In December 2004, I worked with Peter Bergen and Karen Greenberg in organizing a major conference in the US Senate titled “Al Qaeda 2.0“. Bergen, probably the world’s most famous al Qaeda and bin Laden tracker, had arranged one of the first major interviews by a Western journalist of bin Laden in 1997.
Obama chief counterterrorism adviser John Brennan laid out the key detail that contrary to some reports (including here at TWN), Pakistan was not informed about the raid before it took place. According to the Washington Post, Brennan also said it was “inconceivable that bin Laden did not have a support system” in Pakistan.
Former Palestine Prime Minister and Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh has made a wrong-headed and in my view idiotic statement condemning the US for killing Osama bin Laden. According to Reuters, Haniyeh said: We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood.
President Barack Obama just spoke to the nation and world and reported on his role in making the decision to act on intelligence that Osama bin Laden had been found in Pakistan. He took action. US intelligence operatives moved on bin Laden a week ago. Obama said, “Justice has been done”.
According to sources in the US intelligence community, bin Laden was near/in Islamabad, Pakistan. He was with family in a compound. Leads from Pakistan ISI — that’s right — ISI, led US forces and intel to the site.*** The US used own sources to confirm and “received clearance to strike from Pakistan.
Military sources have told me that Osama bin Laden was killed about one week ago in a drone strike. This seems to be something some are raising doubts about — but both stories are out.
After the relentless pounding of Tora Bora caves and tunnels and hiding space by a massive American assault, US military personnel went to body after body punching a special device into the various cadavers found to do field-based testing of the DNA of the remains of those found against the held and known DNA of…
Tonight I am attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner as the guest of Talking Points Memo and Joshua Micah Marshall.
Steve Clemons hosted Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Michael Corbin on Wednesday as part of a regular Talking Points Memo Policy Roundtable series at the New America Foundation for a fascinating off-the-record roundtable on Iraq and the future of the Middle East.
Behind the scenes, Fatah and Hamas have been working and talking for years about terms of reconciliation.
