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bin Laden

Primary Target on Osama bin Laden Hit List: President Obama

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ABC News

U.S. officials say that Osama Bin Laden wanted to assemble a team to attack America on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and had a hit list that included President Obama, General
David Petraeus and a major U.S. sporting event.

The hit list was discovered in the “treasure trove” of information seized from Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound after the Navy SEAL raid that killed him in May. Officials say he was intent on an attack on the upcoming 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, though the plot was only in the “discussion phase.” He also remained obsessed with using aircraft to kill.

Officials tell ABC News that bin Laden wanted to fly a small plane into a sporting event to cause mass casualties.

“We have so many small airports, you could fly below radar,” said Brad Garrett, former FBI special agent and now an ABC News consultant. “That’s possibly doable.’

The primary target on bin Laden’s hit list was President Obama. Officials tell ABC News that bin Laden was trying to hatch a plan to kill President Obama by shooting down Air Force One or Marine One, the president’s plane and helicopter.

Pakistan to Allow US Officials Access to Bin Laden Widows

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Bloomberg | Pakistan will allow the U.S. to question the three wives of Osama bin Laden who were with him in the compound where American commandos killed the al-Qaeda leader last week, granting a measure of cooperation amid tensions following the raid.

The Obama administration expects to get access to the women soon, based on a response from the Pakistani government, a U.S. official said yesterday on condition of anonymity. The specific timing of the access wasn’t set, the official said.

The decision followed verbal skirmishing between the two countries. Pakistani officials have said that the U.S. should have informed Pakistan of the operation in advance. U.S. officials have questioned how much Pakistani authorities knew about bin Laden’s presence in their country.

The Obama administration said yesterday that it wouldn’t apologize for entering Pakistan to raid bin Laden’s compound, as the South Asian country’s prime minister tried to counter domestic criticism over the military’s failure to detect and stop the U.S. attack.

“We obviously take the statements and concerns of the Pakistani government seriously,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said yesterday, speaking after Pakistan’s prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, addressed the Parliament in Islamabad. “But we also do not apologize for the actions that we took.”

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Al-Qaeda: ‘bin Laden is Dead’

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BBC | Al-Qaeda has confirmed the death of its leader Osama Bin Laden, according to a statement attributed to the group and posted on jihadist internet forums.

The statement said his blood would not be “wasted” and that al-Qaeda would continue attacking the US and allies.

It said Bin Laden’s death would be a “curse” for the US and urged an uprising in Pakistan.

Bin Laden died on Monday when US commandos stormed his compound in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad.

The statement comes as several rallies are being held across Pakistan in protest at Monday’s raid.

Gary Brooks Faulkner; Remember Him?

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Gary Brooks FaulknerDoes anyone remember the name Gary Brooks Faulkner? Probably not. He was the lone American caught in Pakistan in June of 2010. Why was he there? He had taken it upon himself to hunt down Osama bin Laden.

Having suffered a loss from the attacks on 9-11, Gary felt it was his duty to carry out the hunt and kill bin Laden. Feelling as though the US government wasn’t doing enough, and that they were looking in all the wrong places, he armed himself with a sword, night-vision goggles and a book of Christian sayings and writings. It wan’t enough to just hunt him down and kill him, Faulkner wanted to behead Osama.

The scary thing about this story is just how close Gary was. Being dubbed the ‘American ninja,’ Faulkner seems to have been working with better intel than the guys that do it for a living. He was certainly on a better trail than what was being chased at the time.

Hopefully, for Faulkner, the news is sweeter than honey knowing that not only is bin Laden dead, but also just how close he was.

Bin Laden in the Game of Climate Change

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In a new video, obtained by Al Jazeera, Osama bin Laden is condemning industrial states holding them responsible for the phenomenon of climate change.

Al Jazeera – Bin Laden deplores climate change

In an audio tape obtained by Al Jazeera, bin Laden criticised George Bush, the former US president, for rejecting the Kyoto pact and condemned global corporations.

“This is a message to the whole world about those responsible for climate change and its repercussions – whether intentionally or unintentionally – and about the action we must take,” bin Laden said.

“Speaking about climate change is not a matter of intellectual luxury – the phenomenon is an actual fact.”

In the new recording, bin Laden said: “Noam Chomsky [the US academic and political commentator] was correct when he compared the US policies to those of the Mafia. They are the true terrorists and therefore we should refrain from dealing in the US dollar and should try to get rid of this currency as early as possible.

“I am certain that such actions will have grave repercussions and huge impact.”

While continuing to attack America, bin Laden’s comments mark a shift from his earlier, more regionally focused commentary.