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15 Aug 2011 10:39

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U.S., World: Did China get a good look at the downed Bin Laden stealth copter?

The Pentagon thinks Pakistan let the uber-powerful communist nation take a look at this stealth Blackhawk copter, which crashed just before a bunch of Seal Team 6 members killed Osama bin Laden. source
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24 Jun 2011 11:17

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World: Osama bin Laden seriously considered changing al-Qaeda’s name

  • what In the months before his death, the leader of the terrorist group considered giving al-Qaeda a different name, according to a letter retrieved by special forces officials after he was killed back in May. It was a sign of Bin Laden attempting to keep the group relevant.
  • why The  name “al-Qaeda” stands for “the base,” which Bin Laden thought didn’t strike a religious pose. He wanted a name that emphasized that they were going to holy war with the enemies of Islam. He had nothing to worry about; “al-Qaeda” did the trick. source
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08 Jun 2011 11:39

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World: Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri eulogizes Osama bin Laden

  • The sheikh has departed, may God have mercy on him, to his God as a martyr and we must continue on his path of jihad to expel the invaders from the land of Muslims and to purify it from injustice.
  • Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri • Eulogizing the death of Osama bin Laden in a recently-released 28-minute recording. He had some rough words for the U.S., too, obviously: “Today, and thanks be to God, America is not facing an individual or a group … but a rebelling nation which has awoken from its sleep in a jihadist renaissance.” Al-Zawahri, al-Qaeda’s longtime number two, was reportedly passed up for the top job after Bin Laden’s death. In other news, a recent poll suggests widespread global support for the killing of Bin Laden, though most people think it won’t change things. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2011 21:25

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World: U.S. government: “Real intelligence” found durin Bin Laden raid

  • We expect to learn more how bin Laden communicated, who he communicated with and how often he did it, what guidance did he pass on, what questions were passed on, how he operated, how he ran al Qaeda and what did other people expect from bin Laden.
  • A U.S. intelligence official • Discussing what they’ve learned from the death of Osama bin Laden. Rather than devolving into a mere symbol of al-Qaeda, the official suggested that the U.S. gained “real intelligence” from the raid, though much of that intelligence shows that planned attacks were merely “aspirational” in nature. Still, knowing the inner-workings of an organization known for its coordinated attacks is a huge deal. Other notable news from the raid: The group of Navy SEALS were prepped for a possible fight with Pakistani military and police — which is why the group was fairly large. source
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09 May 2011 10:08

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U.S.: POLL: Should Obama release the photos of Bin Laden’s death?

  • The nays have it: Though some might find reason for disagreeing with Obama on whether or not to release death photos of the al-Qaeda leader, a NBC News poll puts that number strongly in Obama’s favor, though some of the people polled weren’t super-passionate about the issue. When we posed this question to our readers last week, we got a lot of passionate response on both sides. Which suggests that people passionate about this are really passionate. source
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08 May 2011 19:55

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Politics: Barack Obama explains the Bin Laden thang to “60 Minutes”

Know how sure Obama was that Osama bin Laden was in that Pakistani compound? 55 percent. But he went for it anyway. Like a boss. source
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07 May 2011 14:33

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World: U.S.-leaked Osama bin Laden video proves he was apparently vain

  • Bin Laden watching himself on TV: In case you were wondering, the leader of al-Qaeda could be incredibly meta at times, according to this clip just released by the U.S. government. It’s one of five the government released, and this one seems to scream more than any other video ever made, “parody me, citizens of YouTube!” source
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07 May 2011 12:35

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World: Navy SEALS didn’t have a tape measure during Bin Laden raid

  • However, the heavily-armed, electronically wired SEALs didn’t come with a tape measure to get an accurate height reading. According to reports, a Navy SEAL of about 6-feet laid out next to bin Laden’s corpse to gauge the Al Qaeda leader’s height. The corpse was several inches taller.
  • An article on CBS’ Dan Farber • Noting the fairly awkward way that they measured Osama bin Laden’s height after the raid that led to his death. Could you imagine? These big hulking men just killed Bin Laden, only to have to force one of them to lay the ground next to him to do rough measurements? That’s weird. source
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06 May 2011 16:37

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World: The real question: Was Osama bin Laden smoking marijuana?

  • They were growing pot on his compound: A recent report by our boy Nic Robertson of CNN notes that the slain al-Qaeda leader may have had an interesting crop on his property. Next to the cabbage and potatoes were potent marijuana leaves, which is interesting for a number of reasons. Osama had longstanding kidney problems, which might partly explain it, but if he was smoking recreationally, that adds a new wrinkle to this story. LOOK AT US, SPECULATING! source
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06 May 2011 10:07

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World: Note from al-Qaeda: Osama bin Laden dead, but we’ll retaliate

  • Soon — with help from Allah — their happiness will turn into sorrow, and their blood will be mixed with their tears.
  • A message reportedly from al-Qaeda • Revealing that Osama bin Laden is dead (on their end), and that retaliation was likely in the cards. The statement was posted on notable jihadist forums this morning, and SITE Intelligence Group translated it. “We will not deviate from that or change until Allah judges between us and between our enemy with truth,” the note continues. “Indeed, He is the best of all judges. Nothing will harm us after that, until we see either victory and success and conquest and empowerment, or we die trying.” So, to those doubting Bin Laden’s death: So there’s this. source
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