Obama said that bin Laden was killed on Sunday in Pakistan. He said he had authorized last week the mission which took place on Sunday.
He said a small U.S. team launched the operation, a firefight which killed bin Laden.
"Justice has been done," Obama said.
Prior to Obama's announcement, crowds of hundreds in front of the White House were singing our national anthem and chanting "U-S-A!"
After Obama confirmed bin Laden's death, the crowd continued celebrating while holding American flags, singing with fists in the air and chanting.
The announcement comes nearly a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon and on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania, orchestrated by bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, that killed more than 3,000 people.
The attacks set off a chain of events that led the United States into wars in Afghanistan, and then Iraq. And America's entire intelligence apparatus was overhauled to counter the threat of more terror attacks at home.
The Al-Qaida organization was also blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 231 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.
Obama had been scheduled to make a statement since 7:30 p.m. Arizona time, and he began his statement at about 8:35 p.m.
The statement has been being prepared over the past few hours, CNN said.
The White House had said earlier Sunday night that Obama would make a late-night statement but did not announce the topic that he would discuss. It was highly unusual that the president would make a late-night statement with not even a hint about what he would discuss.
0 comments:
Post a Comment