Osama bin Laden is dead, President Barack Obama announced last night during prime time on the west coast. News bulletins about the death of Osama Bin Laden interrupted normal television programming across the board on Sunday night, leaving people who would normally be immersed in the insane plot twists of Desperate Housewives wrapped up in an entirely different kind of drama.
The mastermind of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 and the fall of the Twin Towers in New York, Osama bin Laden was killed in a raid by U.S. forces against a mansion in Abbottabad near the Pakistan capital of Islamabad. USA Today reports the U.S. used a variety of methods to confirm the identity of Osama bin Laden. He was reportedly identified by a woman believed to be one of his wives and visually identified by members of the raiding squad and through a facial recognition program. A DNA test has also reportedly been done to compare the identity of the body against the DNA of bin Laden’s family members allegedly collected since 9/11.
President Obama ordered a “lightning raid” against the al Qaeda hideaway instead of an air bombing run because he “wanted proof” of bin Laden’s death, “not just a pile of rubble,” a law enforcement source told the New York Daily News. The New York Daily News has published photos of the bloody aftermath of the raid taken from an ABC News video.
The news that Osama bin Laden was dead prompted many to speculate a strong spike President Obama’s approval rating with the American public. Something the President could no doubt use right now in his bid to be re-elected.
Several others were killed during the firefight with U.S. forces, including a man reported to be one of Osama bin Laden’s sons. bin Laden’s body was handled according to Islamic practice and tradition, according to MSNBC, which required burial within 24 hours. A U.S. official said bin Laden was buried at sea because “finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world’s most wanted terrorist would have been difficult.”