Posts tagged assault
Getting bin Laden: How the mission went down
May 2nd
Getting bin Laden: How the mission went down By: Mike Allen May 2, 2011 10:32 AM EDT |
The helicopter carrying Navy SEALs malfunctioned as it approached Osama bin Laden’s compound at about 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday, stalling as it hovered. The pilot set it down gently inside the walls, then couldn’t get it going again.
It was a heart-stopping moment for President Barack Obama, who had been monitoring the raid in the White House Situation Room since 1 p.m., surrounded by members of his war cabinet.
“Obviously, everyone was thinking about Black Hawk Down and Desert One,” a senior administration official recalled.
The SEALs disembarked.
“The assault team went ahead and raided the compound, even though they didn’t know if they would have a ride home,” an official said.
The special forces put bombs on the crippled chopper and blew it up, then lifted off in a reinforcement craft just before 4:15 p.m., capping an astounding 40 minutes that gave the United States a tectonic victory in the 10-year war on terror touched off by 9/11.
The sick chopper turned out to be a tiny wrinkle in an astounding military and intelligence triumph. Bin Laden was shot in the face by the SEALs during a firefight after resisting capture.
He was buried at sea less than 12 hours later. He was 54.
Here’s how the world’s most-hunted man was vanquished, as recounted by senior administration officials:
Contrary to the intelligence community’s long-held belief that bin Laden was in a lawless “no man’s land” on the Pakistani border, bin Laden had been hiding in a three-story house in a one-acre compound in Abbottabad, about 35 miles north of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. Officials describe it as a relatively affluent community, with lots of residents who are retired military.
“Bin Laden was living in a relatively comfortable place: a compound valued at about $1 million,” a senior U.S. official told POLITICO. “Many of his foot soldiers are located in some of the remotest regions of Pakistan and live in austere conditions. You’ve got to wonder if they’re rethinking their respect for their dead leader. He obviously wasn’t living as one of them.”
Officials described the raid as the culmination of years of highly advanced intelligence work that included the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which specializes in imagery and maps, and the National Security Agency (NSA), the “codemakers and codebreakers” who can covertly watch and listen to conversations around the world.
On June 2, 2009, just over four months into his presidency, Obama had signed a memo to CIA Director Leon Panetta stating “in order to ensure that we have expanded every effort, I direct you to provide me within 30 days a detailed operation plan for locating and bringing to justice” bin Laden.
In the biggest break in a global pursuit of bin Laden that stretched back to the Clinton administration, the U.S. discovered the compound by following one of the terrorist’s personal couriers, identified by terrorist detainees as one of the few al Qaeda couriers who bin Laden trusted.
“They indicated he might be living with and protecting bin Laden,” a senior administration official told reporters on a midnight conference call. “Detainees gave us his nom de guerre, or his nickname, and identified him as both a protégé of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of September 11th, and a trusted assistant of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, the former number three of al Qaeda who was captured in 2005.”
Officials didn’t learn the courier’s name until 2007. Then it took two years to find him and track him back to this compound, which was discovered in August 2010.
“It was a “Holy cow!” moment,” an official said.
The compound had been relatively secluded when it was built in 2005 — on the outskirts of the town center, at the end of a narrow dirt road.
“In the last six years, some residential homes have been built nearby,” an official said on the call. “The main structure, a three-story building, has few windows facing the outside of the compound. A terrace on the third floor … has a seven-foot privacy wall. … [T]he property is valued at approximately $1 million but has no telephone or Internet service connected to it.”
Everything about the compound signaled that it was being used to hide someone important.
“It has 12- to 18-foot walls topped with barbed wire,” the official said. “Internal wall sections — internal walls sectioned off different portions of the compound to provide extra privacy. Access to the compound is restricted by two security gates, and the residents of the compound burn their trash, unlike their neighbors, who put the trash out for collection.
For all their suspicions, U.S. officials never knew for sure that bin Laden was inside.
The White House’s original plan had been to bomb the house, but Obama ultimately decided against that.
“The helicopter raid was riskier. It was more daring,” an official told POLITICO. “But he wanted proof. He didn’t want to just leave a pile of rubble.”
Officials knew there were 22 people living there, and Obama wanted to be sure not to kill civilians unnecessarily. So he ordered officials to come up with an air-assault plan.
The SEALs held rehearsals of the raid on April 7 and April 13, with officials monitoring the action from Washington.
As the real thing approached, daily meetings were held of the national security principals, chaired by National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, and their deputies, chaired by John Brennan, the president’s counterterrorism adviser.
Over the past seven weeks, Obama had chaired numerous National Security Council meetings on the topic, including ones on March 14, March 29, April 12, April 19 and April 28.
“In the lead up to this operation, the President convened at least 9 meetings with his national security Principals,” a senior administration official e-mailed reporters. “Principals met formally an additional five times themselves; and their Deputies met 7 times. This was in addition to countless briefings on the subject during the President’s intelligence briefings; and frequent consultations between the [White House National Security Council], CIA, [Defense Department] and Joint Staff. The President was actively involved in reviewing all facets of the operation.”
At an April 19 meeting in the Situation Room, the president approved the air assault as the course of action. He ordered the force to fly to the region to conduct it.
Last Thursday, just after his East Room announcement that Panetta would succeed Robert Gates as Defense Secretary, the president held another meeting in the Situation Room, and went through everyone’s final recommendations.
Obama didn’t announce his decision at the meeting, but kept his counsel overnight.
In the White House Diplomatic Room at 8:20 a.m. on Friday, before flying down to view tornado destruction in Alabama, Obama informed Donilon that he was authorizing the operation. Also attending the meeting were Brennan, White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley and Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough.
Donilon signed a written authorization to Panetta, who commanded the strike team. Donilon convened a principals’ meeting at 3 p.m. to finish the planning.
The raid was scheduled for Saturday, the day when Obama and most of the West Wing was due at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. But weather pushed it to Sunday.
Top West Wing staff worked most of the day on the operation. Senior national-security officials stayed in the Situation Room beginning at 1 p.m.
The official’s e-mail gave this account of Obama’s day: “2:00pm the President met with the Principals to review final preparations. … 3:32pm the President returned to the Sit Room for an additional briefing. … 3:50pm the President first learns that UBL was tentatively identified. … 7:01pm the President learns that there’s a ‘high probability’ the HVT [high-value target] was [bin Laden]. … 8:30pm the President receives further briefings.”
In the Situation Room, the president was surrounded by Daley, Donilon, McDonough, Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and others.
Panetta was at CIA headquarters, where he had turned his conference room into a command center that gave him constant contact with the tactical leaders of the strike team.
With the team still in the compound, the commander on the ground told a remote commander that they had found bin Laden.
Applause erupted in Washington.
Three other adult males were killed with bin Laden, officials said.
“We believe two were the couriers and the third was bin Laden’s adult son,” an official said on the call. “There were several women and children at the compound. One woman was killed when she was used as a shield by a male combatant. Two other women were injured.”
U.S. forces took photographs of the body, and officials used facial-recognition technology to compare them with known pictures of bin Laden.
It was him.
At 11:35 p.m., Obama stepped into the East Room and told the world: “Justice has been done.”
Dick Winters 1918-2011 American Hero
Jan 12th
Major Dick Winters, who died on January 2 aged 92, was one of the US Army’s most revered service
men of the Second World War; his exploits were later chronicled in the book and television series Band of Brothers.
FROM INDEPENDENT As commander of E Company of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Winters and his company proved instrumental on D-Day in ensuring the successful American landings at Utah and Omaha beaches. He would later lead his paratroopers through the forests of France, Belgium and Holland before ending his war in Hitler’s alpine retreat.
The 2nd Battalion’s specific remit for the invasion of Normandy in June 1944 was to secure “Causeway 2”, which linked Utah Beach to the hinterland. The Germans had flooded the fields in between and the planned night-time capture of the causeways was vital in ensuring the eventual success of the amphibious landings.
The operation did not get under way smoothly, as Allied aircraft were faced by withering flak which forced troops to be dropped far away from the target area. Furthermore, the aircraft containing E Company’s Commanding Officer and First Sergeant was shot down, making Winters effective commander.
To make matters worse, Winters had lost his weapon during the drop, and 90 per cent of his men were unaccounted for. But he and 13 other members of “Easy” Company did manage to set up headquarters in a farmhouse, where at daybreak they received intelligence that four German 105mm Howitzers, manned by a full platoon, were firing on Utah Beach; they were ordered to destroy the guns.
In the ensuing attack, Winters ordered half of his squad to unleash an enveloping hail of machine gun fire, while another section of his men took the left flank and hurled hand grenades at the first gun. With this Howitzer duly disabled, the remainder of Easy Company (with the aid of “Dog” Company) made a full assault on the German trenches, spiking the other guns with TNT.
FROM WKIPEDIA
Major Richard “Dick” D. Winters (January 21, 1918 – January 2, 2011)[1] was a United States Army officer and decorated warveteran. He commanded Company “E”, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, during World War II.
Winters parachuted into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day, and fought across France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and eventually into Germany. Later in the war, Winters rose to command the 2nd Battalion. Following the end of hostilities Winters was discharged from the army and returned to civilian life, working in New Jersey.
In 1951, during the Korean War, Winters was recalled to the Army from the inactive list and briefly served as a regimental planning and training officer on staff at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Although issued orders for deployment, he was not sent to Korea. After his discharge he worked at a few different jobs before founding his own company and selling farming products.
Winters was featured in a number of books and was portrayed in the 2001 HBO mini-series Band of Brothers by Damian Lewis. He was a regular guest lecturer at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He retired in 1997.
Boulder Police Officer attack: Raised reward bring in more tips; Charges mount as days go by
Oct 25th
One thing the reward will do is have the suspects friends turn him in so that he does not spend life in prison over this. These are his choices now according to Commander Stewart. ” His friends can save him from more bad choices.”
October 25, 2010
Police are receiving many tips on the suspect who assaulted Boulder sergeant Jim Byfield according to commander Kim Stewart. ” we just need thee tip that will close this case” she said. The new $10,000 reward has many people coming forward. “This guy talked to some people we know that. ” she said.
Boulder police have been all over the hill daily. They’ve been to all the fraternities and CU athletics. Every police officer is looking for the suspect. Besides that every police officer in every community and all 50 states looking for this thug. Beating up a police officer is not taken lightly by the men and women in blue. Our research discovered that over 90% of assaults on a police officer are solved.
The question is does this suspect want the cops to find him, arrest him and turn him over to the DA or will his girl friend or mother turn him in before the cops hunt him down which is inevitable. Right now he faces a long list of charges: 1st degree felony assault, Assault on a peace officer, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder all of which carry mandatory prison terms adding up to over 100 years. But that’s not all. There are approximately 30 other charges that could be added to this which could add up to over 250 years in prison.
The District attornies office in Boulder is not in a plea bargaining mood either. One thing the reward will do is have the suspects friends turn him in so that he does not spend life in prison over this. These are his choices now according to Commander Stewart. His friends can save him from more bad choices. The attempted murder with a deadly weapon could be dropped if his friends come forward. That’s the difference between coming out of prison a young man or coming out ready for social security which he won’t qualify for.
Boulder police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect in a serious assault on a police sergeant that occurred at about 9:40 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 16, in the area of 11th and College streets. Boulder police officers had parked their marked Chevy Tahoes in the neighborhood to investigate a call when they learned that someone had cut the tires on the two police vehicles. Several witnesses observed a man cut the tires with a knife. Sgt. Jim Byfield attempted to contact the identified suspect. The suspect started running north on 11th in the 1100 block. During a struggle with the suspect, Sgt. Byfield suffered serious injuries, including a concussion, a broken elbow, and a broken clavicle. The suspect was last seen running between houses in a northwest direction.
Sgt. Byfield was transported to a local hospital, where he was treated and released pending further medical follow up. A knife was located in the area of the assault. The knife was described as six-inch-long fixed blade knife with a stainless steel type blade and a black handle. There was a black cord attached to the handle. As this is not a folding knife, it would normally be carried in a sheath.
The suspect was described as a white male, believed to be in his early to mid 20s with a shaved or bald head. He is approximately 6 feet tall and described as 180 to 220 pounds with a muscular to stocky build. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with white lettering on the front.
Sgt. Byfield is a 29-year veteran of the Boulder Police Department. He was promoted to sergeant in January 2000 and is currentlyassigned to the University Hill unit.
The following information is attached to this release: a composite sketch of the suspect, a photo of the recovered knife and a photo of Sgt. Byfield.
The case number for this incident is 10-12845.
Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact the tip line that has been set up at 303-441-1974. Those who have information but wish to remain anonymous may contact the Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or 1-800-444-3776. Tips can also be submitted via the Crime Stoppers website at www.crimeshurt.com. Those submitting tips through Crime Stoppers that lead to the arrest and filing of charges on a suspect(s) may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $10,000 in total from all Boulder Police related organizations.