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From Los Angeles Times

U.S. kills Osama bin Laden

Al Qaeda leader dies in a firefight near Pakistan capital. 'Justice has been done,' President Obama says.

by Bob Drogin, Ken Dilanian and David S. Cloud, Los Angeles Times

May 2, 2011

Reporting from Washington

A U.S. special forces team killed Osama bin Laden at a compound inside Pakistan and recovered his body, bringing a close to the world's highest-profile manhunt after a decade-long search, President Obama announced to the world Sunday night.

"Justice has been done," the president said solemnly in a hastily arranged late-night televised address from the East Room of the White House.

Bin Laden, he said, was "a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children," and his death was "the most significant achievement to date" in the U.S. war against the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

As described by the president and top administration officials who briefed reporters after the president's speech, the successful effort to track down Bin Laden centered on a trusted courier for Al Qaeda, a man whom officials described as a protege of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the operational mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.

U.S. intelligence officials had identified the courier four years ago, based on information from detainees in U.S. custody who said he was one of the few Al Qaeda couriers trusted by Bin Laden, a senior official said. Two years ago, they succeeded in identifying areas in Pakistan in which the courier operated. In August, they succeeded in finding the man's residence, a walled compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

The compound had drawn the CIA's interest because it was far larger than residences around it, had walls 12 to 18 feet high that were topped with barbed wire and had few windows in its three-story building. The compound was valued at $1 million but had no telephone or Internet, and all trash was burned on the premises.

To the CIA, the compound appeared custom-built to hide someone of major significance. After years of speculation that the world's most-wanted man was hiding in the caves and rugged redoubts of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, officials now came to believe that he was hiding there, less than 40 miles north of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

Obama was briefed on the intelligence in August, but "it took many months to run this thread to ground," the president said Sunday.

"The bottom line of our collection and our analysis was that we had high confidence that the compound harbored a high-value terrorist target … and strong probability the terrorist who was hiding there was Osama bin Laden," the senior official said.

By early Friday morning, the official said, the evidence had become sufficiently certain that Obama, meeting with his top national security advisors in the White House Diplomatic Room, was able to give the go-ahead for a helicopter-borne team of special forces, including Navy SEALS, to attack the compound. It was the fifth formal meeting of his National Security Council on the progress of the hunt, officials said.

The president then left Washington to fly to Alabama to survey tornado damage. As he did so, his national security advisor, Tom Donilon, prepared the formal orders for the operation. On Saturday, White House officials gave a few key congressional leaders advance word that an unspecified national security development could happen over the weekend.

On Sunday, the special forces launched their raid, which lasted approximately 40 minutes, the senior official said. After what the president described as a firefight, they killed Bin Laden. No Americans were injured in the raid, Obama said, although the senior official said that one of the helicopters used in the operation was damaged and had to be destroyed.

Also killed were the courier, his brother, one of Bin Laden's sons, and a woman who officials said was being used as a shield.

White House officials were told at 3:50 p.m. Eastern time that Bin Laden had been tentatively identified as among the dead. DNA tests confirmed his identity later in the day, U.S. officials said.

Vice President Joe Biden and CIA Director Leon Panetta called members of Congress and leaders around the world earlier Sunday night to break the long-awaited news. Obama, himself, called House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), officials said. Shortly afterward, White House officials began alerting reporters to prepare for a rare, late-night broadcast statement by the president on an unspecified national security topic.

In announcing the news, Obama praised the joint efforts of U.S. and Pakistani intelligence, and appealed to Muslims around the globe to support the U.S. action.

"Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader," he said. "He was a mass murderer of Muslims."

In Islamabad, a Pakistani intelligence official also confirmed Bin Laden's death and said that Pakistani forces were involved in the attack on the compound, an assertion that U.S. officials denied. Pakistan had not been informed of the intelligence in advance, U.S. officials said.

Analysts said Bin Laden's death was likely to accelerate the fracturing of militant groups loosely associated with Al Qaeda, especially in the Middle East, that have taken their inspiration from Bin Laden's call for attacks on the U.S. and its allies for more than a decade.

His killing deprives Al Qaeda of its most charismatic and important leader. It leaves Ayman Zawahiri, an Egyptian physician and Islamist ideologue, as the putative leader of the group, whose ranks already have been badly depleted in recent years as a result of arrests and attacks by the U.S. and allied nations.

It was Bin Laden's fervent call for attacks on the U.S. — which he referred to as the "far enemy" — and Al Qaeda's ability to recruit and train operatives from its sanctuary in Afghanistan that led to some of the world's deadliest terrorist attacks.

As the first word of Bin Laden's death leaked out, a jubilant and fast-growing crowd gathered outside the White House. The throng waved flags, chanted "USA! USA!" and sang "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Elation over his death crossed hardened party lines.

Obama called President George W. Bush, who issued a statement saying that he had "congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission."

"Tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done, " Bush said.

Boehner called the development "great news" and congratulated U.S. forces.

"I also want to commend President Obama and his team, as well as President Bush, for all of their efforts to bring Osama bin Laden to justice," Boehner said.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) also commended "the president and his team" for the achievement. "I am overjoyed that we finally got the world's top terrorist," McCain said. "The world is a better and more just place now that Osama bin Laden is no longer in it."

But there was a sense that the development would accrue to Obama's political benefit in tense dealings with Republicans on other issues.

"It's the mission-accomplished moment that President Bush only fantasized about," said Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.).

Inside the White House, aides said Obama's mood was not celebratory when told of Bin Laden's death, but rather was "sober and serious."

Aides walked through the corridors after the president's announcement with looks of elation and relief. "We're not going to gloat," said one aide who was not authorized to speak publicly. Such was the level of secrecy surrounding the Bin Laden mission that even veteran White House aides who work steps from the Oval Office were caught by surprise.

One aide was wearing a Washington Capitals hockey jersey, having come to the West Wing directly from a playoff game at Washington's Verizon Center. Others who are normally never seen in the West Wing without a jacket and tie wore jeans and sneakers.

Asked what the day was like, one top national security advisor gave a one-word answer: "Excruciating."

The news came months before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which were orchestrated by Al Qaeda. More than 3,000 people were killed

The horrifying attacks set off a chain of events that led the United States into wars in Afghanistan, and then Iraq. As the nation girded for more attacks, America's entire intelligence system was overhauled to counter the threat of terrorist bombs or other attacks at home.

Al Qaeda also was blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 231 people and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen, as well as countless other plots, some successful and some foiled. It has generated local organizations in hot spots from Iraq to Afghanistan.

Bin Laden first gained attention in the 1980s, when he drew on his family's vast fortune, derived from the construction industry, to build hospitals, mosques and other facilities to help support Afghans then fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan. The CIA considered him a financier, not a terrorist leader.

In 1991, Bin Laden bitterly opposed the introduction of U.S. troops onto bases in Saudi Arabia during the run-up to the first Persian Gulf War, which ousted Saddam Hussein's Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

His fiery sermons demonized the Saudi rulers, and infidel Westerners, and soon attracted like-minded extremists to Al Qaeda.

The CIA had been on Bin Laden's trail since the mid-1990s, when it set up a separate intelligence unit to penetrate his organization and track his whereabouts.

After the embassy bombings in 1998, the Clinton administration undertook several intelligence and military operations aimed at killing him, including one in which cruise missile attacks were ordered against al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. All failed.

Though the U.S. had made plans to hold and interrogate Bin Laden if he was captured, most U.S. officials assumed that he would never be taken alive.

"You're talking about a hypothetical that will never occur," said Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. when asked in early 2010 if Bin Laden would enjoy constitutional protections. "The reality is that we will be reading Miranda rights to the corpse of Osama bin Laden. He will never appear in an American courtroom."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fg-bin-laden-dead-20110502,0,541570.story

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News and jubilation spread fast after Bin Laden's death

Crowds surge toward the White House and Times Square, cheering, singing and blessing the U.S. forces who killed Osama bin Laden. Some families of 9/11 victims and slain troops express mixed emotions.

by Tina Susman, Geraldine Baum and Nathaniel Popper, Los Angeles Times

May 2, 2011

Reporting from New York

"Justice served."

"We got him!"

"I don't believe it."

"I'm glad he's dead."

There were joyful cries of victory. There was skepticism from those who demanded to see a corpse. There were huge crowds waving U.S. flags outside the White House, and people erupting into chants of "USA!" on the dark streets around the former World Trade Center in New York. And there were the bitter words of a mother still mourning the son lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

There was no shortage of reaction across the nation to the news late Sunday of Osama bin Laden's death, but in the city hit hardest by the attacks, joy at the news was tempered with anguish over the loved ones lost a decade ago, and the time it took to end the reign of the world's most wanted terrorist.

There was also a tacit acknowledgment that the killing of Bin Laden by U.S. forces in Pakistan could have repercussions.

In the minutes after the announcement came from the White House, though, there were few signs of worry — not even in Times Square, where exactly one year earlier a Pakistani-born immigrant angered over the U.S. war in Afghanistan had tried to blow up a car bomb. On this night, passersby clambered atop a New York fire truck as the news blazed in giant letters across the neon billboards surrounding the square.

A few miles south, the darkened streets around the former World Trade Center came to life as crowds surged toward the massive construction site, blasting horns and singing "God Bless America." It began as a slow trickle, then grew to hundreds. Some men shimmied up a light pole and popped corks from champagne bottles over the swelling crowd. Police blared sirens and blasted bagpipes through loudspeakers.

"There's no better place in the country to be right now," said David Polyansky, 40, who rejoined the Marines after the Sept. 11 attacks and served a year in Iraq. He now lives near the former World Trade Center.

The news triggered a massive emotional release in Washington, where a spontaneous celebration erupted on Pennsylvania Avenue along the White House fence. A mostly young crowd ecstatically waved flags, cheered and sang the national anthem, its numbers growing from dozens to hundreds and beyond as midnight passed.

People sprinted from around the downtown Washington area to join in the jubilation, which took on the air of a city celebrating a professional sports championship.

"I was watching on CNN and just the excitement, I couldn't miss it," said Derek Guizado, 25, a Georgetown law student originally from Los Alamitos. "I had to come down here for this. This is such a big moment."

Participants and commentators could not avoid the comparison to the scene 10 years ago, when the same streets were gripped in fear as the terrorist attacks unfolded.

It also was impossible not to contrast the jubilation in the streets with the quiet contemplation expressed by relatives of those who lost their lives in the attacks, such as Jay Winuk, whose brother, Glenn, died at the World Trade Center.

"I don't know if we'll ever quite feel closure," Winuk said. "It's hard when you think about it. I don't know what my brothers' last moments were like. We only got partial remains back. How does that bring closure?"

"There's no such thing as closure," said Rosemary Cain, whose firefighter son, George C. Cain, died that day while doing his job. "There would be closure if my doorbell would ring and my son would be standing at my front door," she told NY1, the city's all-news channel, making no attempt to hide the bitterness at her loss. "I'm glad he's dead," she said of Bin Laden.

Paula Berry, whose husband died at the World Trade Center, said her 17-year-old son, Reed, put it beautifully when he said that Bin Laden's death would not bring his father back or restore their lost years. "But it does ensure that [Bin Laden] will never play a role in taking the life away from an innocent person," Reed told his mother.

Most family members reached said they were still too stunned to fully absorb the news. Some, like Winuk, said they looked forward to hearing more details of the terrorist leader's death. Others, like Pat Shanower, whose son, Navy Cmdr. Dan F. Shanower, 40, was killed in the Pentagon, said relief at Bin Laden's death was tinged with worry for the future.

"It's one step, I hope, for an eventual peace for our country," she said, adding, "I don't think this is the end. … I'm sure there are people that are going to fill Bin Laden's shoes now."

Others said it would take time to feel true relief.

Outside the homes of those still mourning the loss of loved ones, though, nobody needed time to start celebrating.

In Tuscaloosa, Ala., a man drove through the parking lot of the Wal-Mart with his window down, shouting at strangers. "Osama bin laden's dead!" he yelled, a huge smile on his face. "We got him!"

In Los Angeles, about 25 USC students were just finishing a ceremonial dinner at the campus Chabad House when whispers began making their way around the table and diners became focused on their phones. "Osama bin Laden is dead! It's on Twitter," one student finally said out loud. The room erupted in cheers and high fives.

To the south in Long Beach, Del Warren, whose 28-year-old son, Kyle, was killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan in July, said he started tearing up when his son's widow texted him with the news. "It's fabulous," Warren said, glued to the TV. "That's the reason my son was over there. This is just huge."

At an upscale Italian restaurant in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., a party asked its waitress whether she'd heard the news of Bin Laden's death.

"I thought we killed him a long time ago," she said, and glanced at her note pad. The diners chuckled. "We should have strung him up," one of them said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bin-laden-us-reax-20110502,0,2145493.story

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The death of Osama bin Laden: Statements by two presidents, Obama and Bush

President Obama's statement on the death of Osama bin Laden, as provided by the White House

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory -- hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.

And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty .......seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child's embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.

On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what r ace or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.

We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice.

We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda -- an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe.

And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.

Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we've made great strides in that effort. We've disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.

Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, al Qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.

And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.

Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.

For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda's leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda.

Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There's no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must –- and we will -- remain vigilant at home and abroad.

As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam. I've made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam.

Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.

Over the years, I've repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we've done. But it's important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding. Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.

Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.

The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who's been gravely wounded.

So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda's terror: Justice has been done.

Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who've worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.

We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.

Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.

And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.

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. That is the story of our history, whether it's the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.

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. Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Statement by President George W. Bush, as provided by his presidential center

Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001.

I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission. They have our everlasting gratitude.

This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.

The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/05/osama-bin-laden-death-obama-george-w-bush.html

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Cheering 'ultimate victory' in death of Osama bin Laden

The troops who returned from the war and the families of those who died in battle hail the death of the fugitive terrorist.

by Phil Willon and Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times

May 2, 2011

Del Warren of Long Beach got the news in a text message and immediately began to tear up.

Osama bin Laden was dead, said the text from the widow of Warren's son Kyle, who was killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.

"It's fabulous," Warren said Sunday night, glued to the television set.

President Obama's announcement that U.S. forces had killed the 9/11 mastermind in Pakistan brought a sense of closure for soldiers as well as families who lost soldiers in the war in Afghanistan.

They celebrated the news but remembered the loved ones and fellow soldiers lost in the War on Terror.

Warren and other members of his Special Forces unit had just finished meeting with town elders when they were attacked by small-arms fire. He was on an all-terrain vehicle when he was hit by the explosive, his father said.

"That's the reason my son was over there. This is just huge," Warren said. His son, a 28-year-old staff sergeant and Special Forces medic, was killed on July 29.

A Marine lieutenant who lost a leg in Afghanistan called the death of Bin Laden "a victory for every guy who has served there, and particularly for the guys who never came home."

But Cameron West, 25, part of the battle-scarred Camp Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, warned that "he's just one man."

"There are a lot more we've got to kill: We've got to destroy the whole insurgency," he said. "Bin Laden was the head of the snake, but this snake has a lot of heads, and we've got to kill them all before it's an ultimate victory."

The 3/5 suffered 25 dead and more than 200 wounded while fighting for control of the Sangin district, long a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan. For the Marines recuperating in hospitals throughout the U.S., the death of bin Laden "is going to be a great morale booster," West said.

West lost a leg in a firefight in which another Marine was killed early in the 3/5 deployment. He is now recuperating in Oceanside and receiving therapy at the Naval Medical Center San Diego.

Army Sgt. Kenny Gordon was listening to music at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio, when he heard about bin Laden's death. Having just served for seven months in Afghanistan, he said, "It's a good thing. He did a lot of damage to a lot of people."

"I'm going to be partying a lot harder than I would have, because we got him. I'm stoked," he added.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-soldier-react-20110502,0,4602651,print.story

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Osama bin Laden death: LAX, other airports on heightened alert

The killing of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden has Southern California airports boosting security.

Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, which operates Los Angeles International, Ontario International and Van Nuys airports, said all of the facilities were on heightened alert.

“We have our antenna out higher than normal,” she said.

Lindsey would not elaborate on the security measures or detail what types of new patrols might be used at LAX.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has also said his department is on heightened alert and urged residents to be watchful for suspicious activity.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/05/bin-laden-death-lax-other-airports-on-heightened-alert.html

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Osama bin Laden death: Sheriff warns residents to be watchful for terrorist reprisals

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said he is activating his emergency bureau in the wake of the CIA killing of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Baca, speaking to KTLA News, said law enforcement officials want to be prepared in the event of any attempted terrorist reprisals.

He said airports, harbors and transit systems are always the biggest potential targets for terrorism in L.A. and added that beefed up security is possible.

The Sheriff's Department might also call a news conference to remind the public of local counter-terrorism measures and remind people to report suspicious activity.

"Right now, there is time for celebration," he told the station. "We need more public vigilance. ... If you see or hear something, say something."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/05/osama-bin-laden-death-terrorist-reprisals-sheriff-warns.html?lanow

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Osama Bin Laden dead: 'End of a dark era in U.S.-Muslim relations'

The president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles said Sunday night that the death of Osama bin Laden “represents the beginning of the end of a dark era in U.S.-Muslim relations.”

“And hopefully it ushers in a new era of hope and democracy in dealing with the grievances of Muslim people throughout the world without resorting to political violence,” said Salam Al-Marayati. “Bin Laden has been sitting on an empty throne of self-righteousness while sending young people to their deaths.”

“This creates a rising tide of freedom and an enormous opening in terms of working with leaders throughout the Muslim world.”

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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Bin Laden death: LAPD increases patrols of religious institutions, 'high profile' terrorist targets

Local authorities are increasing patrols at religious institutions and other potential terrorist targets in the wake of the death of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

LAPD Deputy Chief Mike Downing, commanding officer of the Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau, said Sunday night that in the near term, there would be additional patrols around "high-profile targets." Police will be on the lookout for terrorist activities and possible hate crimes.

"We are somewhat concerned about any retaliation because of his [Bin Laden's] death," Downing said. "But with our partnerships and relationships that we've built over the last four or five years, we will stand with these communities to resist any attacks or hate incidents."

The LAPD has worked hard over the last five years in its outreach, particularly to build relationships and partnerships in the Muslim community in Los Angeles, which Downing called "our strength."

Downing cautioned that the public should be on the lookout for any behavior that has a "nexus to any type of terrorist activity with a focus on harming innocent people."

He said the LAPD would also be watching closely for hate crimes in schools or places of worship and urged anyone who sees unusual activity to contact the LAPD through iwatchla.org or through the (877) A-THREAT tip line.

Even with the death of Bin Laden, Downing said the relationship-building would continue. "This is the longer-term solution to the threat of violent extremism," Downing said, noting that LAPD officials would be meeting with Muslim community leaders in the L.A. area to discuss how these events will shape the new era in improved relations between the community and police.

Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, which operates Los Angeles International, Ontario International and Van Nuys airports, said all of the facilities were on heightened alert.

“We have our antenna out higher than normal,” she said.

Lindsey would not elaborate on security measures or detail what types of new patrols might be used at LAX.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has also said his department is on heightened alert and urged residents to be watchful for suspicious activity.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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From Google News

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Taliban commander vows to avenge Bin Laden's death

Taliban commander known as Qudos says jihadis are planning to mount attacks in response to death of Osama bin Laden

A Taliban commander in Afghanistan has promised that his fighters would mount attacks to avenge the killing by US forces of Osama bin Laden .

The commander, who gave his name as Qudos and operates in the northern province of Baghlan, said: "The killing of Osama bin Laden will bring no change to jihad. Osama is the leader of al-Qaida and he is a powerful man in jihad. Losing him will be very painful for the mujahideen, but the shahadat [martyrdom] of Osama, will never stop the jihad. We will continue our fight until we liberate our lands from the Kafirs."

He said his fighters planned to launch an operation called Bader "to avenge the killing of Osama" and claimed many other similar operations would be launched.

A war inspired by 'the Sheikh'

From the shrub-covered, bullet-riddled frontlines of Mogadishu, to the concrete slums in the outskirts of Amman and Damascus, from a camp in a pine forest in eastern Afghanistan to the sprawling deserts of southern Yemen, soft-spoken zealots with Kalashnikovs have told me about their aspirations to fight, kill and hopefully die in the war against the infidels and their agents. A holy war inspired by, led by and catalysed by, the Sheikh.

The Sheik, Osama bin Laden, created the model for that holy war: he articulated its objectives through his acts of violence, and his life became a manual of the jihadi fighter in the collective imagination of those young men - the learned ascetic and ferocious fighter.

His pictures and sermons, radio massages and TV appearances lived, flourished and sprung to life in these alleyways and faraway mountains, nourished and nurtured by poverty, perceived injustice and decades of oppressive rule.

Yet none of those men have ever met the Sheikh, none of them had any direct contact with him; only one had seen him twice when he was a teenager. They didn't receive their orders from the Sheikh, they didn't communicate with him, and they did not consult him before they went out to fight.

Bin Laden, the creator of modern-day terrorism and founder of al-Qaida, had become more of a spiritual father than field commander.

The dream of all those so-called jihadis and their local establishments was to be anointed by the father figure as a forbearer of his ideology, to be recognised as a "franchise" of the mother organisation to gain the respect and support, and a lot of money from wealthy Arabs, that would allow them to fight their own local wars and contribute to the jihad.

Many local franchises have sprung up: Iraq, Yemen, Morocco, Somalia and others. Bombs are manufactured locally, knowledge is shared on internet forums, fighters don't need to head all the way to Pakistan or Afghanistan to get training; they can do that in their own home towns or villages in Britain, the Caucasus, Mogadishu, Iraq, Mali and Yemen. The effect is that al-Qaida has succeeded in separating ideology from leadership.

For many years, the Sheikh had been isolated, his organisation disrupted not only by US kill teams and lethal drone attacks but also by general Muslim apathy and outright hostility to the organisation. For most of the victims are Muslim: not only Shia Muslims and Sunni moderates and seculars, but also bystanders who have committed the deadly sin of buying vegetables while one of those holy warriors decides to fight his battle and start his ascendance to the hereafter.

The killing of Bin Laden will give a new impetus to the jihadi movement that has suffered in the past few months as the aspirations of these young men have been fulfilled, not by the jihad, but by the street demonstrations led by unarmed men and women secularists and religious calling for social justice.

Local jihadi wars will continue, al-Qaida in Yemen will continue to attempt to bomb targets in the west, and the Taliban will not stop fighting in Afghanistan.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/02/taliban-avenge-bin-laden-death/print

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Homeland Security's Rep. King: US must be vigilant

WASHINGTON—The head of the House Homeland Security Committee said Monday the United States must temper victory with vigilance in the wake of Osama bin Laden's assassination.

Rep. Peter King told NBC's "Today" show the al-Qaida terrorist organization could "try to avenge this death" and says "we'll have to be on full alert."

Bin Laden was killed by U.S. military forces in a raid early Monday on his custom-built hideout in Pakistan.

The New York Republican predicted "a fight for power" within al-Qaida. He said the shooting of bin Laden gives "a sense of closure" to the relatives of people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States. King also said there will be "round-the-clock" government surveillance to determine if al-Qaida is planning or organizing a retaliatory attack. He said federal agencies will be trying to find out if an attack is possible or imminent, "and how we can prevent it, how we can stop it."

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17973608?nclick_check=1

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