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From Los Angeles Times

How Bin Laden met his end

Targeting the Al Qaeda leader with a missile strike wasn't enough. President Obama needed proof he was dead — and a much bolder plan.

by Bob Drogin, Christi Parsons and Ken Dilanian, Los Angeles Times

May 3, 2011

Reporting from Washington

The nail-biting moment, the period when absolute disaster loomed, came at the very start.

About two dozen Navy SEALs and other U.S. commandos were supposed to rope down into a Pakistani residential compound from a pair of specially modified Black Hawk helicopters in the predawn hours Monday, race into two buildings, and capture or kill Osama bin Laden. One chopper stalled as it hovered between the compound's high walls, unable to sustain its lift, and thudded into the dirt.

Half a world away in the White House Situation Room, the president and his war council crowded around a table covered with briefing papers and keyboards and watched nervously as video feeds streamed in. The special forces team needed a rescue chopper. Gunfire was blazing around them. No one wanted another "Black Hawk Down" debacle.

"A lot of people were holding their breath," recalled John Brennan, the president's counter-terrorism advisor.

The extraordinary drama surrounding the killing of Bin Laden encompassed the White House, the CIA and other arms of America's vast national security apparatus. The tale is part detective story, part spy thriller. But the decade-old manhunt for the Al Qaeda leader ultimately came down to a three-story building on a dirt road in the Pakistani army town of Abbottabad, north of Islamabad.

If the raid went wrong, President Obama would bear the blame. He had vetoed a plan to obliterate the compound with an airstrike. Obama wanted to be certain he had Bin Laden, and there was no guarantee that a smoking crater would yield proof. He had asked for a bolder plan, one that would allow the U.S. to take custody of Bin Laden or his body. It posed far more risk.

As reports flowed into the White House, the commando team methodically swept through the compound. Bin Laden and his family lived on the second and third floors of the largest structure, U.S. intelligence indicated. Officials said that when the commandos found him there, he was armed and "resisted." They shot him in the head and chest.

There were conflicting reports Monday about whether Bin Laden had fired at the Americans, or whether he had tried to use a woman as a human shield. His wife, who called out Bin Laden's name during the fight, was wounded in the leg during the battle and may have tried to interpose herself between the troops and her husband, but Bin Laden was not hiding behind her, a senior U.S. official said.

Within 20 minutes, the fighting had ended. In 20 more, the military had flown in a backup helicopter. The commandos questioned several people in the compound to confirm Bin Laden's identity, detonated explosives to destroy the crippled Black Hawk and then departed. As they flew off, they carried with them the bloodied corpse of the tall man with a thick beard.

In addition, the raiding party took "a large volume of information" from the compound, a U.S. official said, "so large that the CIA is standing up a task force" to examine it for clues. The material, which includes digital and paper files, could be a treasure trove of new intelligence about Al Qaeda, the official said. Among other things, officials hope the information will lead them to Al Qaeda's other leaders.

They left behind the bodies of four other people killed in the raid — a courier they had been tracking for years, his brother, one of Bin Laden's sons and an unidentified woman.

The Pakistani government, which had not been informed of the raid in advance, scrambled aircraft in response to the firefight, but the low-flying U.S. helicopters quickly flew out of Pakistani airspace.

Within hours, Bin Laden's remains had been given funeral rites designed by the military to be consistent with Muslim practices and dropped into the northern Arabian Sea from the hangar deck of the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson. The FBI quickly slapped "Deceased" on its Internet posters for the world's most wanted terrorist.

Bin Laden had vanished after the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001. U.S. military commanders had failed to close the noose around his Afghan stronghold in Tora Bora, and the Al Qaeda leader and his aides somehow hiked across the rugged border region into Pakistan.

Once or twice a year, Bin Laden popped up on a new video or audio recording, mocking America's leaders and urging his faithful to follow his path. They did so with bombings in London, Madrid, Bali and elsewhere.

The CIA knew that Bin Laden had stopped using cellphones and other electronic or digital communications long ago to evade U.S. intelligence. He relied on human couriers instead to get his videos and other messages out to underlings and followers.

Find the courier, the thinking went, and they'd ultimately find Bin Laden.

Interrogators at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay were pushed to ask Al Qaeda suspects in custody about possible couriers. The information came in pieces, a U.S. official said, and it took years.

The information enabled the CIA and other intelligence agencies to develop "a composite" of Bin Laden's courier network.

"One courier in particular had our constant attention," a U.S. intelligence official said. Detainees "indicated he might be living with and protecting Bin Laden. But for years, we were unable to identify his true name or his location."

The break came in 2007. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the former operations chief for Al Qaeda and self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, disclosed the nickname of a Pakistani man he said was Bin Laden's most trusted confidant and courier. Confirmation came from Abu Faraj Libbi, another captured Al Qaeda leader, and other prisoners.

Several media outlets identified the courier Monday as Maulawi Abd Khaliq Jan based on a U.S. military assessment file on Libbi that was released by WikiLeaks last week. An administration official said that name was incorrect. Officials have so far declined to identify him.

It took the CIA until last summer to find his fortified compound in Abbottabad, a quiet city in rolling hills north of Islamabad. Named for a British colonial officer, the former hill station is home to a prestigious Pakistani military academy, an army regiment and thousands of retired military officers.

Satellite photos showed the house and 1-acre compound had been built in 2005. The high walls, barbed wire and pervasive security cameras suggested it was designed as a private fortress.

It took months to build a picture of who was living in the compound, but eventually the CIA concluded that one of the families was likely to include Bin Laden, several wives and children.

"There wasn't perfect visibility on everything inside the compound, but we did have a very good idea" of how many people lived there, how many women and children were in one of the families, and other pertinent details, said one of the intelligence officials.

With help from the National Security Agency, which intercepts communications, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which provides detailed maps and other data, the intelligence finally coalesced in February.

"Our confidence level grew much higher" that Bin Laden might be hiding in the compound, a senior official said. But the intelligence wasn't definitive. No one had seen him for certain, and there was concern that obtrusive surveillance efforts would be discovered and cause him to flee.

As the details accumulated, Obama ordered his national security team to develop courses of action, according to senior administration officials. The team brought several proposals for attacking the site, and they were refined over the next few weeks.

"There was a body of intelligence brought" to Obama, a Pentagon official said, "but in the weeks and months beforehand, his personal attention pushed the case to a new level."

As officials refined their plans, the SEALs team practiced the raid in early April, using a replica of the compound. Officials said they hadn't decided in advance to kill Bin Laden rather than take him prisoner.

"There were certainly capture contingencies," said a senior Pentagon official. But until nearly the last minute, it wasn't clear the mission would go.

Obama met with his senior national security aides on Thursday to review three options: the commando raid, an airstrike, or a pause for further intelligence gathering. He went around the table of advisors and asked each to weigh in.

The intelligence remained uncertain about whether Bin Laden was actually at the compound. Half of those present supported the raid; the rest were divided between the other two choices, a senior official said. Obama then left the meeting without announcing his decision.

Friday morning, just before Obama flew to Alabama to survey the devastation left by a flurry of tornadoes, the team met again in the White House Diplomatic Room. "It's a go," the president said. The UH-60 Black Hawks were supposed to fly on Saturday, but because of bad weather, the commanders pushed the schedule back a day.

Had the operation gone that day as planned, it would have coincided closely with a North Atlantic Treaty Organization airstrike on a villa in Tripoli where Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, another longtime U.S. foe, apparently had visited. He escaped harm, but the missiles apparently killed one of his sons and three grandchildren.

Saturday evening, the president grinned broadly and offered light remarks at the annual White House correspondents dinner at a hotel in Washington. He joked about releasing his birth certificate and poked fun at Donald Trump.

Comedian Seth Meyers quipped that Bin Laden was hiding in plain sight by hosting a C-SPAN show. The president had in fact spent much of the day being briefed on the operation.

On Sunday, Obama monitored the final preparations in the Situation Room, along with Tom Donilon, his national security advisor. Others quickly gathered, including Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael G. Mullen and James R. Clapper, director of national intelligence.

The president joined the group as the operation got underway around 2 p.m. Sunday Washington time — around midnight in Pakistan. The room was silent in between reports.

"It was probably one of the most anxiety-filled periods of time, I think, in the lives of the people who were assembled here yesterday," said Brennan, the president's Arabic-speaking counter-terrorism advisor. "The minutes passed like days."

At 3:50 p.m. Sunday, Obama was told that Bin Laden had been "tentatively" identified. A few hours later, he was told that there was a "high probability" that the Al Qaeda leader had been killed. DNA tests, using samples from several Bin Laden family members, would later confirm Bin Laden's identity.

The risk had paid off.

Brennan said Obama's reaction to the news was simple: "We got him."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-bin-laden-raid-20110503,0,3800001,print.story

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Local police on alert for possible reprisals

Although there have been no specific threats, the LAPD, Sheriff's Department and other agencies tighten security at public venues as a precaution and urge people to watch for suspicious activity.

by Andrew Blankstein, Joel Rubin and Robert Faturechi, Los Angeles Times

May 2, 2011

Law enforcement agencies in and around Los Angeles on Monday boosted patrols of locations that are potentially attractive to terrorists, sent bomb-sniffing dogs into train stations, and monitored local sales of ammunition and chemicals in the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces.

The Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and other area agencies increased security at airports, sporting venues, commercial centers, religious institutions and elsewhere.

Law enforcement officials emphasized that there had been no indication of a specific threat or suspicious activity, but said they were taking no chances.

Michael Downing, commanding officer of LAPD's Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau, in a memo to other department officials, warned of an increased threat of a terrorist attack.

"This threat could come in the form of surprise attacks by homegrown violent extremists who, while not previously mobilized for violence, now find justification to mobilize and commit violent acts against innocent civilians or government institutions," he wrote.

On Monday, members of Downing's team took part in a classified video conference with FBI field offices to discuss the response to the Bin Laden killing, according to Downing's memo, which was reviewed by The Times. The LAPD is included in such discussions as part of its membership in a regional, multi-agency task force established to gather and disseminate intelligence on possible terrorist activity.

In setting their plans in motion, local law enforcement officials relied heavily on the day-to-day work that counterterrorism officers have been doing for years, they said.

A long-running component of the LAPD's counterterrorism program, for example, has been Operation Archangel, which focuses on identifying potential terrorism targets throughout the city, developing security for them and devising plans to be used in the event of an attack. The information already gathered on those locations, which include the downtown U.S. Bank Tower and other commercial hubs, Staples Center and tourist attractions such as Universal CityWalk, were being disseminated to area police stations Monday, Downing's memo said.

Officials also urged members of the public to watch for unusual activity.

"Be vigilant about things that don't fit," LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference Monday, which was also attended by Sheriff Lee Baca and representatives from other agencies. "Don't worry about what the information is.… We'll figure that out for you."

Officials underscored the delicate line that law enforcement officers were treading as they tried to ensure that heightened vigilance does not blur into harassment or violence against local Muslims. They called on the public to watch for activity that seemed out of the ordinary, such as unfamiliar vehicles left unattended or stockpiles of chemicals, but cautioned that a person's religious garb or other aspects of someone's appearance were not grounds for suspicion.

"Terrorism is not limited to a certain kind of people," said Sheriff's Sgt. Mike Abdeen, head of Baca's Muslim Community Affairs Unit, a fulltime outreach group. "The way we look at terrorism, everybody is a potential suspect regardless of race, ethnic background, religion."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-osama-la-security-20110502,0,940657,print.story

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Terrorism concerns prompt security measures

Homeland Security Department cautions that Al Qaeda could retaliate after the death of Osama bin Laden. But an attempt might not be made immediately.

by Richard A. Serrano and Brian Bennett, Washington Bureau

May 3, 2011

Reporting from Washington

An hour after President Obama announced that Osama bin Laden was dead, a midnight bulletin flashed across the country to state and local law enforcement officials, warning them that a suddenly leaderless Al Qaeda would probably "retaliate" and "continue to pursue attacks" against the United States.

The caution from the Homeland Security Department in Washington escalated Monday as national security officials, terrorism experts and the White House agreed that future strikes could likely be triggered from a new power struggle inside Al Qaeda or by some lone wolf or "micro-terrorist" plotting in the U.S. to personally even the score for Bin Laden's death.

Around the country, airports beefed up inspections, mass-transit police heightened patrols and cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago increased their security measures. Abroad, U.S. embassies and other foreign facilities were placed on high alert, and U.S. citizens were strongly advised to be careful if traveling or living overseas.

In the midnight bulletin to state and local officials, Washington warned that anything could happen. "Everyone is extremely sensitive to the fact that there will at least be an attempt for a retaliatory attack," said one U.S. intelligence official.

Yet officials strongly underscored that Al Qaeda had a tradition of being patient, and was willing to take its time to make a bigger splash. With that in mind, the consensus was that terrorists would probably strike again; when and where remain unknown.

"The enemy is out there," said Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. "My own great concern in the days ahead is a so-called lone wolf."

"Though Bin Laden is dead, Al Qaeda is not," CIA Director Leon E. Panetta told his employees in an early morning message, encouraging them to keep up their guard. "Terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him."

"They are a wounded tiger," said White House counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan, acknowledging that Al Qaeda will try to regroup. "But they still have life left in them."

Experts on terrorism said the list of possible targets was long and the possible perpetrators would be difficult to identify.

Christine Parthemore, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, said terrorists could try to hurt the U.S. economy with some kind of attack on Middle Eastern gas and crude oil. "Top concerns in the coming months should include reprisal attacks within Saudi Arabia, where petroleum infrastructure has always been targeted," she said.

Frank Cilluffo, who was White House domestic security advisor to President George W. Bush, said U.S. officials were concerned that the next attack could be against a "soft" target like a crowded mall or restaurant, and the shooter could be an American who never had to leave the U.S. to link up with a terrorist organization. "Something more quick-moving and fluid, soft targets," Cilluffo said.

It is much easier to detect violence being planned by an organization, but individuals acting alone are nearly impossible to stop, said Rick Nelson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

"Anybody can go on a website and say, 'I want to kill Americans.' How do I know when one of those individuals is actually going take action?"

Near the World Trade Center site in New York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg spoke as helicopters whirred overhead and the area flooded with police, journalists and wary tourists.

"Osama bin Laden is dead, and New York City's spirit has never been stronger," Bloomberg said.

But Bloomberg acknowledged the threat hanging over the city. "There is no doubt we remain a top target, and the killing of Bin Laden will not change that," he said.

His predecessor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, also appeared near the site. He praised the administration in Washington and the military for "the courage" to take action against Bin Laden.

But he too warned of "short-term dangers," saying some of the elation on Monday was a bit premature, that the fight goes on.

"I know there are going to be people who are going to want to do damage to us," Giuliani said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bin-laden-threat-20110503,0,2455944,print.story

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Obama will visit Ground Zero Thursday to mark Osama bin Laden's death

by Michael A. Memoli, Washington Bureau

May 2, 2011

Reporting from Washington

President Obama will travel to New York on Thursday to mark the killing of Osama bin Laden and honor the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks during a visit to the World Trade Center site.

Obama will also meet with the families of the victims of the attack on the trade center, a White House spokesman said.

In Sunday night's historic announcement of Bin Laden's death, Obama recalled the horror of the attacks nearly 10 years ago.

"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," he recalled.

On Monday, the president discussed the spirit of patriotism as crowds gathered there late Sunday to celebrate the news -- "people holding candles, waving the flag, singing the national anthem -- people proud to live in the United States of America."

Obama has marked the anniversary of Sept. 11 at the Pentagon in each of his two years as president so far.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-ground-zero-visit-20110502,0,4324350,print.story

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Osama bin Laden's burial at sea upsets relatives of Sept. 11 victims

In New York, two mothers and a sister of Sept. 11 victims say the U.S. was too hasty in burying Bin Laden at sea. They say Americans deserved to see the body.

by Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times

May 2, 2011

Reporting from New York

Rosaleen Tallon kissed her three children good night and went to sleep feeling at peace. The terrorist responsible for the death of her brother, New York firefighter Sean Patrick Tallon, was dead. Her two boys and her little girl had been assured that the "bad man" behind the attacks that claimed their uncle was gone.

But when Tallon awoke Monday to the news that Osama bin Laden had been buried at sea, she was stunned. That was one corpse she would like to have seen for herself, Tallon said, her fiery words underscoring the change this suburban science teacher has undergone in the last decade.

"I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say I was a little dismayed — a lot dismayed," Tallon said as her 20-month-old son, Paddy, nestled in her arms while savoring a red lollipop. "I think that was too hasty. I would've liked the American people to say without a shadow of a doubt, 'Yes, that's him.' "

Rosemary Cain not only would like to see the body, she'd have happily been the one to fire the shot that killed the man responsible for her son George's death. And Maureen Santora, whose son Christopher died in the World Trade Center, had a suggestion for where Bin Laden's remains should go: atop the garbage dump where debris from the shattered buildings, including bones of victims, were piled after the attacks.

It's not that these women are blood-lusting conspiracy theorists. If anything, their words Monday showed the sharp-edged realism with which they have approached the world since Sept. 11, 2001, a collective attitude that made their hours after Bin Laden's death perhaps as vexing as celebratory.

How does a mother like Tallon explain such an event to three young children? How does Cain face what would have been George's birthday on May 13 knowing that his killer got a better burial than her strapping son, who was lost beneath tons of dust, concrete and steel? How do any of the relatives who have redirected their lives as a result of the 2001 attacks move on after the person responsible for the deaths is gone?

In a sense, they don't.

"I wouldn't be much of a mother if I didn't talk about him every day," Cain said of George, who was a 35-year-old New York firefighter. So on Monday, she pinned a picture of George onto the front of her yellow shirt and did just that. She recalled the porch he had built for her at the family home on Long Island, outside New York City, where she moved with her husband in 1967 when George was young.

"Georgie was just a year old," she said, running her fingers across a large color photograph of him that she carries when talking about how Sept. 11 affected her family.

When George died, Cain was a divorced mother of four, still living on Long Island and working at an insurance company. She cleaned her house, went shopping, enjoyed life in the suburbs. "I didn't even like politics," Cain said. "But we've all had to become proactive."

Cain left her job and now devotes her time to challenging the very authority figures she was raised to revere, including city, state and federal officials who have butted heads with some victims' families over how to rebuild at the World Trade Center site, handle victims' remains and preserve evidence.

She recounted with irony that George was born on Friday the 13th. She spoke of the comfort of sitting on the porch when the summer heat sets in. It's there that she still feels his embrace, Cain said in a sweet voice that seemed incongruous with her stated desire to have killed Bin Laden herself.

But the taking of a loved one, especially by such violent means, changes a person.

Santora, whose firefighter son, Christopher, was 23 when he died, smiled happily as she described Bin Laden as "the head of the snake." She spoke of her joy at hearing of his death, and said her first thought was that his remains should be dumped in the city's notorious Fresh Kills Landfill.

"I wish we could go back to the way we felt on Sept. 10, 2001," said Tallon, who earlier that year had obtained her doctorate from Columbia University and gotten married. She was teaching high school science and biology, looking forward to starting a family, and blissfully ignorant of the topics that today she speaks of with authority: Yemen, Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Syria, jihad.

"But I'm not living in the bubble I lived in before Sept. 11. My eyes are open," said Tallon, whose loss of trust in the government and in the systems that failed to protect her brother was clear Monday. "It's the only way I know how to go forth now — to question things."

She spoke angrily of the burial at sea, saying it denied people like her the guarantee of seeing a body and knowing without a shadow of a doubt that Bin Laden was dead. She recalled the anguish of watching her parents suffer over the death of their son, a death she says might have been prevented if he had better communications equipment when he entered the World Trade Center to search for victims. "All their dreams, all their hopes for their future to be gone in an instant," Tallon said.

She lamented having to teach her children — ages 20 months, 6 and 8 — about terrorism "in a childlike way," by telling them of the "bad man" who had planned the Sept. 11 attacks but who was finally killed by U.S. troops. And she admitted that for all the revelry in the streets and the politicians' cheerful announcements of Bin Laden's death, for her there was no euphoria. Instead, there was another day of hammering away at the message that one terrorist leader's death did not mean the world was safe.

"I've had 10 years to learn that capturing Osama bin Laden does not mean this is over," she said. "This isn't over by a long shot."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0503-bin-laden-new-york-20110503,0,2332699,print.story

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Neo-Nazi father shot to death by young son, police say

Riverside Police say an avowed white supremacist who once ran for a water board post was shot to death in his home by an unlikely suspect: his own young son.

Jeff Russell Hall, 32, was southwestern regional director of the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group based in Detroit. Police were called to his home at 4:04 a.m. Sunday and found a badly injured Hall lying on a couch, said Lt. Ed Blevins.

Paramedics attempted to revive Hall, but he died at the scene, Blevins said. After interviewing Hall's wife and five children, police booked a minor son on a homicide charge, he said.

"We believe it was an intentional act,'' Blevins said.

The boy, whose age was not given because he is a minor, was booked into Riverside County Juvenile Hall. Riverside County prosecutors are reviewing the case, Blevins said.

Hall's other children were taken into protective custody, he said. A neighbor told the Press-Enterprise that all of the couple's children are under the age of 12.

Hall, a plumber, gained attention last year in his failed attempt to win a seat on an obscure water board in Riverside. His campaign was low profile, but Hall was open about his white-supremacist beliefs when questioned.

"I want a white nation," he told The Times last year. "I don't hide what I am, and I don't water that down."

As regional director of the National Socialist Movement, Hall helped lead demonstrations in Riverside and Los Angeles, where supporters waved swastika flags, chanted "white power" and gave stiff-armed Nazi salutes.

Hall also helped organize militia-type watches along the California and Arizona borders, with camouflage-clad volunteers on the lookout for illegal border crossers. On the National Socialist Movement website, group founder Jeff Schoep calls Hall a family man and a "dedicated American Patriot."

Blevins said a rifle and handgun were recovered from the home. It appears that Hall died of a single gunshot wound to the chest ,but an autopsy is pending, Blevins said.

Al Qaeda without its leader

The terrorist network's one-man, one-bomb approach keeps the risk of attacks in the West high.

by Ahmed Rashid

May 3, 2011

Even as Westerners celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden, cities around the world are bracing for repercussions. Hundreds of dedicated jihadi wannabes will be in mourning today and swearing to give their lives in revenge for the killing of Bin Laden by U.S. forces in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

Bin Laden's death is a huge blow to the terrorist network, but at the same time, Al Qaeda has moved over the years from a highly centralized hierarchy with recruiting, training and orders all filtering down from top leaders to a much more loose and amorphous organization.

Today the group's philosophy is one man, one bomb. In other words, it does not need another 9/11 to make its mark. One bomb in Times Square in New York placed by one dedicated suicide bomber, or one bomb on a New York subway — both things that were attempted last year — are now considered big enough statements.

Al Qaeda's decentralization has ensured it will remain a viable franchise for some time. Anyone can join by planting a bomb somewhere. And almost anyone who travels to Pakistan or Afghanistan can receive training from Al Qaeda allies, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani Taliban or the Afghan group headed by Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Pakistan has refused to go up against Al Qaeda allies like Haqqani because they have up to now waged their attacks in Afghanistan, not Pakistan. Allies like Lashkar-e-Taiba are tacitly tolerated because their main targets are Kashmir and India.

Before 9/11 there were no known Al Qaeda cells in Europe except for the Hamburg cell that launched the 2001 attacks. Today every European country has an Al Qaeda cell, and hundreds of Muslims with European passports have traveled to Pakistan's tribal areas for training and then returned to Europe.

After the arrest of three Moroccans in Germany recently for planning to plant bombs in train stations, German authorities acknowledged that more than 200 German citizens have received training in the tribal areas, and many of them have returned to Germany. The same is the case in Britain, Scandinavia, France, Spain and Italy.

The threat of random suicide bombings in the U.S. and Europe is particularly high. So is the threat of plane hijackings and bombings of Western military targets and U.S. embassies in the Middle East.

Attacks are likely. One type will be that carried out by dedicated long-term jihadists already living in Western societies as "sleepers." They may now be expected to spring into action with carefully honed plots they have been working on for years. The U.S. has previously derailed such attacks at the last moment.

There is also likely to be an uptick in terrorism in Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda's influence among dedicated jihadists like those in the Haqqani group is still strong. Al Qaeda and its affiliated Pakistani groups will also be determined to launch a bombing campaign in Pakistan in memory of Bin Laden, which will heighten tensions in a country already beset with power shortages and an economic crisis.

Finally, Al Qaeda and its allies may find this the right moment to create major divisions between India and Pakistan by launching another Mumbai-style attack on Indian territory, which would aim to take the heat off of Al Qaeda members in Pakistan.

The Middle East, with the ongoing Arab revolts, remains a vacuum that Al Qaeda will try to fill despite the setback of Bin Laden's death. The group will undoubtedly try to gain influence and clout among the new generation of leaders who have emerged in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and the Persian Gulf states — except that task will be much more difficult.

Al Qaeda faces difficult days ahead, and clearly Bin Laden's death will give intelligence agencies around the world many clues and leads to catch other leaders. But Al Qaeda will not disappear overnight.

Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist and the author, most recently, of "Descent Into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia." His book "Taliban" has recently been updated and reissued on the 10th anniversary of its publication. A version of this piece appears on the BBC's website.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-rashid-bin-laden-20110503,0,4028801,print.story

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From Google News

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After Osama bin Laden's death, Arlington firefighters reflect on 9/11

Just looking at the column of dark smoke rising over Arlington, they could tell something horrible had happened.

Riding up Route 27 about two minutes after a jet had slammed into the Pentagon, the Arlington County rescue crew met a stream of stunned people flowing from the nation's military headquarters and a raging fire behind them.

“It just looked like devastation,” said Lt. Scott Hagan, who was one of the first rescuers to reach the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. “And we had no idea it was part of something much bigger.”

Hagan and other Arlington fire and rescue officials said the death of Osama bin Laden brought back many of the stark memories they carry from that day nearly a decade ago. But they also said that while bin Laden's demise was a significant moment and an important military achievement, it does not erase the threats the United States faces.

Still vivid are the pungent jet fuel, the acrid smoke, the shattered fuselage, the bodies. The badly burned helping the more seriously wounded. The hole the nose cone made in the C-Ring wall.

“It takes a lot away from you,” said Capt. Ed Blunt, 50, who now commands a fire and rescue station on Lee Highway. “We see a lot of really horrible things. Most of them are accidental, but this was intentional.”

Blunt said he has thought about Sept. 11 almost every day he has headed to work, but with the knowledge that bin Laden is dead, it added a small level of satisfaction.

“It's a very important part of history,” Blunt said. “But we're not naive. We know they'll try to come at us again.”

Lt. Gregg Karl, 37, said he was a rookie at the time and was amazed to see such a blatant attack on the nation's most important military installation.

“You realize that we are vulnerable like everyone else, that we're not invincible,” Karl said. “I wondered what kind of person would think to do these things to people.”

Karl said bin Laden's death was simply the end of a successful mission and a reminder that the country needs to stay vigilant.

For Hagan, bin Laden's death did not change anything. What it did, he said, was send a message.

“It's not a shock or a relief,” Hagan said. “I knew it was a matter of time. It's so impressive what our military capabilities are. It's a good message that we as a country don't give up until we get the job done.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/arlington-firefighters-reflect-on-911/2011/05/02/AFmXNscF_print.html

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Missing list still contains more than 300

by Jason Morton, Staff Writer

TUSCALOOSA | As of Monday night, 676 names had been cleared from the missing persons list at Tuscaloosa City Hall.

But the list still contains 308 names.

“It's devastating. It hurts your heart to have to report numbers like these numbers,” said Mayor Walt Maddox. “For every name we seem to remove, we seem to add another one on.”

Names like Lou Smith, a woman in her 80s who lived in the destroyed neighborhood of Cedar Crest.

Linda Marquis Smith posted on the Tuscaloosa News website that she was looking for Smith, her aunt.

“My cousins who live there haven't been able to get in touch with her,” said Smith, who lives in South Carolina.

She said she's hoping that a neighbor or someone will see the posting and get in touch.

In the days following the storm, 35 people who work for Bama Dining on the University of Alabama campus were unaccounted for.

“So many live in the Crescent Ridge Road and Rosedale areas,” said Pamela Jones, human resources director for Bama Dining.

As of Monday morning, all had been contacted and were doing fine, she said.

The city has released the missing persons list to the public, and it will continue to update and publicize the list until the whereabouts of those on it are known.

The city also has enlisted two 60-person search teams from Louisiana that have extensive experience in sifting through rubble to find survivors.

“I'm hopeful, prayerful ... but I fear this number is going to prove to be more devastating than we could even imagine,” Maddox said.

To eliminate repeated names, the city created a three- to four-person team to scrutinize the list of missing persons.

Maddox said the list was distributed to city employees and resulted in a few names being cleared because employees knew their whereabouts.

Tuscaloosa County Probate Judge Hardy McCollum said one person in the county, or outside the city's police jurisdiction, was missing as of noon today, but he expects there could be more reported missing as people begin to return to work.

“We suspect we're going to find more because of the displacements,” he said.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110503/NEWS/110509916/1007?Title=Missing-list-still-contains-more-than-300 -

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From the White House

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Celebrating the Work of America's Public Servants

Ed. note: First Lady Michelle Obama sent a video message to public servants as part of the White House's observance of Public Service Recognition Week.

What do you know about public servants? Probably more than you think. And during Public Service Recognition Week, you have the opportunity to learn even more .

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/03/celebrating-work-americas-public-servants

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President Obama Presents Medal of Honor: "We're Reminded That We Are Fortunate to Have Americans Who Dedicate Their Lives to Protecting Ours"

The President began his remarks on that note:

I think we can all agree this is a good day for America. Our country has kept its commitment to see that justice is done. The world is safer; it is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Today, we are reminded that, as a nation, there's nothing we can't do —- when we put our shoulders to the wheel, when we work together, when we remember the sense of unity that defines us as Americans. And we've seen that spirit -— that patriotism -— in the crowds that have gathered, here outside the White House, at Ground Zero in New York, and across the country -- people holding candles, waving the flag, singing the National Anthem -- people proud to live in the United States of America.

And we're reminded that we are fortunate to have Americans who dedicate their lives to protecting ours. They volunteer. They train. They endure separation from their families. They take extraordinary risks so that we can be safe. They get the job done. We may not always know their names. We may not always know their stories. But they are there, every day, on the front lines of freedom, and we are truly blessed.

The President read a poem on the enduring legacy of those who serve, and welcomed the families of those being honored today:

Today, we are joined by two American families who six decades ago gave our nation one of their own —- Private First Class Henry Svehla and Private First Class Anthony Kaho'ohanohano.

They did not grow old. These two soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice when they were just 19 and 21 years old. Age did not weary them. In the hearts of their families, they remain forever young —- loving sons, protective brothers, hometown kids who stood tall in America's hometown -- in America's uniform.

Today, we remember them. And we honor them with the highest military decoration that our nation can bestow -- the Medal of Honor. In so doing we also honor their families, who remind us that it is our extraordinary military families who also bear the heavy burden of war.

It would be well worth your while to read the entire transcript to learn the full stories of these two men's sacrifices, but here are brief excerpts of the President's retellings.

On Anthony T. Kaho'ohanohano:

With the enemy advancing, with his men outnumbered, Tony made a decision. He ordered his squad to fall back and seek cover. And then Tony did something else. He stayed behind. Machine gun in hand, he laid down fire so his men could get to safety. He was one American soldier, alone, against an approaching army. When Tony was wounded in the shoulder, he fought on. He threw grenade after grenade. When his weapon ran out of ammunition, he grabbed another. And when he ran out of ammo, he reached for the only thing left -- a shovel. That's when the enemy overran his position. And in those final moments, the combat was hand to hand.

On Henry Svehla:

And as Henry and his company neared the top of one hill, the rocky slopes seemed to explode with enemy fire. His unit started to falter, and that's when Henry made his move. He stood up. He looked ahead. And he charged forward into a hail of bullets. Those who were there describe how he kept firing his weapon, kept hurling grenades, and how -- even after being wounded in the face -- he refused medical attention and kept leading the charge. That's when an enemy grenade landed among his men. Every human instinct, every impulse, would tell a person to turn away. But at that critical moment, Henry Svehla did the opposite. He threw himself on that grenade. And with his sacrifice, he saved the lives of his fellow soldiers.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/02/president-obama-presents-medal-honor-were-reminded-we-are-fortunate-have-americans-w

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From the Department of Homeland Security

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Donating or Volunteering To Help Disaster Survivors

• Alabama
• Mississippi
• Georgia
• Tennessee
• North Carolina
• Kentucky
• Virginia

Statement by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on the Death of Osama Bin Laden

Release Date: May 2, 2011

The death of Osama bin Laden is an important success not only for the United States, but the entire world. Our efforts to combat terrorism, however, do not fixate on one individual, and we remain completely focused on protecting our nation against violent extremism of all kinds.

We remain at a heightened state of vigilance, but the Department of Homeland Security does not intend to issue an NTAS alert at this time. I have been clear since announcing NTAS in January that we will only issue alerts when we have specific or credible information to convey to the American public. However, our security posture, which always includes a number of measures both seen and unseen, will continue to respond appropriately to protect the American people from an evolving threat picture both in the coming days and beyond.

I commend the President and offer my gratitude to the men and women who defend and protect our nation at home and abroad, whether they wear a military or law enforcement uniform or serve as one of thousands of unsung heroes in the intelligence and homeland security community. It is true that we are stronger and safer than we were on 9/11 – not only because Osama bin Laden is dead, but because of the unflagging dedication and hard work of so many people throughout the world committed to freedom and security.

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1304346558767.shtm

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