Courtesy: "Wall Street Journal", 4 May 2011
Two days after the raid on a compound in Pakistan, new facts filled in the picture of the critical moments in which bin Laden was killed. The new details corrected erroneous information provided a day earlier by a senior administration official, who said bin Laden was armed.
The White House worked to provide an accurate timeline of the events, and corrected information about the fate of one of bin Laden's wives. When Navy Seals entered the room in the three-story building in Abbottabad where bin Laden was hiding, his wife rushed the assault team.
She was shot in the leg but not killed, contrary to the account given on Monday. Instead, a different woman was killed in the crossfire of a firefight on the building's ground floor.
The raid was conducted by a team of about two dozen Special Operations forces. There were 22 residents in the three-story compound, including women and children. At the time of the raid, there were four military-age men on the property: bin Laden and his adult son, as well as two allies who served as couriers.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that bin Laden resisted the assault team. "It was a highly volatile firefight," Mr. Carney said, but provided no other details. He said the decision to kill bin Laden was made on the ground, by members of the assault team.
He added that although bin Laden was unarmed, U.S. forces were "met with a great deal of resistance" in confronting him, and that others in the compound were firing, precluding them from trying to capture him alive.
The legal justifications for shooting bin laden dead come partly from the rules under which the Seals were operating. They were under the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency, which operates under fewer restrictions than the military, which has rules governing when troops can use deadly force. Even under the military's rules, the killing was legally justified as long as bin Laden wasn't attempting to surrender.
Scott Silliman, an expert on national security law at Duke Law School, said there was no question the shooting was legally justified.
"Under any operable rules of engagement, the issue does not raise itself simply because he was resisting or there was the perception they were being put in danger," he said.
Before the raid, the U.S. gamed out how much time they would have to get in and out of Pakistan before Pakistani forces could respond, said a senior government official.
The U.S. knew, for example, that Pakistan's state of alert was lower in the north, where the Seals crossed the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in helicopters. The lower alert meant it would take longer for Pakistan to scramble jets to respond to the incursion. Unlike the north, Pakistan's state of alert is high in the south and east because of the perceived threat from India. If the raid had taken place there, Pakistan's response time might have been much faster.
The nearly 40-minute raid began with the assault force splitting into two teams. One entered the first floor of the bin Laden house, and another cleared a separate, smaller building.
On the first floor of the bin Laden home were two adult men, whom the White House identified as al Qaeda couriers. They were killed along with the woman who was hit in the crossfire. The Seal team worked its way up to the second and third floor, where bin Laden and his family lived.
Even before bin Laden was killed, the team began searching for computer drives and other material from the complex. The surviving residents, all women and children, were ushered to a corner of the complex. Meanwhile, the U.S. team blew up a helicopter that was disabled during landing.
The Pakistani authorities now have the woman and the children, who are family members of bin Laden and his couriers, a senior administration official said.
—Adam Entous contributed to this article.
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White House Fixes Record, Says Target Wasn't Armed
By JULIAN E. BARNES And LAURA MECKLER
WASHINGTON—Osama bin Laden died in a confrontation in his house during which he resisted U.S. forces but wasn't armed, White House officials said Tuesday.Two days after the raid on a compound in Pakistan, new facts filled in the picture of the critical moments in which bin Laden was killed. The new details corrected erroneous information provided a day earlier by a senior administration official, who said bin Laden was armed.
The White House worked to provide an accurate timeline of the events, and corrected information about the fate of one of bin Laden's wives. When Navy Seals entered the room in the three-story building in Abbottabad where bin Laden was hiding, his wife rushed the assault team.
She was shot in the leg but not killed, contrary to the account given on Monday. Instead, a different woman was killed in the crossfire of a firefight on the building's ground floor.
The raid was conducted by a team of about two dozen Special Operations forces. There were 22 residents in the three-story compound, including women and children. At the time of the raid, there were four military-age men on the property: bin Laden and his adult son, as well as two allies who served as couriers.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that bin Laden resisted the assault team. "It was a highly volatile firefight," Mr. Carney said, but provided no other details. He said the decision to kill bin Laden was made on the ground, by members of the assault team.
He added that although bin Laden was unarmed, U.S. forces were "met with a great deal of resistance" in confronting him, and that others in the compound were firing, precluding them from trying to capture him alive.
The legal justifications for shooting bin laden dead come partly from the rules under which the Seals were operating. They were under the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency, which operates under fewer restrictions than the military, which has rules governing when troops can use deadly force. Even under the military's rules, the killing was legally justified as long as bin Laden wasn't attempting to surrender.
Scott Silliman, an expert on national security law at Duke Law School, said there was no question the shooting was legally justified.
"Under any operable rules of engagement, the issue does not raise itself simply because he was resisting or there was the perception they were being put in danger," he said.
Before the raid, the U.S. gamed out how much time they would have to get in and out of Pakistan before Pakistani forces could respond, said a senior government official.
The U.S. knew, for example, that Pakistan's state of alert was lower in the north, where the Seals crossed the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in helicopters. The lower alert meant it would take longer for Pakistan to scramble jets to respond to the incursion. Unlike the north, Pakistan's state of alert is high in the south and east because of the perceived threat from India. If the raid had taken place there, Pakistan's response time might have been much faster.
The nearly 40-minute raid began with the assault force splitting into two teams. One entered the first floor of the bin Laden house, and another cleared a separate, smaller building.
On the first floor of the bin Laden home were two adult men, whom the White House identified as al Qaeda couriers. They were killed along with the woman who was hit in the crossfire. The Seal team worked its way up to the second and third floor, where bin Laden and his family lived.
Even before bin Laden was killed, the team began searching for computer drives and other material from the complex. The surviving residents, all women and children, were ushered to a corner of the complex. Meanwhile, the U.S. team blew up a helicopter that was disabled during landing.
The Pakistani authorities now have the woman and the children, who are family members of bin Laden and his couriers, a senior administration official said.
—Adam Entous contributed to this article.
....................
Note: The viewpoint expressed in this article is solely that of the writer / news outlet. "FATA Awareness Initiative" Team may not agree with the opinion presented.
....................
We Hope You find the info useful. Keep visiting this blog and remember to leave your feedback / comments / suggestions / requests / corrections.
With Regards,
"FATA Awareness Initiative" Team.
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