Pictured are:
1. Vice President Biden
2. President Obama
3. Air Force Brigadier General Marshall Webb, Assistant Commanding General, Joint Special Operations Command
4. Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough
5. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
6. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
7. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
8. National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon
9. Chief of Staff William Daley
10. Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser to Vice President Biden
11. Audrey Tomason, Director for Counterterrorism
12. John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
13. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper
UP-FRONT PHOTO NUGGETS!!
Obama's Osama Bin Laden Mission Captured In Historic Situation Room Pictures (PHOTOS) from the White House via Huffington Post
"The White House has released behind-the-scenes photos of the Situation Room during tense discussions of the mission against Osama bin Laden. The mission, which resulted in bin Laden's death, was announced Sunday evening."
'Minutes Passed Like Days' As WH Watched Osama Bin Laden Operation Unfold from Talking Points Memo
"The President and his national security team spent Sunday afternoon and evening huddling in the West Wing of the White House filled with anxiety while they followed in real time the covert operations of an elite team of Navy Seals penetrating Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan and killing him with shots to the head."
Behind the Hunt for Bin Laden from the New York Times
"For years, the agonizing search for Osama bin Laden kept coming up empty. Then last July, Pakistanis working for the Central Intelligence Agency drove up behind a white Suzuki navigating the bustling streets near Peshawar, Pakistan, and wrote down the car’s license plate."
Day 2: Breaking News About Osama bin Laden's Death by The Daily Beast
"Was Pakistan incompetent or lying to the U.S.? What exactly led intelligence officers to the compound where Osama bin Laden was slain? One the second day after the Qaeda leader's death, the world still had some big questions."
Bin Laden Death Marks Turn in U.S. History (Jonathan Alter) from Bloomberg News Service
"We won’t know for years the consequences of the killing of bin Laden for U.S. foreign policy; they might be transitory. But this feels like a turning point, if not for the world then at least for our sense of ourselves."
Obama's Targeted Warfare Wins a Round (Tara McKelvey) from the Daily Beast
"The killing of Osama bin Laden represents a triumph for President Obama’s embrace of targeted military strikes, including drone attacks and covert operations. Tara McKelvey on the dangers—and brilliance—of relying on Special Ops."
How the U.S. Found and Finished Bin Laden (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"The assault on Osama bin Laden — as quick and ruthless an operation as you would see in any spy movie — shows that the CIA and the military’s super-secret Joint Special Operations Command have combined to create what amounts to a highly effective killing machine."
The Secret Team That Killed bin Laden (Marc Ambinder) from National Journal
"After bursts of fire over 40 minutes, 22 people were killed or captured. One of the dead was Osama bin Laden, done in by a double tap -- boom, boom -- to the left side of his face. His body was aboard the choppers that made the trip back. One had experienced mechanical failure and was destroyed by U.S. forces, military and White House officials tell National Journal."
How Bin Laden Was Tracked to His Luxury Home from Der Spiegel [from Germany in English]
"Osama bin Laden was hiding not in a remote mountain cave but in the comfort of a luxury compound in Abbottabad, one of Pakistan's most beautiful cities, some 60 kilometers north of the capital Islamabad. Details of the US mission that killed him are now emerging."
Step by Step: How the U.S. Killed bin Laden (Aamer Madhani and Yochi J. Dreazen) from the National Journal
"Broken helicopters, an affluent compound, a president's approval--this is the story of how bin Laden was killed."
Bin Laden Death Gives US More Options (Daniel Dombey) from the Financial Times [of the UK]
"At the very least the success in killing bin Laden will give Mr Obama more room to manoeuvre over a war some parts of his own administration have signalled doubts about. It also highlights the role of special forces, which some officials see as more effective in dealing with terrorism than is a broad based war effort, as well as the importance of Pakistan as opposed to Afghanistan."
The Post-Bin Laden World (Roger Cohen) from the New York Times
"Osama Bin Laden is dead — and so is an old Middle East. That they died together is fortuitous and apt. Bin Laden lived to propel history backward to the reestablishment of a Muslim caliphate. He died a marginal figure to the transformation fast-forwarding the Arab world toward pluralism and self-expression."
A Transformed Mideast Receives Death News (Margaret Coker) from the Wall Street Journal
"News of Osama bin Laden's death reached a Middle East that has been vastly transformed in recent months by popular nonviolent uprisings that threaten the type of long-entrenched autocratic leaders who helped first inspire his terrorist organization."
Bin Laden's Death: Beginning of the End of the War on Terror (Michael Cohen) from World Politics Review
"While the death of Osama bin Laden represents the long overdue demise of one man, its impact on the long-term trajectory of American foreign policy is likely to be more profound: Along with bin Laden, so too dies the "global war on terrorism.""
One can only hope.
Bin Laden's Death Brings Calls for Afghan Pullout from the Wall Street Journal
"The death of Osama bin Laden is reinforcing calls for a quicker pullout of American troops from Afghanistan and strengthening pressure to end America's longest war by finding a political settlement with the resilient Taliban insurgency."
Details and Notes on the Death of Osama bin Laden (Steve Coll) from the New Yorker
"No doubt there will be time to reflect more deeply about the news announced by President Obama last night. For now, I thought it might be useful to annotate some of the initial headlines. On where he was found: ..."
With bin Laden's Death, a Triumph for Obama: The CIA, JSOC, and Lesser-known Warriors also in Spotlight (Marc Ambinder) from the National Journal
"The death of Osama bin Laden is a transcendent moment for the country and a pivotal one for President Obama. "
Obama, Post-Osama (Michael Tomasky) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"In the present context, I couldn't help but think: for those families, for all the military people in that room, for all the US military people in this country and around the world, Obama has a degree of credibility now that he'd lacked before. He's not a military man, not steeped in military culture. That's all still true. But now it's basically canceled out. He got bin Laden. Period stop. An utterly un-rebuttable statement of strength. And I think we will see as more details come out, indeed as we have already seen, that a big part of this operation's success had to do with Obama himself."
Bin Laden Killing Erases Democrats' Wimp Factor (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"The killing of Osama bin Laden, and Obama’s decision to strike quickly and unilaterally, erase the enduring stereotype of Democrats as weak politicians who won’t use force, and don’t get along with the military, writes Peter Beinart."
Personally, I have NEVER bought into the "Obama as whimp" meme -- he strikes me as a classic example of someone who takes calculated risks.
Mission Accomplished (John Dickerson) from Slate
"How Obama's focused, hands-on pursuit of Osama Bin Laden paid off."
Commander-in-Chief Keeps Cool Head from the Financial Times [of the UK]
"“Who do you want answering the phone?” the ad concluded in a not-so-subtle jab at Mr Obama’s inexperience on national security issues. Since entering the White House, Mr Obama has seen his share of crises, from turmoil on Wall Street to the recession, and upheaval in the Middle East to war in Libya. But none is likely to have a more profound impact on his standing with American voters than his decision as commander-in-chief to authorise a covert operation to bring Osama bin Laden to justice."
Obama's Incredible Poker Face (Lloyd Grove) from the Daily Beast
"The president roasted Donald Trump in Washington, toured tornado devastation in Alabama, and gave a commencement speech in Miami—while directing the secret mission to kill Osama bin Laden. Lloyd Grove on Obama’s uncanny ability to compartmentalize."
World Cheers bin Laden's Death as Victory from Salon
"The death of Osama bin Laden was celebrated around the world as a victory for justice, but many people cautioned that it would not end terrorist attacks or ease suffering of those who lost loved ones in bombings by al-Qaida-linked militants."
Obama and Osama (David Remnick) from the New Yorker
"What the Al Qaeda leader’s death means for America and the President."
Reflections on the Death of bin Laden (Max Boot) from Commentary Magazine
"His death is an important symbolic blow against the Islamist terrorist network but not a fatal one; at most it might lead to the decline of Al Qaeda and the rise of other, competing organizations. Some other thoughts on the Big News:"
From one of the leading neo-con war cheer-leaders of the last ten years.
Declare Victory, Wind Down the War, and Turn to Real Interests (Steve LeVine) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The question now is whether there is more that the United States can accomplish in Afghanistan or Pakistan. If the answer is yes, what is that more? And if it is no, is it time to wind down?"
A Sure Sign Karzai is in Trouble (Gary Baumgarten) from Salon
"Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the announced timetable for U.S. withdrawal is, in essence,strengthening the Taliban. A sure sign that he is worrying about the mortality of his government. His words translate into this:"
The Anger from Pakistan (Eliza Griswold) from the Daily Beast
"As the world reels from the death of Osama bin Laden, the mood in Karachi is changing from indifference to anger at the continuing American presence there. Eliza Griswold reports from Karachi."
How to Make More Egypts — and Fewer Iraqs (Romesh Ratnesar) from Time Magazine
"Until now, the foreign-policy debate in the U.S. has been about whether to push for the removal of non-democratic regimes in the Middle East. But the bigger test is how to avoid chaos once they are gone. Places like Libya and Syria may look less like Egypt does today than Iraq did after Saddam Hussein: poor countries with weak central governments, vulnerable to terrorism, instability and outbursts of sectarian score-settling. So how can the world prevent another Iraq — and help make more Egypts?"
Utilizing Egypt (Paul Pillar) from the National Interest
"As Egypt's transition toward a more democratic polity continues—and it is very much in the U.S. interest that it does—the principal U.S. priority should be not to do anything to screw up that process or to get the United States on the wrong side of it.
Can We Stop Questioning Obama’s Legitimacy Now? (David Frum) from the FrumForum
"So much to say about the long-awaited visiting of justice upon Osama bin Laden. But there’s one effect on US domestic politics that deserves a thought: Here’s hoping that we have at last seen the end of this ugly insinuation that there is something less than fully American about the black president with the exotic name."
At some point, you'd like to give conservative David Frum permission to leave the asylum. The inmates have been getting on his otherwise sane nerves for some time now.
The Chinese Are Coming! (Douglas Paal) from The Diplomat
"The hype over China’s military is reminiscent of Cold War fears about Russia. But the US shouldn’t overreact to a new Chinese aircraft carrier."
BRICS Without the Mortar (Kevin Rafferty) from the Japan Times [in English]
"Last month's summit of the BRIC countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China, now renamed BRICS with the addition of South Africa, announced with great fanfare that the group was determined to punch its new muscle on the world economic stage and no longer to be pushed around by the tired old powers. But you have to ask if it was worth the leaders making the long trek to China."
The ONLY thing that unites this group of states is their collective sense that the international order needs to be tweaked to favor each of them individually more than it currently does. They have NO overarching coherent vision. Besides this, their are more fundamental issues that actually divide them than unite them, especially China, India and Russia.
Obama's Trump-Thump: Laughter is the Best Weapon (David Corn) from Mother Jones Magazine
"At the White House Correspondents' dinner, the president proves it's often best to fight a joke with a joke."
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