First bin Laden, now US out to destroy al-Qaida
Source: Agencies |
May 4, 2011, Wednesday
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The United States aims to build upon its killing of Osama bin Laden to destroy his al-Qaida terrorist organization, the White House counterterrorism chief said yesterday.
John Brennan declared that the administration was determined to "pummel the rest of al-Qaida" as the US moves on from the daring Navy SEAL raid that eliminated bin Laden with a lethal shot above his left eye in a surprise airborne attack on his US$1 million compound not far from Islamabad, the Pakistan capital.
A US official said the 40-minute raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad netted potentially crucial al-Qaida records as well as the body of the global terrorist leader. The assault team came away with hard drives, DVDs, documents and more that might tip US intelligence to al-Qaida's operational details and perhaps lead the manhunt to the presumed next-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri.
The feared and expanding al-Qaida organization had suffered "severe body blows" during the 10-year US-led war in Afghanistan, Brennan said yesterday.
President Barack Obama has vowed to begin withdrawing some American forces from Afghanistan this summer.
As details of the mission that killed bin Laden continued to filter out, US officials weighed the pros and cons of releasing secret video and photos of the dead bin Laden.
"This needs to be done thoughtfully," Brennan said, with careful consideration given to what kind of reaction the images might provoke.
At issue were 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.
Obama plans to visit the site of the former World Trade Center in New York tomorrow to mark the killing of bin Laden and remember the nearly 3,000 who were killed in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
The US, under then-President George W. Bush, invaded Afghanistan late that year hoping to eliminate the al-Qaida sanctuary provided by the militant Taliban government then controlling the country.
As Americans rejoiced, they worried, too, that terrorists would be newly motivated to lash out. In their wounded rage, al-Qaida ideologues fed that concern.
"By God, we will avenge the killing of the Sheik of Islam," one prominent al-Qaida commentator vowed. "Those who wish that jihad has ended or weakened, I tell them: Let us wait a little bit."
The only information about what occurred inside the compound has come from American officials, much of it provided under condition of anonymity.
They said SEALs dropped down ropes from helicopters, killed bin Laden aides and made their way to the main building. 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.
John Brennan declared that the administration was determined to "pummel the rest of al-Qaida" as the US moves on from the daring Navy SEAL raid that eliminated bin Laden with a lethal shot above his left eye in a surprise airborne attack on his US$1 million compound not far from Islamabad, the Pakistan capital.
A US official said the 40-minute raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad netted potentially crucial al-Qaida records as well as the body of the global terrorist leader. The assault team came away with hard drives, DVDs, documents and more that might tip US intelligence to al-Qaida's operational details and perhaps lead the manhunt to the presumed next-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri.
The feared and expanding al-Qaida organization had suffered "severe body blows" during the 10-year US-led war in Afghanistan, Brennan said yesterday.
President Barack Obama has vowed to begin withdrawing some American forces from Afghanistan this summer.
As details of the mission that killed bin Laden continued to filter out, US officials weighed the pros and cons of releasing secret video and photos of the dead bin Laden.
"This needs to be done thoughtfully," Brennan said, with careful consideration given to what kind of reaction the images might provoke.
At issue were 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.
Obama plans to visit the site of the former World Trade Center in New York tomorrow to mark the killing of bin Laden and remember the nearly 3,000 who were killed in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
The US, under then-President George W. Bush, invaded Afghanistan late that year hoping to eliminate the al-Qaida sanctuary provided by the militant Taliban government then controlling the country.
As Americans rejoiced, they worried, too, that terrorists would be newly motivated to lash out. In their wounded rage, al-Qaida ideologues fed that concern.
"By God, we will avenge the killing of the Sheik of Islam," one prominent al-Qaida commentator vowed. "Those who wish that jihad has ended or weakened, I tell them: Let us wait a little bit."
The only information about what occurred inside the compound has come from American officials, much of it provided under condition of anonymity.
They said SEALs dropped down ropes from helicopters, killed bin Laden aides and made their way to the main building. 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.
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