OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD

POLITICS - Osama Bin Laden was killed last night by a helicopter raid in the town of Abbottabad, Pakistan. The raid on Osama Bin Laden's fortress in western Pakistan was a daring attack vs a small army of bodyguards. President Barack Obama made the announcement last night.

Note: The lead up to and the final assault is sure to become a feature film.

Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, was shot in the head while fighting back against the helicopter assault force. One of Osama Bin Laden's sons died with him.

Osama Bin Laden was living in a house in the town of Abbottabad that was “custom built to hide someone of significance” according to US intelligence officials.

Abbottabad is approx. 100 kilometres from the Pakistani capital Islamabad, far from the remote mountain caves along the Pakistan-Afghanistan tribal border where it was believed he was hiding.

Instead Osama Bin Laden was living in a million dollar mansion just a stone's throw from the Kakul Military Academy, an army run institution where top military officers train.

Osama Bin Laden has been in hiding ever since September 11th 2001, accused of plotting the terrorism attacks of that terrible day.

The 5-year-old compound Osama Bin Laden was hiding in was guarded by 12 to 18 feet high walls, barbed wire, burned its own trash so people wouldn't snoop through garbage, had no phone or internet connections to the outside, internal walls and two separate security gates. It was practically a prison already.

The building was 8 times larger than other homes in the area and stuck out like a sore thumb. Its amazing people didn't question who actually lived there, and with the military academy so close it seems odd. It was really a matter of time before someone in US intelligence noticed the strange building during visits to the nearby academy.

As it turns out it was a Pakistani informant who told the USA where to find Osama Bin Laden. The informant told the CIA about a courier who worked for both Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Faraj al-Libi, both high ranking Al Qaeda members. The CIA then tracked the courier to the compound, which kick started an investigation into who might be living there.

The helicopter raid started being planned weeks ago...

On March 14th President Obama held the first of a series of 5 high security meetings to plan the operation. The last meeting was Friday at 8:20 a.m.

Following the meeting Obama traveled to Alabama to witness the damage from the recent tornadoes.

Many critics and conspiracy theorists have long believed that Pakistan might be hiding Osama Bin Laden within their border. The proximity to their highest ranking military academy suggests possible collusion with the Pakistani military.

The team of helicopter pilots and the assault crew are already being hailed as heroes. No Americans died during the assault.

Osama Bin Laden's body was recovered during the assault and American forces are now debating what to do with it. Like JFK and Che Guevara it will likely have to be shown publicly before people will believe he is dead.