Osama bin Laden is dead

WASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden was unarmed when Navy SEALs burst into his room and shot him to death, the White House said Tuesday, a change in the official account that raised questions about whether the U.S. ever planned to capture the terrorist leader alive.

The Obama administration, meanwhile, was still debating whether to release gruesome images of bin Laden's corpse, balancing efforts to show the world that he is dead against the risk that the images could provoke further anti-U.S. sentiment. But CIA Director Leon Panetta said a photo would be released.

"I don't think there was any question that ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public," Panetta said in an interview with "NBC Nightly News."

After killing the world's most wanted terrorist, the SEAL team in just minutes swept bin Laden's compound for useful intelligence, making off with a cache of computer equipment and documents. The CIA was hurriedly setting up a task force to review the material from the highest level of al-Qaida's leadership.

The documents provide a rare opportunity for U.S. intelligence. When a midlevel terrorist is captured, his bosses know exactly what information might be compromised and can change plans. When the boss is taken everything might be compromised, but nobody knows for sure.

Panetta said bin Laden didn't have time to speak to the SEALs. "I don't think he had a lot of time to say anything," Panetta said in an interview with PBS NewsHour. "This was all split-second action on the part of the SEALs."

Panetta said bin Laden made "some threatening moves that ... clearly represented a clear threat to our guys. And that's the reason they fired."

McClatchy Newspapers reported, however, that the Navy commandos who attacked bin Laden's compound were operating under rules of engagement that all but assured the al-Qaida leader would be killed.

Bin Laden could have surrendered only "if he did not pose any type of threat whatsoever," White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan said on Fox television, and if U.S. troops "were confident of that in terms of his not having an IED (improvised explosives device) on his body, his not having some type of hidden weapon or whatever."

Added a senior congressional aide briefed on the rules of engagement: "He would have had to have been naked for them to allow him to surrender."

Once troops exchanged fire with bin Laden allies living in the compound - three men were killed, in addition to the al-Qaida leader - the chances of a surrender were almost nil, experts say.

Meanwhile, the question of how to present bin Laden's death to the world is a difficult balancing act for the White House. President Obama told Americans that justice had been done, but the White House also assured the world that bin Laden's body was treated respectfully and sent to rest in a somber ceremony at sea.

Panetta underscored on Tuesday that Obama had given permission to kill the terror leader.

"The authority here was to kill bin Laden," he said. "And obviously, under the rules of engagement, if he had in fact thrown up his hands, surrendered and didn't appear to be representing any kind of threat, then they were to capture him. But they had full authority to kill him."

On Monday, the White House said bin Laden was involved in a firefight, which is why the SEALs killed rather than captured him. On Tuesday, however, White House press secretary Jay Carney said bin Laden did not fire on the SEALs. He said bin Laden resisted but offered no specifics. Bin Laden's wife rushed the SEALs when they stormed the room, Carney said, and was shot in the calf.

"Bin Laden was then shot and killed," Carney said. "He was not armed."

That was one of many official details that have changed in the two days since bin Laden was killed:

• A White House transcript misidentified which of bin Laden's sons was killed - it was Khalid, not Hamza.

• Officials incorrectly said bin Laden's wife died in the gunfire while serving as his human shield. That was actually the wife of bin Laden's aide, and she was just caught in crossfire, the White House said Tuesday.

Carney attributed those discrepancies to the fog of war.

"We provided a great deal of information with great haste in order to inform you, and through you the American public, about the operation and how it transpired and the events that took place there in Pakistan," Carney told reporters Tuesday. "And obviously some of the information came in piece by piece."

Five people were killed in the raid, officials said: Bin Laden; his son; his most trusted courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, and al-Kuwaiti's wife and brother.

Pakistan formally criticized the raid Tuesday, calling it an "unauthorized unilateral action."

While the statement suggested further strain in U.S. relations with an important but at times unreliable counterterrorism ally, Pakistan is unlikely to have much world support for criticizing the successful mission.

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration was investigating whether Pakistan knew Osama bin Laden was hiding deep inside the country as House Speaker John Boehner and top lawmakers insisted the U.S. maintain close ties with the sometimes reluctant ally in the war on terror.

The killing of Osama bin Laden at a compound just miles from Islamabad prompted furious questions about whether Pakistan was complicit in protecting the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. Several Republicans and Democrats in Congress have raised the possibility of cutting off U.S. aid to Pakistan.

John Brennan, White House counterterrorism adviser, said the administration is "not accusing anybody at this point, but we want to make sure we get to the bottom of this." He said they were looking at whether bin Laden had a support system in Pakistan that allowed him to remain in the country. He made the comments in an interview with National Public Radio.

Amid the harsh criticism of Pakistan, Boehner and others said this was not the time to back away from Pakistan.

"I think we need more engagement, not less," he said. "Al-Qaida and other extremist groups have made Pakistan a target. … Having a robust partnership with Pakistan is critical to breaking the back of al-Qaida and the rest of them."

Boehner said it was premature to talk about cutting off U.S. aid to Pakistan. When pressed on the level of funds, however, he said it was imperative that the U.S. have an "eyeball to eyeball conversation about where this relationship is going."

Pakistani leaders denied suggestions that their country's security forces had sheltered bin Laden.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Congress may consider cutting the almost $1.3 billion in annual aid to Pakistan if it turns out the Islamabad government knew where bin Laden was hiding.

The No. 2 House Democratic leader, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, said if Pakistan doesn't ease doubts about its dedication to fighting terrorists, Congress should explore whether it makes sense to reduce U.S. aid to that country.

"I don't know whether it would be effective or counterproductive, we'll have to look at that," he told reporters, adding, "It needs to be looked into."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, acknowledged the frustration of his colleagues.

"But at the end of the day, if you want to create a failed state in Pakistan, one of the best things to do is sever relationships. It is not in our national security interest to let this one event destroy what is a difficult partnership but a partnership nonetheless," Graham said.

The Obama administration pushed back on talk of punishing Pakistan.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. is committed to cooperating with Pakistan despite questions about who in the Islamabad government may have known that bin Laden was in hiding in his compound in Abbottabad.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Some two dozen Palestinians gathered in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday to pay tribute to slain al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

About 25 people holding pictures and posters of bin Laden rallied outside a Gaza City university. The crowd included al-Qaida sympathizers as well as students who said they opposed bin Laden's ideology but were angry at the U.S. for killing him and consider him a martyr.

Hamas police did not interfere in the demonstration.

In the weeks ahead of bin Laden's death, a survey in the Arab world by the Pew Research Center found support for the al-Qaida leader had dropped dramatically in recent years - though it remained the highest among Palestinians.

The survey said about a third of Palestinians believed bin Laden would do the right thing in world affairs, which still represented a dramatic drop from a few years ago when overwhelming numbers approved of him.

On Monday, Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of Gaza's Hamas government, condemned the U.S. operation against bin Laden, whom he hailed as a "Muslim and Arab warrior."

Still, the Islamic Hamas has always distanced itself from al-Qaida's militant Islamic ideology, saying its battle is against Israel, not the West.

Al-Qaida's supporters have often accused Hamas of being too moderate and clashed with them.

Israel's Channel 2 TV broadcast video Tuesday from Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest site, showing a Palestinian preacher mourning bin Laden, calling him "a hero" and "a lion of Islam," cursing President Obama, and hurling insults at Pope John Paul II.

The video showed him preaching to a few dozen listeners.

WASHINGTON - The top staffer for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee is objecting to the U.S. military's use of the code name "Geronimo" for Osama bin Laden during the raid that killed the al-Qaida leader.

Geronimo was an Apache leader in the 19th century who spent many years fighting the Mexican and U.S. armies until his surrender in 1886.

Loretta Tuell, staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said Tuesday it was inappropriate to link Geronimo, whom she called "one of the greatest Native American heroes," with one of the most hated enemies of the United States.

"These inappropriate uses of Native American icons and cultures are prevalent throughout our society, and the impacts to Native and non-Native children are devastating," Tuell said.

Tuell is a member of the Nez Perce Tribe. The Senate Indian Affairs panel had previously scheduled a hearing for Thursday on racial stereotypes of native people.

Steven Newcomb, a columnist for the weekly newspaper Indian Country Today, criticized what he called a disrespectful use of a name revered by many Native Americans.

"Apparently, having an African-American president in the White House is not enough to overturn the more than 200-year American tradition of treating and thinking of Indians as enemies of the United States," Newcomb wrote.

After bin Laden was killed, the military sent a message back to the White House: "Geronimo EKIA" - enemy killed in action.

Jefferson Keel, president of National Congress of American Indians, the largest organization representing American Indians and Alaska Natives, said, "Osama bin Laden was a shared enemy."

Keel said that since 2001, 77 American Indians and Alaskan Natives have died defending the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq. More than 400 have been wounded.

WASHINGTON - The killing of Osama bin Laden has produced a decided boost in President Obama's overall approval rating, along with even bigger gains in opinions of his handling of the war in Afghanistan and dealing with the threat of terrorism, according to a Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll.

The survey, conducted Monday night, found no material change in the president's already low ratings for his handling of the economy, still the No. 1 issue in the eyes of most Americans. That suggests that a success on one front, even one as significant as the death of the man most responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has not necessarily translated to other areas.

Bin Laden's death provided an emotional release for most Americans. In the poll, 72 percent say they were "relieved" when they heard the news, 60 percent were "proud," and 58 percent were "happy." Just 16 percent say the news made them feel "afraid."

A sizable majority, 68 percent, say the death of bin Laden will contribute to the long-term security of the United States, roughly the same as said so about the capture of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. But few say it will make a major contribution, and an even larger majority say that, despite bin Laden's death, continued military action will be needed to deal with terrorist threats.

The survey found a significant increase in the percentage of Americans who say they believe that the United States will be successful in the war in Afghanistan, up from 49 percent last December to 64 percent now. Almost half, 46 percent, say they are more confident because of the success in killing bin Laden, though about as many, 45 percent, say Sunday's raid did not change their view.

The president's overall approval rating jumped nine points compared with a Washington Post-ABC News poll last month and now stands at 56 percent. His disapproval fell from 50 percent to 38 percent. His overall standing now is at its highest point in more than a year and a half.

Approval of Obama's handling of the situation in Afghanistan leaped 16 points, to 60 percent, while his numbers on the handling of the threat of terrorism jumped 13 points, to 69 percent. His rating on terrorism is now the highest of his presidency, while his Afghanistan approval rating is one of the highest.

His approval rating on the economy is 40 percent positive, 55 percent negative.

WASHINGTON - The demise of Osama bin Laden complicates what was already a tough call for President Obama: how to wind down the nearly decade-old war in Afghanistan. Now the symbolic reason for staying in the fight - to get al-Qaida's leader and avenge 9/11 - has been undercut.

Momentum had been building in Congress and elsewhere for a shift to a narrower, less costly military mission in Afghanistan even before the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden.

This could suit Obama's desire to put Afghanistan behind him by beginning a phased troop pullout this summer along with NATO partners. But it also could put him at sharper odds with his military commanders, who argue for a slower drawdown and a longer-term military commitment that they believe would lessen the chances of Afghanistan again falling apart.

U.S. commanders fear squandering hard-fought battlefield gains, particularly those achieved with the addition last year of an extra 30,000 American troops. They now face a spring offensive by the Taliban, whose goal remains undermining the Afghan government, discrediting its security forces and driving out U.S. troops.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., reflected a wider skepticism about remaining heavily involved in Afghanistan when he said Tuesday that he had not imagined at the outset of the war in October 2001 that U.S. troops would still be there - "with no end in sight, even after the death of Osama bin Laden."

Top administration officials have vowed not to abandon Afghanistan, even as the U.S. military role shrinks, and their central rationale is not changed by the elimination of bin Laden. They point to 1989 and the U.S. decision to walk away from Afghani-stan after the Soviet occupation collapsed; chaos ensued, the Taliban rose to power and al-Qaida had a launch pad for global terror.

The worry is that the pattern would be repeated if the U.S. left anytime soon, giving terrorists a haven and compelling a future president to intervene yet again.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said it was clear the administration's plan is working.

"I don't want to see us take any steps that jeopardize the progress we've made," he told reporters.

US Toll in Afghanistan

1,458

Deaths

11,191

Wounded

Latest identifications

• Sgt. Adam D. Craig, 23, of Cherokee, Iowa; was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Sioux City, Iowa.

SOURCE: Department of Defense

FORT WORTH, Texas - A former No. 2 Defense Department official in President George W. Bush's administration said Tuesday that he sees no benefit to the United States making public photographs of Osama bin Laden's corpse.

George England was Navy secretary and deputy Defense secretary under Bush. At a speaking engagement in Fort Worth, he said he hopes Obama does not release photos and videos the SEALs made of bin Laden's corpse.

"I don't think it serves any purpose. I hope they don't release them. I don't see many benefits of showing his body with a bullet in his eye, but I see several downsides," he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

In a later interview with The Associated Press, he specified the main downside he sees. "Who knows how people would react to it? ... It could be inflammatory."

At the speaking engagement, he hailed as politically risky but courageous President Obama's decision to raid the walled compound where the al-Qaida leader was living.

"Think of the consequences if this had not worked," he said. "The intelligence was apparently only a 60-to-80-percent chance that he was there. If a helicopter had been shot down or (Navy) SEALs had been killed and bin Laden wasn't there, the fallout would have been enormous, particularly because they were in Pakistan."

Although he sees bin Laden's death as providing "a political rationale" for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, he said a total withdrawal would be a bad idea. The U.S. must keep a long-term presence there to prevent re-establishment of terrorist training camps where al-Qaida was born.

A U.S. official says Osama bin Laden went down firing at the Navy SEALs who stormed his compound.

An official familiar with the operation says bin Laden was hit by a barrage of carefully aimed return fire.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because aspects of the operation remain classified.

The official says two dozen SEALs in night-vision goggles dropped into the high-walled compound in Pakistan by sliding down ropes from Chinook helicopters in the overnight raid.

U.S. officials say bin Laden was killed near the end of the 40-minute raid.

The SEALs retrieved bin Laden's body and turned the remaining detainees over to Pakistani authorities.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Declaring the killing of Osama bin Laden "a good day for America," President Barack Obama said Monday the world was safer without the al-Qaida terrorist and mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. His administration used DNA testing to help confirm that American forces in Pakistan had in fact killed bin Laden, as U.S. officials sought to erase all doubt about the stunning news.

"Today we are reminded that as a nation there is nothing we can't do," Obama said of the news bound to lift his political standing and help define his presidency. He hailed the pride of those who broke out in overnight celebrations as word spread around the globe.

An elite crew of American forces killed bin Laden during a daring raid on Monday, capping the world's most intense manhunt. Bin Laden was shot in the head during a firefight and then quickly buried at sea. White House officials were mulling the merits and appropriateness of releasing a photo.

As spontaneous celebrations and expressions of relief gave way to questions about precisely what happened and what comes next, U.S. officials warned that the campaign against terrorism is not nearly over _ and that the threat of deadly retaliation against the United States and its allies was real.

Senior administration officials said the DNA testing alone offered near 100 percent certainty that bin Laden was among those shot dead. Photo analysis by the CIA, confirmation by a woman believed to be bin Laden's wife on site, and matching physical features like bin Laden's height all helped confirmed the identification.

"We can all agree this is a good day for America," a subdued Obama said during a Medal of Honor ceremony in the glimmering White House East Room.

Still, it was unclear if the world would ever get visual proof.

Senior U.S. officials said bin Laden was killed toward the end of the firefight, which took place in a building at a compound north of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. His body was put aboard the USS Carl Vinson and placed into the North Arabian Sea.

Traditional Islamic procedures for handling the remains were followed, the officials said, including washing the corpse, placing it in a white sheet.

Across the government, Obama's security team used the occasion to warn that the campaign against terrorists was hardly over.

"The fight continues and we will never waver," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday. Her comments had echoes of former President George W. Bush's declaration nearly a decade ago, when al-Qaida attacks against America led to war in Afghanistan and changed the way Americans viewed their own safety.

Turning to deliver a direct message to bin Laden's followers, she vowed: "You cannot wait us out."

U.S. Capitol Police put on a conspicuous show of force Monday morning with 10 vehicles amassed near Constitution Avenue with their lights flashing and doors and trunks open. Officers armed with automatic weapons kept watch on every vehicle that passed.

Obama himself had delivered the news of bin Laden's killing in a dramatic White House statement late Sunday. "Justice has been done," he said.

Officials say CIA interrogators in secret overseas prisons developed the first strands of information that ultimately led to the killing of Osama bin Laden.

The military operation that ended bin Laden's life took mere minutes, and there were no U.S. casualties.

U.S. Blackhawk helicopters ferried about two dozen troops from Navy SEAL Team Six, a top military counter-terrorism unit, into the compound identified by the CIA as bin Laden's hideout _ and back out again in less than 40 minutes. Bin Laden was shot after he and his bodyguards resisted the assault, officials said.

Three adult males were also killed in the raid, including one of bin Laden's sons, whom officials did not name. One of bin Laden's sons, Hamza, is a senior member of al-Qaida. U.S. officials also said one woman was killed when she was used as a shield by a male combatant, and two other women were injured.

The compound is about a half-mile from a Pakistani military academy, in a city that is home to three army regiments and thousands of military personnel. Abbottabad is surrounded by hills and with mountains in the distance.

Critics have long accused elements of Pakistan's security establishment of protecting bin Laden, though Islamabad has always denied it, and in a statement the foreign ministry said his death showed the country's resolve in the battle against terrorism.

Bin Laden's death came 15 years after he declared war on the United States. Al-Qaida was also blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen, as well as countless other plots, some successful and some foiled.

"We have rid the world of the most infamous terrorist of our time," CIA director Leon Panetta declared to employees of the agency in a memo Monday morning. He warned that "terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge" the killing of a man deemed uncatchable. "Bin Laden is dead. Al-Qaida is not," Panetta said.

Retaliatory attacks against the U.S. and Western targets could come from members of al-Qaida's core branch in the tribal areas of Pakistan, al-Qaida franchises in other countries, and radicalized individuals in the U.S. with al-Qaida sympathies, according to a Homeland Security Department intelligence alert issued Sunday and obtained by The Associated Press.

While the intelligence community does not have insight into current al-Qaida plotting, the department believes symbolic, economic and transportation targets could be at risk, and small arms attacks against other targets can't be ruled out.

In all, nearly 3,000 were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks.

As news of bin Laden's death spread, hundreds of people cheered and waved American flags at ground zero in New York, the site where al-Qaida hijacked jets toppled the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Thousands celebrated all night outside the White House gates.

Many people said they were surprised that bin Laden had finally been found and killed. John Gocio, a doctor from Arkansas who was gathering what details he could from TV screens at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, marveled: "After such a long time, you kind of give up and say, `Well, that's never going to happen.'"

A couple of people posed for photographs in front of the White House while holding up front pages of Monday's newspapers announcing bin Laden's death.

The development seems certain to give Obama a political lift. Even fierce critics such as former Vice President Dick Cheney praised him.

But its ultimate impact on al-Qaida is less clear.

The greatest terrorist threat to the U.S. is now considered to be the al-Qaida franchise in Yemen, far from al-Qaida's core in Pakistan. The Yemen branch almost took down a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas 2009 and nearly detonated explosives aboard two U.S. cargo planes last fall. Those operations were carried out without any direct involvement from bin Laden.

The few fiery minutes in Abbottabad followed years in which U.S. officials struggled to piece together clues that ultimately led to bin Laden, according to an account provided by senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation.

Based on statements given by U.S. detainees since the 9/11 attacks, they said, intelligence officials have long known that bin Laden trusted one al-Qaida courier in particular, and they believed he might be living with him in hiding.

Four years ago, the United States learned the man's identity, which officials did not disclose, and then about two years later, they identified areas of Pakistan where he operated. Last August, the man's residence was found, officials said.

"Intelligence analysis concluded that this compound was custom built in 2005 to hide someone of significance," with walls as high as 18 feet and topped by barbed wire, according to one official. Despite the compound's estimated $1 million cost and two security gates, it had no phone or Internet running into the house.

By mid-February, intelligence from multiple sources was clear enough that Obama wanted to "pursue an aggressive course of action," a senior administration official said. Over the next two and a half months, the president led five meetings of the National Security Council focused solely on whether bin Laden was in that compound and, if so, how to get him, the official said.

Obama made a decision to launch the operation on Friday, shortly before flying to Alabama to inspect tornado damage, and aides set to work on the details.

Administration aides said the operation was so secretive that no foreign officials were informed in advance, and only a small circle inside the U.S. government was aware of what was unfolding half a world away.

___

Associated Press writers Ben Feller, Matt Apuzzo, Erica Werner, Pauline Jelinek, Robert Burns, Matthew Lee and Eileen Sullivan contributed to this story.

U.S. Sen. John McCain commended President Obama, armed-service members and intelligence officials for the U.S-led operation that led to the death of Osama bin Laden.

McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, said in a statement that he was "overjoyed that we finally got the world's top terrorist."

The Arizona senator added that al-Qaida remains a dangerous enemy but that the "the world is a better and more just place now that Osama bin Laden is no longer in it."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who presided over a statewide tribute after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Sunday that Americans and "decent people" had reason to cheer over the death of the terrorist leader.

"Welcome to hell, bin Laden," Huckabee said in a statement posted on the website of his political action committee and distributed via Twitter.

Former Homeland Security Secretary and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said he never doubted that someday bin Laden would be brought to justice.

"I always had confidence that at some point in time, the professionals in charge of the safety and security of this country would see to it that justice would be done," he said.

He said even bin Laden may not have expected the resolve of the country in responding to the attacks, although "I'm sure his followers certainly appreciate it now."

Former President George W. Bush said: "This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done."

Former President Bill Clinton said: "I congratulate the president, the national-security team and the members of our armed forces on bringing Osama bin Laden to justice after more than a decade of murderous al-Qaida attacks."

ISLAMABAD - Osama bin Laden was holed up in a two-story house 100 yards from a Pakistani military academy when four helicopters carrying U.S. anti-terror forces swooped in the early-morning hours and killed him.

Flames rose today from the building that was the apparent target of the raid as it was confirmed that the world's most wanted fugitive died not in a cave, but in a town best known as a garrison for the Pakistani military. A U.S. official said one of bin Laden's sons also was killed in the raid along with three others, but the official did not name the son nor the others killed.

President Obama provided few details of the operation beyond saying he had personally ordered it be carried out. Other officials said it was so secretive that no foreign officials were informed in advance, and only a small circle inside the administration was aware of what was unfolding half a world away.

Pakistani officials and a witness said bin Laden's guards opened fire from the roof of the building, and one of the choppers crashed. The sound of at least two explosions rocked the small northwestern town of Abbottabad where the al-Qaida chief made his last stand. The U.S. said no Americans were harmed in the raid.

Abbottabad is home to at least one regiment of the Pakistani army, dotted with military buildings and home to thousands of army personnel. Surrounded by hills and with mountains in the distance, it is less than half a day's drive from the border region with Afghanistan, where most intelligence assessments believed bin Laden was holed up.

The news he was killed in an army town in Pakistan will raise more pointed questions of how he managed to evade capture and whether Pakistan's military and intelligence leadership knew of his whereabouts and sheltered him. Critics have long accused elements of Pakistan's security establishment of protecting bin Laden, though Islamabad has always denied this.

Abbottabad resident Mohammad Haroon Rasheed said the raid happened around 1:15 a.m. Monday local time.

"I heard a thundering sound, followed by heavy firing. Then firing suddenly stopped. Then more thundering, then a big blast," he said. "In the morning when we went out to see what happened, some helicopter wreckage was lying in an open field."

He said the house was 100 yards away from the gate of the academy.

A Pakistani official in the town said fighters on the roof opened fire on the choppers with rocket-propelled grenades as they came close to the building. Another official said four helicopters took off from the Ghazi air base in northwest Pakistan.

Last summer, the U.S. army was based in Ghazi to help out in the aftermath of the floods.

Women and children were taken into custody during the raid, he said.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

While people across the country celebrated Osama bin Laden's death, Tucsonan Maggie Dyet appreciated the feeling of "justice" that came along with it.

Dyet's brother-in-law Jeff Coombs was on Flight 11- the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center - on Sept. 11, 2001.

Almost a decade later, Dyet said she still vividly remembers the morning.

She burst into tears when one of her sisters called to say Jeff might have been on the flight, and she collapsed to the ground and bawled when she learned he was dead.

"I just lost it. Those next days were filled with unbelievable pain."

Although she said the pain persists, Sunday's "joyful" news "brought a bit of justice," she said.

"Our family is going crazy on Facebook," said Dyet, who said a mistaken text message from her daughter first tipped her off to the news. The message asked: "Is Obama dead?" She immediately flipped on the news.

She said she was cynical about ever seeing this day.

" 'He's hiding in the desert, and they're never going to find him,' I thought. I never dreamed that it would be like this."

She said she spoke to her sister Christie, Jeff's wife, Sunday evening and encouraged the Boston-area resident to "scream and holler and throw things, if she needed to."

"It doesn't change things. Jeff is still gone," her sister told her through sobs.

"I said, 'Yeah, but he is probably dancing in Heaven.' "

She said her sister hates the word "closure," and although she's not too fond of it herself, she said Sunday's news is a move in the right direction.

"It's something. Maybe we'll be a little bit safer. Maybe we can hope that there will be some peace."

Contact reporter Marisa Gerber at mgerber@azstarnet.com or at 573-4142.

Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001. 

I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission.  They have our everlasting gratitude. 

This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. 

The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message:  No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.

Here's what others are saying about the the demise of Osama bin Laden. 

Politico: Limbaugh mocks Obama for bin Laden hit

 Anyone under the illusion that America might actually be capable of a moment of national unity around the death of Osama bin Laden had that illusion squashed by Rush Limbaugh today.

The New York Times: Second Thoughts About Obama and Bin Laden: It's Not Just the Economy, Stupid

When I first heard the news about the American military operation that killed Osama bin Laden, I was pretty certain that the popular press was going to overstate its impact on Barack Obama's re-election chances.

Overheard on CNN.com: The death of bin Laden

Comments of the Day.

HuffPost World: Bin Laden Plagued the Arab World, As Well

Americans and our allies have great reason to rejoice that Bin Laden deservedly died as a reviled fugitive at the hands of his victims' long arm of justice. President Obama's national security team deserves the highest of praise and gratitude from a thankful world.

The New York Times: Media React: Al Jazeera on Bin Laden's Death

By midday the headline on Al Jazeera's English-language Web site read "Osama bin Laden killed by US forces" and all 10 of the most-viewed headlines on the Web site were about the killing of Bin Laden.

Slate: Mrs. Bin Laden, the Human Shield

John Brennan's entire briefing on the killing of Bin Laden and 21 other people at his compound is worth reading. This part jumps out. 

The Guardian:  Death of Osama bin Laden: reaction

Here's a flashback to the 2008 election campaign, as the Republican candidate John McCain attacks his Democratic rival Barack Obama for his remarks about attacking high value targets in Pakistan.

The Economist: Let's call it a day

MY GUT is glad Osama bin Laden took a slug to the brainpan, but I see last night's rough justice more as cause for relieved trepidation than celebration. To me, Mr bin Laden's long overdue demise simply punctuates America's embarrassingly foolhardy, self-undermining and inept response to the 9/11 attacks.

HuffPost World: Osama Bin Laden Is Dead; Let the Peace Begin

For us, the death of Osama bin Laden is a time of profound reflection. With his death, we remember and mourn all the lives lost on September 11. We remember and mourn all the lives lost in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan. We remember and mourn the death of our soldiers. And we say, as we have been saying for the past nine years, "Enough."

Huffington Post: Curtains for Bin Laden's Freak Show

There was a theatrical air about Osama bin Laden. He cultivated mystique. For example, he relished inviting selected international journalists - some known for their own theatricality - to meet him in dangerous or shadowy circumstances that facilitated dramatic storytelling.

NPR: Obama's Political Fortunes Could Shift With Bin Laden's Death

The stunning news that President Obama ordered a lightning raid of a Pakistan safehouse that resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden could dramatically reshape the political landscape though only time will tell how durable any such change will be. 

MSNBC:  Ethics of assassination: Was it right to kill bin Laden? 

Do we condone killing without a trial? Is assassination ever an ethical act?

Forbes: Bonds Firm As Crude Oil Reverses Slide

The knee-jerk drop in government bond yields that accompanied the announcement of bin Laden's demise is wearing off like a nerve-numbing analgesic.

 Al Jazeera: Osama bin Laden killed in Pakistan

Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, is dead.

The Washington Post, PostPartisan blog: The pursuit of bin Laden

When Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States in the 1990s, he argued that if Muslim terrorists hit hard enough, the United States would retreat. The relentless pursuit that led to bin Laden’s death Sunday proved that narrative of American weakness was wrong.

The New York Times: The Most Wanted Face of Terrorism

Osama bin Laden, who was killed in Pakistan on Sunday, was a son of the Saudi elite whose radical, violent campaign to recreate a seventh-century Muslim empire redefined the threat of terrorism for the 21st century.

National Journal: TEXT: President George W. Bush's Statement on Osama Bin Laden's Death

Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001.

Bloomberg: S&P 500 Futures Jump, Oil Drops on Bin Laden’s Death

U.S. stock-index futures and Asian shares jumped, while crude oil fell from a 31-month high and the yen weakened after President Barack Obama said Osama bin Laden is dead. Silver tumbled as much as 13 percent.

Forbes, Mark Pasetsky Icelebrity blog: Osama Bin Laden is Dead: News Explodes on Twitter

Osama Bin Laden is dead and the news, not surprisingly, instantaneously became one of most-talked about topics around the world on Twitter.

Politico: Bin Laden dead

Nearly a decade after the September 11 attacks reshaped America's politics and national security strategy, President Barack Obama was set to announce Sunday night that U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden, a White House aide said in advance of the presidential statement. "We killed Osama," the aide said.

Entertainment Weekly: Primetime interrupted: Osama bin Laden dead

President Obama has endured entertainment industry criticism over the last few years for requesting premium broadcast air time for making speeches. But Sunday night’s abrupt and unexpected interruption is unlikely to draw any complaints.

The Times of India: Osama bin Laden: 9/11 author who defied Bush, Obama

LONDON: Challenging the might of the "infidel" United States, Osama bin Laden masterminded the deadliest militant attacks in history and then built a global network of allies to wage a "holy war" intended to outlive him. The man behind the suicide hijack attacks of September 11, 2001, and who US officials said late on Sunday was dead, was the nemesis of former President George W. Bush, who pledged to take him "dead or alive" and whose two terms were dominated by a "war on terror" against his al-Qaida network.

The Australian: Osama bin Laden hunted down and killed by US

AL-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden has been tracked down and killed by the United States in an operation in Pakistan, President Barack Obama has announced.

From Twitter:

I'll be buying tomorrow's newspaper and placing it next to the newspaper I bought on September 12th. We never forgot.

-SCO, @TucsonSco

The news of Osama Bin Laden's death has been officially announced @ Kino Stadium. Crowd breaks into cheers. Tucson #Padres 9, Colo Springs 3

-Sarah Trotto, @sarahtrotto

#mlb #Phillies fans and Mets fans rejoice together. Osama Bin Laden is dead

-Bob Nightengale, @BNightengale

#usa chant at citizens bank park .... #chills

-Kendall Rogers, @KendallRogersPG

Thank you to the men and women of our military and other government agencies for being persistent and finishing the job.

-Dustin Mattison, @Dustin_Mattison

Bin laden is dead. Watching the news right now amazing scenes outside the white house. 5/1/11 a memorable day.

-Ian Poulter, @IanJamesPoulter

Finally...

-Lance Armstrong, @lancearmstrong

Does anyone else find it moving hearing people singing our national anthem outside the white house gates? I do.

-Anderson Cooper, @andersoncooper

I dont understand why is it important which president got the deal done, to me the troops who actually WERE there deserve WAY more credit!

-Kyryl Natyazhko, @kreal1

9/11 widow on my flight. In tears. Comforted by entire cabin. Life altering event to see.

-Jim Forman, @jimformanKING5

George W. Bush statement: "Tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done."

-The Dallas Morning News, @dallas_news

Bill Clinton calls Bin Laden death "a profoundly important moment" in a just issued statement.

-The Dallas Morning News, @dallas_news

WASHINGTON - The CIA maintained a safe house in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad for a small team of spies who conducted extensive surveillance over a period of months on the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs this week, U.S. officials said.

The secret CIA facility was used as a base of operations for one of the most delicate human intelligence-gathering missions in recent CIA history, one that relied on Pakistani informants and other sources to help assemble a "pattern of life" portrait of the occupants and daily activities at the fortified compound, the officials said.

The on-the-ground surveillance work was part of an intelligence-gathering push mobilized after the discovery of the suspicious complex last August that involved virtually every category of collection in the U.S. arsenal, ranging from satellite imagery to eavesdropping efforts aimed at recording voices inside the compound.

The effort was so extensive and costly that the CIA went to Congress in December to secure authority to reallocate tens of millions of dollars within assorted agency budgets to fund it, according to U.S. officials.

Most of that surveillance capability remained in place until the execution of the raid by the SEALs shortly after 1 a.m. Monday in Pakistan. The agency's safe house did not play a role in the raid and has since been shut down, in part because of concerns about the safety of CIA assets in the aftermath, but also because the agency's work was considered finished.

"The CIA's job was to find and fix," said a U.S. official, using special operations forces terminology for the identification and location of a high-value target. "The intelligence work was as complete as it was going to be, and it was the military's turn to finish the target."

The official, like others quoted for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for the record. The CIA declined to comment.

Despite what officials described as an extraordinarily concentrated collection effort leading up to the operation, no U.S. spy agency was able to capture a photo of bin Laden at the compound before the raid, or a recording of the voice of the mysterious male figure whose family occupied the structure's top two floors.

Indeed, U.S. intelligence officials said bin Laden employed remarkable discipline to evade detection.

The following appeared in Thursday's Washington Post:

Some are questioning the legality of the raid in Pakistan that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.

The analysis must begin with the events of Sept. 11, 2001, when about 3,000 innocents were murdered by Osama bin Laden and his forces. There was no guesswork involved in pinpointing the culprits: He took credit for the bloodshed and reiterated his call for attacks against the United States and its allies. In passing the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) just one week later, Congress explicitly empowered the president to take all appropriate and necessary action against al-Qaida, the Taliban and all those who helped or harbored them. It was, in short, a declaration of war, and Osama bin Laden was rightly targeted for his central role in the atrocities.

Absent a surrender, there is no question that U.S. forces would have been entitled to shoot him on sight had they encountered him on an Afghan battlefield. After lengthy and intricate intelligence-gathering, the Obama administration tracked him to a heavily secured mansion in a city outside Islamabad populated by military officers and the country's elite military academy.

International law recognizes a country's inherent right to act in self-defense, and it makes no distinction between vindicating these rights through a drone strike or through a boots-on-the-ground operation. Administration officials have described the raid as a "kill or capture" mission and asserted that the SEALs would have taken Osama bin Laden alive had he surrendered and presented no threat to U.S. personnel or the others in the compound that night. This, according to official accounts, did not happen.

The SEALs entered the compound on a war footing, in the middle of the night, prepared to encounter hostile fire in what they believed to be the enemy leader's hideout. They had no way of knowing whether Osama bin Laden himself was armed. Even if he had signaled surrender, there is no reason to believe that danger had evaporated. As Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., said during a congressional hearing: "From a Navy SEAL perspective, you had to believe that this guy was a walking IED."

It is easy in the light of day to second-guess decisions made in the heat of war. Based on information released by the administration, the covert military operation that brought down the most wanted terrorist in the world appears to have been gutsy and well-executed. It was also lawful.

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan - One of Osama bin Laden's wives has told interrogators that the al-Qaida leader and his family, including perhaps as many as three wives, had lived in this Pakistani resort city for five years when U.S. special forces stormed the compound shortly before 1 a.m. Monday and shot him dead, a senior Pakistani military official said Thursday.

Pakistani security officials who responded to the raid said that one of the first sights they encountered as they entered the three-story house after the U.S. troops had left was a woman who was cradling the head of another woman in her lap. She looked up and spoke to them in English:

"I am Saudi. Osama bin Laden is my father."

The wounded woman she was cradling, who had been shot in the leg, lay quietly, still conscious. Nearby, another woman had her hands bound behind her back and her mouth taped closed.

Four children were in the house. The youngest was a baby, perhaps 6 or 7 months old, in a cot. There was a child who looked about 3 years old, one who was 4 or 5 and another who seemed about 6 years old. The older children's legs were tied together.

Three days after helicopter-borne U.S. Navy SEALs swarmed into a walled compound here, Pakistani security officials began talking about what they saw when they arrived at the house minutes after the Americans had flown away, taking bin Laden's body with them.

The officials spoke only on the condition of anonymity, saying they had been told not to talk to reporters.

The identity of the English-speaking woman is uncertain. On Tuesday, a Pakistani security official described her as bin Laden's daughter and said she was 12 or 13.

But Pakistanis interviewed Thursday described her as appearing to be about 20, leaving open the possibility that she was another of bin Laden's wives. A Pakistani intelligence official said Thursday that they'd taken three wives of bin Laden into custody from the house.

WASHINGTON - The Americans who raided Osama bin Laden's lair met far less resistance than the Obama administration described in the aftermath. The commandos encountered gunshots from only one man, whom they quickly killed, before sweeping the house and shooting others who were unarmed, a senior defense official said in the latest account.

In Thursday's revised telling, the Navy SEALs mounted a precision, floor-by-floor operation to find the al-Qaida leader and his protectors - but without the prolonged and intense firefight that officials had described for several days.

By any measure, the raid was fraught with risk, sensationally bold and a historic success. Even so, in the administration's haste to satisfy the world's hunger for details and eager to make the most of the moment, officials told a tale tarnished by discrepancies and apparent exaggeration.

Whether that matters to most Americans, gratified if not joyful that bin Laden is dead, is an open question.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner, for one, shrugged off the backtracking to focus on the big picture: "I had a conversation with the president, and the president outlined to me the series of actions that occurred on Sunday evening. I have no doubt that Osama bin Laden is dead."

The senior defense official spoke to The Associated Press anonymously because he was not authorized to speak on the record. He said the sole bin Laden shooter in the Pakistan compound was killed in the early minutes of the commando operation, the latest of the details becoming clearer now that the Navy SEAL assault team has fully briefed officials.

As the raiders moved into the compound from helicopters, they were fired on by bin Laden's courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, who was in the guesthouse, the official said. The SEALs returned fire, and the courier was killed, along with a woman with him. The official said she was hit in the crossfire.

The Americans were never fired on again as they encountered and killed a man on the first floor of the main building and then bin Laden's son on a staircase, before arriving at bin Laden's room, the official said, revising an earlier account that the son was in the room with his father. Officials have said bin Laden was killed, shot in the chest and then the head, after he appeared to be lunging for a weapon.

White House and Defense Department and CIA officials through the week have offered varying and foggy versions of the operation, though the dominant focus was on a firefight that officials said consumed most of the 40 minutes on the ground after midnight Monday morning in Pakistan, Sunday in the U.S..

The success of the bin Laden raid gave the White House a spectacular story to offer without any need to dress it up.

Some of the inconsistencies in the U.S. accounts seemed designed to score extra propaganda points.

White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, for one, using information that turned out to be flawed, portrayed bin Laden as a man "living in an area that is far removed from the front, hiding behind women who were put in front of him as a shield."

Officials soon dropped the contention that bin Laden tried to hide behind women. They said what really happened is that bin Laden's wife rushed the SEALs when they entered the room. They injured her with a shot in her calf.

It's taken as inevitable in military circles that initial reports of combat operations are almost always imperfect. Sometimes major details are wrong in the first telling, due to either misunderstandings or errors.

As a result, the armed forces generally take the time necessary to double-check key pieces of the story before making it public. However, the bin Laden killing stood head and shoulders above most other military operations in the demand for fast details.

LOS ANGELES - When a U.S. military helicopter was destroyed in the backyard of Osama bin Laden's compound, it left not only a pile of smoldering wreckage but tantalizing evidence of a secret stealth chopper.

The quest for a helicopter that can slip behind enemy lines without being heard or detected by radar has been the holy grail of military aviation for decades, and until this week nobody had thought such a craft existed.

But aviation experts are now convinced the Pentagon may have developed one. They say the U.S. military went to extraordinary lengths to protect its new technology by destroying a helicopter that had been damaged in the raid, either during the initial landing or in the evacuation.

A section of the craft also survived intact, and photos of it leave no doubt in analysts' minds that the U.S. had modified an MH-60 Black Hawk into some kind of super-secret stealth helicopter - the likes of which have never been seen before.

CIA Director Leon E. Panetta has said the only helicopters used for the operation were Black Hawks, and he acknowledged that one of them had to be destroyed.

While stealth jets are designed to evade radar, stealth helicopters are built to be quiet. Some experts have concluded that the military and CIA may have succeeded in their decades-old quest to develop a helicopter without the ear-splitting thump-thump-thump that has signaled the presence of rotorcraft from miles away.

Maj. Wes Ticer, a U.S. Special Operations Command spokesman, would not comment.

Aerospace analysts say the surviving tail section appears nothing like that of the standard $30 million Black Hawk chopper made by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Connecticut. Notably, the tail rotor was partially covered by a plate or hub, possibly part of a noise-muffling system.

"What we're seeing here is a very different type of design than what we normally see in rotorcraft," said Loren Thompson, defense policy analyst for the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. "It appears that the military went to great lengths to reduce the radar and acoustic signature of the helicopter."

The tail section hints at what other changes might have been made to the far more important main rotor.

The idea of quiet choppers is not a new one. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army and CIA developed what could be considered a stealth helicopter for the first time.

In the 1980s, the Pentagon worked on developing a classified stealth helicopter along with the F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft and the B-2 stealth bomber, said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a website for military policy research.

No one knows for sure who worked on the modifications on the special forces' Black Hawks or how many exist, but at least one may have been destroyed.

The Pentagon said the chopper experienced a mechanical malfunction. A senior military official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the helicopter couldn't get lift because of the 18-foot walls surrounding the compound.

The lift problem may have been caused by the craft's modification, Pike said.

The wreckage, some of which was carted away by the Pakistan military, has raised worries that key technology could be revealed to other countries.

WASHINGTON - The wealth of information pulled from Osama bin Laden's compound has reinforced the belief that he played a strong role in planning and directing attacks by al-Qaida and its affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, senior U.S. officials said Friday.

And the data further demonstrates to the U.S. that top al-Qaida commanders and other key insurgents are scattered throughout Pakistan, not just in the rugged border areas, and are being supported and given sanctuary by Pakistanis, a senior defense official said.

U.S. counterterrorism officials have debated how big a role bin Laden and core al-Qaida leaders were playing in the attacks launched by affiliated terror groups, particularly al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen, and al-Shabab in Somalia.

Information gathered in the compound, officials said, strengthened beliefs that bin Laden was a lot more involved in directing al-Qaida personnel and operations than sometimes thought over the last decade. And it suggests bin Laden was "giving strategic direction" to al-Qaida affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, the defense official said.

Bin Laden's first priority, the official said, was his own security. But the data shows he was far more active in providing guidance and telling affiliated groups in Yemen and Somalia what they should or should not be doing.

The officials' comments underscore U.S. resolve to pursue terror leaders in Pakistan, particularly during this critical period in the Afghanistan war, as President Obama moves to fulfill his promise to begin withdrawing troops in July.

Already the Afghan Taliban have warned that bin Laden's death will only boost morale of insurgents battling the U.S. and its NATO allies. Al-Qaida itself vowed revenge, confirming bin Laden's death for the first time but saying that Americans' "happiness will turn to sadness."

The American public, meanwhile, will get a peek at bin Laden's life inside the secret compound in Abbottabad today, according to U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the data had not yet been released.

New, unreleased bin Laden propaganda tapes as well as footage of him moving about the compound are expected to be made public, officials said.

Still cloaked in secrecy, however, are photographs of the dead terror leader, who was shot once in the head and once in the chest by the Navy SEAL team that swept into the compound in the dark, early-morning hours Monday local time.

Officials say they have already learned a lot from bin Laden's cache of computers and data, but they would not confirm reports that it yielded clues to the whereabouts of al-Qaida deputy Ayman al-Zawahri.

Al-Zawahri is a leading candidate to take bin Laden's place as leader of the terror group.

Officials say the handwritten notes and computer material are being scoured for intelligence that could help track down new targets.

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Buoyant after meeting with the assault force that killed the world's most wanted terrorist, President Obama declared to a hangar full of cheering soldiers Friday that Osama bin Laden's death is proof the U.S. is making progress in Afghanistan and against the global militant group.

"We have cut off their head," Obama said, "and we will ultimately defeat them."

The declaration drew thunderous applause from the 2,300 soldiers, most from the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, who gathered to hear the president and pay tribute to comrades in the raid.

Obama, meeting with the special operations teams, presented them with the highest honor that can be given to a unit, a Presidential Unit Citation, in recognition of their achievement.

Obama said he was sticking with his plan to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan this summer, gradually and in consultation with military leaders. But he seemed to shrug off questions about whether U.S. troops need to remain there.

"Our strategy is working and there is no greater evidence of that than justice finally being delivered to Osama bin Laden," Obama said during his address at Fort Campbell.

The meeting with the special operations force was carefully shielded from public view. Adm. William H. McRaven, who ran the bin Laden operation for the military's Joint Special Operations Command, met Obama at Fort Campbell's airfield in the afternoon, and the two then went into a closed-door meeting with a group the White House described as "the full assault force that carried out the operation."

Also at the meeting with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden was the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment - a helicopter team known as the "Night Stalkers" - and the 5th Special Forces Group. Both are based at Fort Campbell.

The special operations forces did not attend Obama's address, officials said, but were spirited quietly off the base.

Despite the secrecy, Obama's appearance appeared to be his most celebratory public moment yet in the wake of this week's raid.

Obama kept his visit with survivors and victims of the Sept. 11 attacks private when he went to ground zero in New York a day earlier. And in a Friday visit to a plant in Indianapolis, Obama spoke exclusively about economic issues.

But Obama and Biden were clearly accepting credit for bin Laden's long-awaited capture and death, in a victory lap through the "Night Stalkers'" home base.

In a recorded interview to air Sunday on "60 Minutes," Obama said that he wanted to resist the urge to "spike the football" in celebration of the bin Laden operation.

Those strictures were loosened a little on Friday. In his introductory speech, Biden at one point pumped his fist and praised Obama's decision to order that the compound be raided.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates did not attend Friday's meeting. He met a day earlier at an "undisclosed location" with members of the special operations team that raided the compound where bin Laden was killed.

Gates "wanted to personally and privately express his admiration and appreciation for their extraordinary service and historic achievement," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.

At times, military receptions for Obama have been tepid. Even Friday, some at the base said he should have visited earlier. But the president was warmly received. Soldiers interrupted his remarks with cheers and applause, and many crowded the rope line afterward in hopes of shaking hands with the commander in chief.

"This is monumental to me," said Kingston McCaden, a staff sergeant in the transportation battalion. "He's rallying the troops, like in the old days, coming to see us and the Night Stalkers, like the ones who flew in to do the job. I feel really deeply proud."

The Night Stalkers were the regiment that piloted the helicopter mission in Somalia memorialized in the film "Black Hawk Down," according to base public affairs officer Bob Jenkins.

In Sunday's raid, the helicopter pilots averted tragedy. Despite a mechanical failure, they managed to lower the SEALs into the compound housing bin Laden while they called for backup.

"They're America's quiet professionals," Obama said, calling it one of the greatest military operations in U.S. history. "Their success demands secrecy. … When I gave the order, they were ready."

It wasn't torture that revealed Osama bin Laden's hiding place. Finding and killing the world's most-wanted terrorist took years of patient intelligence gathering and dogged detective work, plus a little luck.

Once again, it appears, we're supposed to be having a "debate" about torture - excuse me, I mean the "enhanced interrogation techniques," including waterboarding, that were authorized and practiced during the Bush administration. In fact, there's nothing debatable about torture. It's wrong, it's illegal, and there's no way to prove that the evidence it yields could not have been obtained through conventional methods.

President Obama ended these practices. Torture remained a stain on our national honor, but one that was beginning to fade - until details of the hunt for bin Laden began to emerge.

According to widespread reports, the first important clue in the long chain leading to bin Laden's lair came in 2004 from a Pakistani-born detainee named Hassan Ghul, who was held in one of the CIA's secret "black site" prisons and subjected to coercive interrogation.

Ghul reportedly disclosed the nom de guerre of an al-Qaida courier - Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti - who appeared to have access to the terrorist organization's inner circle. The CIA was able to deduce that Ghul was referring to a man they had heard of before, a trusted aide who might know where bin Laden was hiding.

Two of the highest-ranking al-Qaida leaders who were taken into U.S. custody - operations chief Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was waterboarded repeatedly, and Abu Faraj al-Libi, who was not waterboarded but was subjected to other harsh interrogation techniques - pointedly declined to talk about al-Kuwaiti. Ghul, however, described al-Kuwaiti as a close associate and protege of both Mohammed and al-Libi. CIA analysts believed they might be on the right track.

It was, of course, just one of many tracks that might have led to bin Laden. This and other trails went hot and cold until last summer, when al-Kuwaiti made a phone call to someone being monitored by U.S. intelligence, who then watched his movements until he led them in August to the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where bin Laden was cornered and killed.

Torture apologists are saying, "See, it worked." But the truth is that there's no proof - and not even any legitimate evidence - that torture cracked the case.

It's true, apparently, that Ghul opened up to interrogators after being roughed up in some fashion. It's not clear that he was ever subjected to techniques that amount to torture, but let's assume he was. The question is whether such treatment was necessary to get Ghul to talk.

And there's no way to prove it was.

This was a real-world scenario of slowly collecting names, dates, addresses, phone numbers and other disconnected bits of information, over a period of seven years, before finally being able to put them all together.

I believe the odds are quite good that the CIA would have gotten onto al-Kuwaiti's trail somehow or other. But I can't be certain - just as those who defend torture and coercive interrogation can't be sure that these methods made the daring and successful raid possible.

What I do know is that torture is a violation of U.S. and international law - and a betrayal of everything this country stands for. The killing of bin Laden resulted from brilliant intelligence work, for which both the Bush and Obama administrations deserve our thanks and praise.

There's plenty of credit to go around - but not for torture. We should celebrate the victory of cherished American values, not their temporary abandonment.

Email Eugene Robinson at eugenerobinson@washpost.com

WASHINGTON - From a shabby, makeshift office, he ran a global terrorist empire. The world's most wanted man watched newscasts of himself on a tiny television perched atop a rickety old desk cluttered with wires.

For years, the world only saw Osama bin Laden in the rare propaganda videos that trickled out, the ones portraying him as a charismatic religious figure unfazed by being the target of an intense manhunt.

On Saturday, the U.S. released a handful of videos, selected to show bin Laden in a much more candid, unflattering light. In the short clips, bin Laden appears hunched and tired, seated on the floor, watching television wrapped in a wool blanket and wearing a knit cap. Outtakes of his propaganda tapes show that they were heavily scripted affairs. He dyed and trimmed his beard for the cameras, then shot and reshot his remarks until the timing and lighting were just right.

The videos were among the evidence seized by Navy SEALs in a predawn raid Monday that killed bin Laden in his walled Pakistani compound. The movies, along with computer disks, thumb drives and handwritten notes, reveal that bin Laden was still actively involved in planning and directing al-Qaida's plots against the U.S., according to a senior U.S. intelligence official who briefed reporters Saturday and insisted his name not be used.

"The material found in the compound only further confirms how important it was to go after Bin Laden," said CIA Director Leon Panetta in a statement Saturday. "Since 9/11, this is what the American people have expected of us. In this critical operation, we delivered."

The notes and computer material showed that bin Laden's compound was a command-and-control center for al-Qaida, where the terrorist mastermind stayed in contact with al-Qaida affiliates around the world through a network of couriers, the intelligence official said.

Bin Laden was eager to strike American cities again and discussed ways to attack trains, officials said, though it appeared that plan never progressed beyond early discussions.

Officials said the clips shown to reporters were just part of the largest collection of senior terrorist materials ever collected. The evidence seized during the raid also includes phone numbers and documents that officials hope will help break the back of the organization behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The videos showing outtakes - the miscues by bin Laden that were destined for the cutting-room floor - were offered as further proof of bin Laden's death. President Obama decided last week not to release photos of bin Laden's body, which were deemed too gruesome to reveal. The U.S. has said it confirmed bin Laden's death using DNA.

But by selecting unflattering clips of bin Laden, the U.S. is also working to shatter the image he worked so hard to craft.

"It showed that bin Laden was not the superhero he wanted his people to think," said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

One video clearly shows the terror leader choosing channels with a remote control, aimed at what appears to be a satellite cable box. U.S. officials have previously said there was a satellite dish for television but no Internet or phone lines ran to the house. Cellphones were prohibited.

It's unclear how many tapes were pulled out of the house, and U.S. officials say they're scouring the intelligence so quickly it has not even been cataloged and counted yet. But there may be a trove of recordings. According to the book "Growing Up bin Laden," by his first wife and fourth son, the terrorist leader nearly always kept a tape recorder nearby to take down his thoughts and plans.

Among the material handed out was an al-Qaida propaganda video titled "Message to the American People," likely filmed last fall, the official said. He said the taped message denigrated capitalism and included anti-American messages, but refused to say if it included a direct threat against the United States.

Al-Qaida has confirmed the death of its founder but did not name a successor.

WASHINGTON - President Obama ordered the commando raid that killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after deciding the risks were outweighed by the possibility "of us finally getting our man" following a decade of frustration, he said in a Sunday interview.

The helicopter raid "was the longest 40 minutes of my life," Obama told CBS' "60 Minutes," with the possible exception of when his daughter Sasha became sick with meningitis as an infant.

Monitoring the commando operation in the White House Situation Room a week ago, Obama said he and top aides "had a sense of when gunfire and explosions took place" halfway around the world, and knew when one of the helicopters carrying Navy SEALs made an unplanned hard landing.

"But we could not get information clearly about what was happening inside the compound," he said.

Public opinion polls have shown a boost in Obama's support in the days since the raid, and his re-election campaign was eager to draw attention to the interview.

Jim Messina, the president's campaign manager, emailed supporters, encouraging them to watch the program. The note included a link to a listing of all of the network's local affiliates around the country - and another one requesting donations to Obama's re-election effort.

In the interview, Obama said that as nervous as he was about the raid, he didn't lose sleep over the possibility that bin Laden might be killed. Anyone who questions whether the terrorist mastermind didn't deserve his fate "needs to have their head examined," he said.

Obama said bin Laden had "some sort of support network" inside Pakistan to be able to live for years at a high-security compound in Abbottabad, a city that houses numerous military facilities. But he stopped short of accusing Pakistani officials of harboring the man who planned the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 in New York.

"We don't know who or what that support network was. We don't know whether there might have been some people inside of government, people outside of government." He said the United States wants to investigate further to learn the facts, "and more importantly, the Pakistani government has to investigate."

Some members of Congress have called for a cessation of U.S. aid to Pakistan, at least until it becomes clear what role, if any, the government played in bin Laden's ability to avoid detection for years. But Obama said that since the Sept. 11 attacks, "Pakistan has been a strong counterterrorism partner with us" despite periodic disagreements.

The president was guarded in discussing any of the details of the raid and offered no details that have not yet been made public.

Discussing his own role, he said the decision to order the raid was difficult, in part because there was no certainty that bin Laden was at the compound, and also due to the risk to the SEALs.

"But ultimately, I had so much confidence in the capacity of our guys to carry out the mission that I felt that the risks were outweighed by the potential benefit of finally getting our man," he said.

Two influential lawmakers rebutted calls for a cutoff in American aid to Pakistan, an inconstant ally in the long struggle against terrorists.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said: "Everybody has to understand that even in the getting of Osama bin Laden, the Pakistanis were helpful. We have people on the ground in Pakistan because they allow us to have them.

"We actually worked with them on certain parts of the intelligence that helped to lead to him, and they have been extraordinarily cooperative and at some political cost to them in helping us to take out 16 of the top 20 al-Qaida leaders with a drone program that we have in the western part of the country," he said.

The senior Republican on the committee, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, said: "Pakistan is a critical factor in the war against terror, our war, the world's war against it, simply because there are a lot of terrorists in Pakistan." He also noted that the nation possesses nuclear weapons, and said a cut-off in aid could weaken the United States' ability to make sure they do not fall into the hands of terrorists.

Kerry strongly defended the president's decision to order the raid and the shooting of bin Laden.

The administration has offered shifting accounts of the events that unfolded in the 40 minutes the SEALs were inside bin Laden's compound, most recently saying the terrorist mastermind was unarmed but appeared to be reaching for a weapon when he was shot in the head and chest.

"I think those SEALs did exactly what they should have done. And we need to shut up and move on about, you know, the realities of what happened in that building," Kerry said.

ISLAMABAD - The United States wants access to Osama bin Laden's three widows and any intelligence material its commandos left behind at the al-Qaida leader's compound, a top American official said in comments broadcast Sunday that could add a fresh sticking point in already frayed ties with Pakistan.

Information from the women, who remained in the house after the commandos killed bin Laden, might answer questions about whether Pakistan harbored the al-Qaida chief as many American officials are speculating. It also could reveal details about the day-to-day life of bin Laden, his actions since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the inner workings of al-Qaida.

The women, along with several children also picked up from the house, are believed to be in Pakistani army custody. A Pakistani army official declined to comment Sunday on the request, which U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon revealed on NBC's "Meet the Press."

The CIA and Pakistan's spy agency, known by the acronym ISI, have worked uneasily together in the past on counterterrorism, but the unilateral U.S. raid - done without Pakistan's advance knowledge - has exposed the deep mistrust that scars a complicated if vital partnership for both nations.

Even before the May 1 raid, the ISI said it was cutting cooperation with CIA to protest drone strikes close to the Afghan border, among other things. In the current environment, Pakistan could use the fact it has something Washington wants - bin Laden's widows - as leverage to reduce some of the pressure it's under.

Bin Laden was found in a large house close to a military academy in the army town of Abbottabad where he had been living for up to six years. His location raised U.S. suspicions that he had help from some Pakistani authorities, possibly elements of the powerful army and intelligence services.

Donilon said Washington had seen no evidence that the Pakistani government had been colluding with bin Laden - the public line taken by most U.S. officials since the raid, including President Obama.

"But they need to investigate that," Donilon said. "And they need to provide us with intelligence, by the way, from the compound that they've gathered, including access to Osama bin Laden's three wives, whom they have in ... custody."

Donilon also said Pakistani authorities had collected other evidence from the house that the United States wanted to "work with them on assessing." U.S. commandos managed to seize a large and valuable intelligence haul that included videos, telephone numbers and documents, along with bin Laden's body, before flying back to Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.

The Pakistani government has strongly denied it knew of bin Laden's whereabouts, but Western governments have long regarded Islamabad with suspicion. Its armed forces have historical - some say ongoing - links with Islamist militants, which they used as proxies in Afghanistan and India.

The allegations of Pakistani collusion pose an acute problem for the Obama administration because few can see any alternative but to continue engaging with the country. Unstable and nuclear-armed, it remains integral to the fight against al-Qaida as well as to American hopes for beginning to draw down troops in Afghanistan later this year.

"We need to act in our national interest," Donilon said. "We have had difficulty with Pakistan, as I said. But we've also had to work very closely with Pakistan in our counter-terror efforts."

The American commandos killed bin Laden and up to four other people, including one of his sons, at the compound.

Pakistani officials have given little information, some of it conflicting, about the identities of the women and children left behind, including exactly how many there are and what they allegedly have been saying.

One of the wives is Yemeni, Pakistani officials have said. A copy of her passport, leaked to the local media, identifies her as Amal Ahmed Abdullfattah. She has allegedly told Pakistani investigators that she moved to the home in 2006 and never left the upper floors of the three-story compound, where bin Laden was living.

She is from the southern Yemeni province of Ibb, about 120 miles south of the capital, Sanaa. A family member there has sought a meeting with Pakistan's ambassador to Yemen to ask about her fate and whether she is to return to Yemen.

When the Navy SEALs raided bin Laden's compound, they collected computer equipment and videos, including one that showed bin Laden huddled in a blanket and wearing a knit cap while seated on the floor watching television - an image that contrasts with the bin Laden seen in propaganda videos released over the years, which depicted him as a charismatic religious figure unaffected by the world's scorn.

KABUL - The killing of Osama bin Laden may weaken al-Qaida's influence on the Afghan Taliban, the U.S. military commander in Afghanistan said Sunday.

Even so, Gen. David Petraeus warned that Afghanistan is still a potential refuge for international terror groups, and al-Qaida is just one of those.

He also warned that the April 29 U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida leader in his Pakistani compound did not spell the end of the NATO battle in Afghanistan, which began just one month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington with the aim of wiping out al-Qaida and bin Laden.

NATO officials have said that they don't intend to speed up their withdrawal just because al-Qaida's leader is gone, but the military feels it may bring the Taliban closer to negotiations with the Afghan government.

Interviewed aboard his helicopter by The Associated Press, Petraeus said the strong link between al-Qaida and the Taliban was personal, not organizational.

"The deal between the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida was between Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden, not the organizations," Petraeus said as he visited troops in eastern Afghanistan.

Petraeus said bin Laden's death may make it easier for the Taliban to renounce al-Qaida, a condition for reconciliation talks set by NATO and the Afghan government.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Obama administration have said they will negotiate with any Taliban member who embraces the Afghan constitution, renounces violence and severs ties with al-Qaida. Informal contacts have been made in recent months with high-ranking Taliban figures, but no formal peace talks are under way.

The two groups don't seem to be inextricably aligned. While al-Qaida has backed worldwide terrorist attacks in the name of Muslim jihad, the Taliban has been mainly a nationalist movement aiming to regain control of Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - President Obama's approval rating has hit its highest point in two years - 60 percent - and more than half of Americans now say he deserves to be re-elected, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll taken after U.S. forces killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

In worrisome signs for Republicans, the president's standing improved not just on foreign policy but also on the economy, and independents - a key voting bloc in the November 2012 presidential election - caused the overall uptick in support by sliding back to Obama after fleeing for much of the past two years.

Comfortable majorities of the public now call Obama a strong leader who will keep America safe. Nearly three-fourths - 73 percent - also now say they are confident that Obama can effectively handle terrorist threats. And he improved his standing on Afghanistan, Iraq and the United States' relationships with other countries.

Despite a sluggish recovery from the Great Recession, 52 percent of Americans now approve of Obama's stewardship of the economy, giving him his best rating on that issue since the early days of his presidency; 52 percent also now like how he's handling the nation's stubbornly high 9 percent unemployment.

The economy remains Americans' top issue.

Impressions of the nation's economic health have improved following last Friday's positive jobs report, which showed American companies are on a hiring spree. More people now say the economy got better in the past month and that it's likely to continue doing so in the coming year.

Also, more Americans - 45 percent, up from 35 percent in March - say the country is headed in the right direction. Still, about half - 52 percent - say it's on the wrong track, meaning Obama still has work to do to convince a restive public to stay with the status quo.

Some have seen enough to know they'll stick with him.

"I was happy about bin Laden," says Brenda Veckov, 42, of Hollidaysburg, Pa. "I put my fists in the air. To me, it was just a little bit of closure for the United States."

"The president made the right decisions on this one. And I will vote for him again."

Not everyone has such an optimistic view of Obama.

"I'm very concerned" about the country, says Susan Demarest in Snellville, Ga., 56, who didn't support the Democrat last time and won't this time. "I'm in my 50s and I worry that I'm not going to be able to retire at a reasonable age and enjoy the end of my life because of Medicare and Social Security and the debt of the country." Still, she says Obama doesn't carry all of the blame.

Obama's overall political boost comes at an important time. He is embarking on his re-election campaign and is in the early days of a debate with Republicans who control the House over raising the country's debt limit. But it's unclear how long Obama's strengthened standing will last in the aftermath of bin Laden's death.

WASHINGTON - Deep in hiding, his terror organization becoming battered and fragmented, Osama bin Laden kept pressing followers to find new ways to hit the U.S., officials say, citing his private journal and other documents recovered in last week's raid.

Strike smaller cities, bin Laden suggested. Target trains as well as planes. Above all, kill as many Americans as possible in a single attack.

Though he was out of the public eye and al-Qaida seemed to be weakening, bin Laden never yielded control of his worldwide organization, U.S. officials said Wednesday. His personal, handwritten journal and his massive collection of computer files reveal his hand at work in every recent major al-Qaida threat, including plots in Europe last year that had travelers and embassies on high alert, two officials said.

They described the intelligence to The Associated Press only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about what was found in bin Laden's hideout. Analysts are continuing to review the documents.

The information shatters the government's conventional thinking about bin Laden, who had been regarded for years as mostly an inspirational figurehead.

Bin Laden was communicating from his walled compound in Pakistan with al-Qaida's offshoots, including the Yemen branch that has emerged as the leading threat to the United States, the documents indicate. Though there is no evidence yet that he was directly behind the attempted Christmas Day 2009 bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner or the nearly successful attack on cargo planes heading for Chicago and Philadelphia, it's now clear that they bear some of bin Laden's hallmarks.

He was well aware of U.S. counterterrorist efforts and schooled his followers in working around them, the messages to his followers show. Don't limit attacks to New York City, he said in his writings. Consider other areas such as Los Angeles or smaller cities. Spread out the targets.

In one particularly macabre bit of mathematics, bin Laden's writings show him musing over just how many Americans he must kill to force the U.S. to withdraw from the Arab world. He concludes that the smaller, scattered attacks since 9/11 had not been enough. He tells his disciples that only a body count of thousands, something on the scale of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, would shift U.S. policy.

He also schemed about ways to sow political dissent in Washington and play political figures against one another, officials said.

The communications were in missives sent via plug-in computer storage devices called flash drives. The devices were ferried to bin Laden's compound by couriers, a process that is slow but exceptionally difficult to track.