - Richard Engel was just on NBC talking about how important it will be for their to be substantial proof - there are some rumblings that this has been developing for a while, but they really want to make sure that this is him, no doubts, with enough proof to convince those in the Middle East who trust our government the least. Will be interesting to see how Obama lays out this argument when he eventually takes the stage.
UPDATE: - CBS reporting the Osama bin Laden was shot in the head. Will be interesting to see if we will ever know the identity of the person who was on the other end of that bullet.
Interesting thing to note: It was just last week that President Obama announced Panetta was moving to Defence and Petreaus would head up the CIA. It will be interesting to see what role, if any Petraeus has had in the process, once we find out more.
Again, I want to bring this all up to date: Networks are reporting that a decade after 9/11, Osama bin Laden has been killed by a US military action, and the United States now has possession of his body. The President has been quickly preparing remarks and is still set to address the nation at any moment.
UPDATE: It is now clear that the US has possession of Osama bin Laden's body.
He has been wanted since the 1993 attack, was the most wanted man in the world, and the past two administrations have made his capture one of the chief targets of their action.
A House intelligence aide has confirmed that Osama bin Laden is dead, and the US has the body
UPDATE: 10:43 PM EST - NY TIMES reports that Osama bin Laden has been killed
Apparently the incident was initiated by American forces, in particular CIA, there were grave consequences - again, this can be language that could be interpreted to either be horrific for CIA agents and their families, or incredible news in world security. Thanks to everyone who is providing support in the comments.
NBC NEWS REPORTS THAT THERE WILL BE MAJOR NEWS ABOUT OSAMA BIN LADEN, THE #1 MOST WANTED TERRORIST IN THE UNITED STATES - NO NOTE THUS FAR ON THE NATURE, OTHER THAN THAT IT IS CIA RELATED, AND POTENTIALLY RELATED TO NORTHERN PAKISTAN - CONFLICTING REPORTS ON WHETHER THIS WILL BE POSTITIVE OR NEGATIVE NEWS
LATEST UPDATE 10:37 - The President will be speaking about a very grave and serious CIA operation overseas (MSNBC)
If these things are all true, and I have no reason to believe they aren't, I just wanted to offer my thoughts, jumbled they might be in this moment:
From the time I was in 4th grade, Osama bin Laden has been the most frightening name in the world. I will never forget the images I saw on my family's television that day - an act so horrific that even though my mind could not wrap itself around the immensity of what was happening, I still felt uncomfortable aware of the severity of the moment. The great military challenge of my generation - the one some of my high school classmates entered the military to seek out - has been to bring justice for the victims of his attacks both at home and across the globe.
That response hasn't been perfect - everyone knows that. But it appears tonight that we have finally brought one thug's reign of terror to an end. There are still many things in the world to be afraid of, many problems to solve. It is especially important that we solve the systemic issues that have radicalized a group of people to carry out the attacks al-Qaeda has accomplished. But this is a critical juncture - a moment that you and I will not soon forget. No longer can Osama bin Laden's name hold fear over the heads of the world's population.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula will still operate, there will still be future challenges. But Osama bin Laden made a serious bet back in 2001. He thought he could break America. He was wrong. Challenges continue, but finally, we can put this chapter in American history to rest.
UPDATE 10:36 PM - MSNBC reporter is about to repeat information from the DOJ... and then he stops! Killin' me over here.
UPDATE 10:34 PM - I'm just going to start liveblogging text as soon as he is on
LATEST UPDATE 10:30 PM - Here we go folks, I'm just going to keep updating as much information I can as he speaks, he should be on any second now - CNN saying it is not related to Libya
UPDATE 10:27 PM - Lots of news reporters are saying the only time there is secrecy like this is when the President made his surprise trip out to Afghanistan - but they all seem to not be able to remember a circumstance like this any time in the past several years. Really amazing to see that absolutely no one has an idea what is happening - goes to show in the ear of Twitter, sometimes the government still knows the most about what is happening around the world. Let's just hope it is good news.
UPDATE 10:24 PM - CNN, MSNBC, and FOX all seem to be reporting some strand of "This is National Security related". Thanks to everyone in the comments for help, we'll keep this going
UPDATE 10:19 PM - MSNBC reporting that the press corp had been told earlier in the day that there wouldn't be anything else out of the Oval Office to cover today, so whatever this is about is likely to be something that has transpired in the past few hours. Still trying to get as much information as possible, but there's strong suspicions that this has something to do with one of our three military engagements overseas in Libya, Afghanistan, or Iraq... or some other place - who knows.
UPDATE 10:17 PM - On the official end of the spectrum, we have this from the twitter account of White House Communications Director (pfeiffer44)
pfeiffer44
@ReasonVsFear Should be on all the networks
12 minutes ago
pfeiffer44
POTUS to address the nation tonight at 10:30 PM Eastern Time
That isn't a hell of a lot to go on, but I think it gives enough clues that it's going to be something of substance.