Bin Laden skull blown apart, official says

WASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden was shot above his left eye and the bullet blew away part of his skull, a U.S. official says. He was also shot in the chest.

The precision kill shot was delivered by a member of the Navy's elite SEAL Team Six during a pre-dawn raid Monday on bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

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Photos of bin Laden's injuries were transmitted to Washington as proof that the mission was a success.

The administration is still weighing whether to release photos of bin Laden's corpse and video of his swift burial at sea. Officials were reluctant to inflame Islamic sentiment by showing graphic images of the body. But they were also eager to address the mythology already building in Pakistan and beyond that bin Laden was somehow still alive.

The only information about what occurred inside the compound has come from American officials, much of it provided under condition of anonymity.

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They said SEALs dropped down ropes from helicopters, killed bin Laden aides and made their way to the main building. Mr. Obama and his national security team monitored the strike, watching and listening nervously and in near silence from the Situation Room as it all unfolded.

"The minutes passed like days," White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said.

As the information from the operation flowed in, the president said, "We got him."

The hunt for bin Laden that ended Monday morning in Pakistan began years ago, when captured al Qaeda operatives first revealed the existence of bin Laden's most trusted courier. Some of the leads to the courier came out of the CIA's secret prisons, where high level al Qaeda captives were waterboarded.

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CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that the courier was described as a protege of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and the man who delivered bin Laden's orders to al Qaeda operatives in the field. In fact, current and former U.S. officials said that Mohammed gave intelligence officials the courier's name. The CIA got similar information from Mohammed's successor, Abu Faraj al-Libi. Both were subjected to harsh interrogation tactics inside CIA prisons in Poland and Romania.

It was about four years ago that U.S. intelligence finally determined the courier's real name: Maulawi Abd al-Khaliq Jan. Take a look at it. It cost bin Laden his life.

Key to the hunt was identifying the cell phone number of the courier and placing it under surveillance. In 2010, the U.S. intercepted a call to the courier in which he was asked where he had been. He responded that he was back with the people he had been with before. The caller then said, "May God facilitate you" - the implication being that courier was back with bin Laden and his family.

The courier did not make it easy to locate the compound, however, since every time he approached the compound, he turned off his phone. He did this more than 90 minutes out and removed the battery, so he went totally dark and would leave it off when he was in the compound. When he left the compound, he would wait 90 minutes and turn it back on. Analysts would therefore keep seeing this pop up in places all over Pakistan but nowhere near to Abbattabod. This is why it took so long to find the compound after they had the name and the cell phone number for the courier.

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It took another two years after identifying the courier to find out what part of Pakistan Maulawi Jan operated in. Then, last August, the CIA discovered his residence. Officials said they were shocked by what they saw - the specially constructed $1 million compound with walls as high as 18 feet topped with barbed wire.

The residents of the compound burned their trash instead of putting it out for collection and there was no telephone or internet service. Three families lived there: the courier's family, his brother's family, and a third family about the size of bin Laden's. It was a convincing but circumstantial case.

Once U.S. had located the compound where the courier lived, they put it under surveillance and noticed that every day a tall man emerged from the main house and walked for an hour around the courtyard. Imagery indicated that the man was between 5'8" and 6'5", but the photos were not good enough to make a positive identification. They were images from satellites and not drones, since location was too risky to deploy the unmanned aircraft.

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By mid-February, intelligence from multiple sources was clear enough that Mr. Obama wanted to "pursue an aggressive course of action," a senior administration official said. Over the next two and a half months, Mr. Obama led five meetings of the National Security Council focused solely on whether bin Laden was in that compound and, if so, how to get him, the official said.

U.S. counterterrorism officials considered bombing the place, an option that was discarded by the White House as too risky, particularly if it turned out bin Laden was not there.

Instead, Obama signed an order on Friday for the team of SEALs to chopper onto the compound under the cover of darkness.

In addition to bin Laden, one of his sons, Khalid, was killed in the raid, Brennan said. Bin Laden's wife was shot in the calf but survived, a U.S. official said. Also killed were the courier and his brother, and an unidentified woman, officials said.

Some people found at the compound were left behind when the SEALs withdrew and were turned over to Pakistani authorities who quickly took over control of the site, officials said. They identified the trusted courier as Kuwaiti-born Sheikh Abu Ahmed, who had been known under the name Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti.

Twenty-three children and nine women were in the compound at the time of the assault and were turned over to Pakistani authorities, said a U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss an intelligence matter.

Within 40 minutes, the operation was over, and the SEALs flew out — minus one helicopter, which had malfunctioned and had to be destroyed. Bin Laden's remains were flown to the USS Carl Vinson, then lowered into the North Arabian Sea.

Bin Laden's death came 15 years after he declared war on the United States. Al Qaeda was also blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 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.

[Birdman04]

They can count the dimples on a golf ball from satellite photos. You can bet they have the entire raid on helmet cams in detail. Most of it will remain classified for decades I imagine and we will never see.

[imnho]

A bullet from an MP5N tends to do that.

[usadvisor101]

he doesnt even know hes dead....5.56 is a deadly round, and you know seals are going to use top shelf,if not special purpose rounds. when a low impulse round hits flesh,forget about it..., good ole M4 SBR with a suppressor, would be my guess. light weight and perfect when you need to move fast and want deadly accuracy. its not daddys old m16!

[darwufche]

HaHa. Now the SOB is fish food. Deservedly.

[Empire---George____]

"Officials were reluctant to inflame Islamic sentiment by showing graphic images of the body."

What is wrong with these people, being afraid of Islamic sentiment is more important than proving this to the American people and especially the family of the victims of the attack ?!?!?!

Same with the TSA, afraid of inflaming muslims at the airport, so make EVERYONE out to be the terrorist, so they can have terrorist equality.

[wlhoppers]

Who cares if his head was blown apart? Bunch of ghouls...

[Empire---George____]

We care, because we are still dealing with the aftermath of the attack up here in NY......so, after they had to pick up the body parts of fireman, it's nice to know, that Bin Laden got a bullet right in the eye, blowing his head to pieces.....Ghoulish, maybe....but sweet revenge.

[karlejohn]

Pictures should not be released now. Maybe, a week before the election.

[AOCGUY]

"by social_adjucator May 3, 2011 9:26 AM EDT Hollow point bullets are a violation of the Geneva Convention against enemy combatants, only the use of such would effect such a wound. The use of hollow point bullets constitutes a "War Crime". All parties in collusion to assainate rather to "disarm, restrain and contain" should be held accountable all the way up the chain of command"

Social - Bin Laden was a heinous criminal, mass murderer, and a blasphemer. I seriously doubt any rational person would have any problem with how he met has maker, although I would like to thank those that arranged the meeting.

BTW, Dead is dead - doubt he suffered if you are truely concerned.

[humen0007]

Instead of burial at sea in a PC attempt to honor his religion of peace, his body should have been shredded and spread spread about on a hog farm.

[Mortarman429]

Great idea.

[AOCGUY]

Dispite the "attempt" to honor Islam, burial at sea is in fact a violation of Islam. Burial at sea is only permitted when the individual dies at sea and it is not possible to transport the body back to land before decomposition sets in. Either way he is fish food. Within a few months Pakistanis will be eating fish that ate Bin Laden - think about that!

[pr_boxer]

Great job by the Obama administration reminding the rogues of the world, "the USA is a very competent, and relentless enemy". In other words, "if you fl*ck with the bull, you'll get the the horns"

[wlhoppers]

Oh what a load of bull. We have one success in 10 years and everyone thinks the USA is the toughest kid on the block. I'm truly glad bin Laden has been taken out and extremely proud of the American forces who did the job - but what about all the huge blunders we've made that have been swept under the carpet? Pat Tillman being killed by friendly fire? That we had ample warning about the 9/11 attacks and ignored them? Explain our "competence" to their families and friends.

[mariannpepit]

Remember on thing. Without the courier's information the U.S. would not have known where Bin Laden was hiding. And Pakastan knew where he was all along. Bin Laden deserved to die the way he did. Obama gave the orders after getting the information from the courier or Bin Laden would still be alive.