Death of Osama bin Laden

On May 1st, 2011, at 3 pm EST, President Barack Obama gave the go ahead that would set in motion a secret Navy SEALs mission. The objective of the mission was to kill the man who has sent the country into so much turmoil through the attacks on 9/11; the man who has been hidden from us for almost 10 years, taunting our nation with video tapes delivered through couriers. At 11:30 pm EST, Barack Obama interrupted live television with the announcement: Osama bin Laden had been killed. The country as a whole was shocked, as no news had come of bin Laden in months (for reasons that would be explained later on). As Mets and Phillies fans began to hear the news, chants of "USA!" could be heard throughout the capacity Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Death is never something to be cheered for, but even on this cloudless Sunday evening, people across the country relished the death of this man, in a melancholy sort of way. This man has stood as the face of opposition to our nation for nearly 10 years, and to suddenly hear of his demise is simply unbelievable. This man, whom we stood by and watched as he killed our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers, was ended Sunday night by an American bullet. This moment is one that people will look back on in 10 years and say, "I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news," just like we do today when we look back on September 11th, 2001. The reason no news had been heard about bin Laden is months is because the U.S. had been tracing his path since August, and if you look further back, they first got on the trail when George W. Bush was still the president in 2005. In 2005, interrogations at Guantanamo Bay revealed the nickname of a courier who serviced Osama, and in 2007, the courier was identified by name. In August 2010, tracking of the courier leads the CIA to the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In September, the CIA began evaluating whether or not bin Laden was in the compound. By February, the CIA felt nearly certain that Osama was hiding away there, and Obama and the National Security Council hold upwards of five meetings regarding how to attack the compound. The idea of a carpet bombing came up multiple times, but was shot down for fear that there would be no way of telling if Osama had been killed. In April, a helicopter raid mission had been determined, and an elite team of Navy SEALs (SEAL Team 6) begin practicing the raid, as Washington monitors the rehearsals. On May 1st, at about 3:30pm the strike team arrives inside the compound. Approximately a half hour to 60 minutes later, Barack Obama and his National Security Council received the code "Geronimo EKIA" from the strike team. "Geronimo" was code for bin Laden, while "EKIA" stood for "Enemy Killed in Action." These words signalled the end of the mission, and the completion of the first steps to ending the war in the middle east. This sparked tons of emotion throughout the country, as I discussed before, yet some people were left unhappy. People worried that Osama's death will spark terroristic retaliation in the states and we are unprepared for it. Many people speculated that the death was even staged, and that they hadn't really killed bin Laden, and demanded photos of his lifeless body. Earlier today, the CIA confirmed that they had decided not to release the photos to the public, despite speculations. The U.S. did all that they could to ensure that no one was offended, even going as far as to give him a proper burial at sea. Yet people are still speculating, which I see as very unfortunate considering this is one of the greatest victories our nation has seen in years. Despite the controversy, the United States must be commended for this operation, as well as the brave SEALs that finished the job. Somewhere in the world a soldier knows that he was the one that put an end to Osama bin Laden, and although we may never see him or know his name, he is a hero to our country, and we thank him.

Photo 1: President Obama and National Security Counsel watch the Osama mission live via SEALs helmet cam. http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-110501-binladenreax/ss-110502-binLaden-jc-01.jpg

Photo 2: A U.S. soldier stand before the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. http://www.visitingdc.com/images/tomb-unknown-soldier-picture.jpg

3 Interesting Side Notes:

1 - The code Geronimo was actually an Apache Indian leader who resisted the U.S. governments attempts to consolidate his people onto reservations, and he led a series of raids against American settlements.

2 - Osama bin Laden's death was announced May 1st, 2011, exactly 66 years after the death of Adolf Hitler was announced. Although Hitler actually died April 30th, 1945, this is still an interesting relation.

3 - Osama bin Laden's will has been recovered, and sources say that it explicitly says his children are NOT to join al-Qaeda.