Given that the current version of events is that the whole episode was being monitored live by the Commander in Chief, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defence and nearly every other senior brass hat in the US, that hardly seems a wild assumption to make.
All of which could have easily have been dealt with, by the explicit Presidential order: "Your top priority, whatever the cost, is to take him alive".
According to satellite photos it was a vacant lot before 2004.
nfloorl:imp
I would think that quite a few countries would be uncomfortable and resent the idea of another country conducting ops on their soil without being informed [then again there are those here who are convinced that Pakistan was kept in the loop all along and only denied it for internal political reasons]. I doubt if the U.S. would like it if it were in a similiar position
.if there is no live footage of the raid, then what was that fomous pic showing obama n his whole cabinet watched with alot of tension visible on obama & clinton's face..
Osama bin Laden dead: Blackout during raid on bin Laden compound - Telegraph
Taken from the link above.
I wish ... unfortunately what I think will happen is that the hard-core members of Al Quaida will stay on till the end while the others will gradually drift away into other religious groups.
From what I gathered, the official line has always been that they are in the situation room watching the event unfold from the satellite feed. Earlier reports also suggested it was tense moment because they had to make sure the helicopters made it out the Pakistan airspace safely. I remember reading this before this whole what really happened inside the compound got into discussion.
Interesting, still it doesn't make sense.
In India, the moment any government agency (municipality, electricity board etc) notices anybody new in the area, a line starts forming trying to extort a bribe/baksheesh unless they've got orders from higher-ups not to do so. From what I know about the situation in Pakistan, I suspect it's not all that different which makes me wonder how OBL was able to stay undercover for so long.Not sure about Pakistan but here in India, if you rent out your premises to someone or employ some house helps, you have to inform the police with their details (photographs, copies of ID's). I have to admit it is not done everywhere, but around sensitive locations a database is always maintained . It may not be very thorough but a database exists. Of course nothing is fool proof, but they have managed to nab terrorists from around IMA a couple of times, so i guess it works.
Btw just saw an interview of OBL's neighbours kid, he said if their cricket ball landed in his courtyard, they were not allowed to take the ball, but were payed money instead if they started whining. By this criteria, half my neighborhood could be full of non paying OBL's
OBL worked with the USA during the USSR-Afghan War. Some people think that the intelligence agencies, and the CIA in particular, have some device that they use to zap the brains of anyone how ever worked for them so that they can never think for themselves again or turn on their masters.
He did NOT work with the the U.S.A. This is a common misconception. His Arab volunteers and the 'Base' got all their funding from charities and rich inviduals in the Middle East, pacticularly Saudi and the Gulf States. The U.S.A. worked with Afghan groups led by people such as Abdul Haq, Hetmatyar and Haqqani.
