It was 7:45 pm Pacific time, I was watching 60 minutes when a breaking news bulletin cut in: the president was about to make an announcement. The first thing I thought (and I heard many others did as well) was that it had something to do with Libya. But the news was stunning: US Special Forces had found and killed Osama bin Laden.
It's been nearly 10 years since 9/11/2001, and the hunt for Bin Laden went from an all-consuming passion to eventually being a joke, and even a movie: Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?
The mystery is over, bin Laden was not in a cave somewhere, he was living in a suburb of of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad in a fortified mansion.
Reuters graphic
President Obama gave the order to go after bin Laden on Friday, April 29 just before leaving for Alabama to tour the tornado damaged areas and offer support to residents
The president's statement:
The full text of the president's statement can be read here:
Keith Olbermann's blog provided some great insight, including the mind-boggling realization that Obama had given the order to go after bin Laden the day before the White House Correspondents' Dinner and the mission was in play while he was at the dinner:
"This was the President, via C-SPAN, captured byThe New York Observer, during the jokes about bin Laden during The White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday Night. The proverbial 1000-word screencap:"
The man can certainly multi-task, summarized here in some of my favorite tweets by some of my favorite Tweeples:
Obama worked in Alabama on the disaster there. He knocked them out at the WHCD. Took out Bin Ladin. All in the same weekend. He's the Man.
Pres Obama made decision to undertake raid operation at 8:20am Friday, 4/29, before leaving for Alabama.
AMAZING: Firefighters get the news in Times Square (via @nytimes)
USA!! - USA!! - USA!! - USA!! #OBAMA KILLED OSAMA BIN LADEN!!
ChicoDelainky ChicoDelainky
"On 9/11, Americans were running from the White House. Tonight they are running to it"~ Chico Delainky
There was a great deal of celebration on hearing the news, as hundreds of people gathered at the White House:
Although not everyone was happy about the news, at least not happy that it was President Obama who got the bad guy, and that the news broke in during the last few minutes of Celebrity Apprentice on the east coast:
Drudge is such a grump...
And lastly, a bit of humor from Twitter, a brand new Twitter account from the Ghost of Osama:
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