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WASHINGTON — The U.S. used multiple means to confirm the identity of Osama bin Laden during and after the firefight in which he was killed, before placing his body in the North Arabian Sea from aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier, senior U.S. officials said Monday.
The al-Qaida leader was identified by name by a woman believed to be one of his wives – bin Laden had several – who was present at his Pakistan compound at the time of the U.S. raid. He also was visually identified by members of the U.S. raid squad, a senior intelligence official told reporters at a Pentagon briefing. Under ground rules set by the Pentagon, the intelligence official and two senior defense officials could not be identified by name.
The intelligence official also said quite a bit of unspecified material was collected by U.S. forces during the raid. Without describing the material, the official said it is being analyzed by a team of people at the CIA.
The officials said bin Laden was killed toward the end of the firefight, which took place overnight Monday 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. Preparations for at-sea burial began at 1:10 a.m. EDT Monday and were completed at 2 a.m. EDT, one official said.
The intelligence official said the DNA match, using DNA from several family members, provided virtual certainty that it was bin Laden's body.
Officials did not immediately say where or how the testing was done but the test explains why President Barack Obama was confident to announce the death to the world Sunday night. Obama provided no details on the identification process.
Dr. Bruce Budowle, a former senior scientist at the FBI, said DNA confirmation can be achieved quickly under the right circumstances.
Budowle, currently director of the Institute of Investigative Genetics at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, said using a sample of blood or a cheek swab, "you extract the DNA that day, get the PCR done in the same day, put it on the machine that night... and interpret it the following day." PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, technology allows scientists to rapidly copy a single stretch of DNA using cycles of heating and cooling. Then it's a matter of adding fluorescent dyes to compare specific spots on that chunk of DNA with the relative's sample.
If markers on standard, well-known regions match, they have a positive identification.
The U.S. is believed to have collected DNA samples from bin Laden family members in the years since the 9/11 attacks that triggered the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. It was unclear whether the U.S. also had fingerprints or some other means to identify the body on site.
Bin Laden was shot in the head during the firefight with members of an elite American counter-terrorism unit that launched a helicopter-borne raid on the al-Qaida leader's compound, U.S. officials said. Officials said the U.S. special forces who stormed the compound came face to face with their prey.
U.S. officials also said bin Laden was identified through "facial recognition," a reference to technology for mapping unique facial characteristics, but it was not clear exactly how the Navy SEAL troops performed the comparison.
The body was photographed before being buried at sea, although no images have been released by the Obama administration.
The U.S. official who disclosed the burial at sea said it was not possible to find a country willing to accept the remains. Pressed by reporters to say which countries had been contacted about taking the remains, the official said, "I'm not going into details of those conversations."
Obama said the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial.
An official at Monday's Pentagon briefing said the body, once aboard the USS Carl Vinson, was washed and placed in a white sheet. It was then placed in a "weighted bag," and a military officer read prepared "religious remarks," which were translated into Arabic by a "native speaker" who was not further identified.
The body was then placed on a "prepared flat board, tipped up, whereupon the deceased's body eased into the sea," the official said.
Details on how the body was transported to the ship were not provided.
Positive identification of the remains is considered a critically important part of the U.S. operation, given the symbolic importance of bin Laden's leadership of the Islamic extremist movement that was based in Afghanistan until the U.S. invaded in October 2001.
When al-Qaida's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in June 2006, DNA tests were performed by the FBI to positively identify the remains. The U.S. military also performed an autopsy, in part to dispel allegations in the immediate aftermath of the airstrike that the terrorist leader had been beaten or shot by U.S. soldiers while in American custody.
It was not clear Monday whether the Obama administration intended to release its photos of bin Laden's body.
In July 2003, when U.S. forces killed Saddam Hussein's sons, Odai and Qusai, in a gunbattle in northern Iraq, the U.S. military released graphic after-death photographs in an effort to prove to Iraqis that they were dead. Two of the photos showed the first man, identified as Qusai, with bruises and blood spots around his eyes. That face was far more intact than the other, identified as Odai; the mouth was open with the teeth showing.
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Associated Press writers Lauran Neergaard, Lolita C. Baldor, Ben Feller and Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.Comment
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I mean, right! I hate to say "trust the government" to anyone. But if the gov'ts were to "fake" Bin Laden's death for some underlying political gain, why the fuck didn't they do it years ago? Like on 9/21/2001? Or when the Iraq War turned into a partisan/al Qaida of Iraq shitfest in 2003-2004? Or when the GOP was shitting itself in late 2006 to 2008?Here comes the nonsense right on schedule huh?
Soon we'll have a college drop out making a video with a calm female voice telling us how a short DNA test cannot be done in a few hours completely ignoring that the experts have no problem with that at all.
I'm not sure I can face another one of these. I think I'll just post 'FUCKWIT' every time someone tries to get this cuntspiracy theory going.
Why now?Comment
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So, the government expects everyone to take their word that they got him? (I know, of course they do...)
I wonder how soon, (if at all) they will show proof to the world?.....Trolls take heed...
LOG OUT & FUCK OFF!!!Comment
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Because why? Because even atheist adherents to conspiracy need a religion. A religion that believes that there's an actually coherent and rational explanation for everything. That some unseen force is controlling events. The truth is akin to saying that there is "no God" to a believer. The truth is that chaos rules and that there is no reason to natural order. Things just happen because the universe is chaotic and there is no plan...Comment
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Mmmmm....Obamma issues his birth certificate in the same week that Bin Laden 'dies'? Ever see those two in a room together?
CUNTSPIRACY I say! CUNTSPIRACY!The Power Of The Riff Compels MeComment
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Because governments aren't competent enough to pull this sort of shit off and not everyone will ever keep quiet no matter what. Ever....
I mean, you just saw a massive download by Julian Assaugne and Wikileaks, but the gov'ts are going to fake this? Really?Last edited by Nickdfresh; 05-02-2011, 03:48 PM.Comment
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I for one believe he is actually dead. But for the conspiracy theorists out there, if he is not actually dead, wouldn't Al Qaeda's first order of business be to put out a new Bin Laden videotape?
*Cue the "fake video" conspiracy folks...*ROTH ARMY MILITIA
Originally posted by EAT MY ASSHOLE
Sharky sometimes needs things spelled out for him in explicit, specific detail. I used to think it was a lawyer thing, but over time it became more and more evident that he's merely someone's idiot twin.Comment
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Not only is he not dead he never even existed!
Pah! Cuntspiracy, Cuntspiracy!
(I actually think that he is Steve Savicki)The Power Of The Riff Compels MeComment
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BTW, as a "liberal" leftist, I object to the whole "patriots are assholes" argument here.
There's a difference between patriotism and nationalism. I think one can love ones country without hating everyone elses....Comment
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Reuters confirmed it's a fake, the bottom part of his face came from a speech in 1998......Eat Us And Smile - The Originals
"I have a very belligerent enthusiasm or an enthusiastic belligerence. I’m an intellectual slut." - David Lee Roth
"We are part of the, not just the culture, but the geography. Van Halen music goes along with like fries with the burger." - David Lee RothComment
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As to be expected, a FOX news report accurately details the breaking news...
Fox Affiliate Reports 'President Obama Is Dead' Instead of Osama
HollywoodReporter
The network also flashes "Obama Bin Laden" across its news ticker.
A Fox News affiliate declared that President Barack Obama was dead and then flashed along their news scroll that "Obama Bin Laden" had died.
While reporting the breaking news Sunday that Bin Laden had been killed in a mansion outside Islamabad, the Fox affiliate said, "President Obama is in fact dead. I'm sorry, Osama Bin Laden."
The affiliate then flashed along its news scroll that "Obama Bin Laden" had been killed instead of Osama, and reported that the killing happened a week ago.
Fox News is often under fire for reporting along party lines.
In February, the network switched Gallup Poll numbers to make it appear that a majority of Americans were for collective bargaining rights of government workers, a Republican cause, which was false. In fact, 61 percent of Americans were against it.
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”― Stephen HawkingComment
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“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”― Stephen HawkingComment
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I think FORD posted the same thing a few pages earlier, Craig. Try to keep up. :DAs to be expected, a FOX news report accurately details the breaking news...
Fox Affiliate Reports 'President Obama Is Dead' Instead of Osama
HollywoodReporter
The network also flashes "Obama Bin Laden" across its news ticker.
A Fox News affiliate declared that President Barack Obama was dead and then flashed along their news scroll that "Obama Bin Laden" had died.
While reporting the breaking news Sunday that Bin Laden had been killed in a mansion outside Islamabad, the Fox affiliate said, "President Obama is in fact dead. I'm sorry, Osama Bin Laden."
The affiliate then flashed along its news scroll that "Obama Bin Laden" had been killed instead of Osama, and reported that the killing happened a week ago.
Fox News is often under fire for reporting along party lines.
In February, the network switched Gallup Poll numbers to make it appear that a majority of Americans were for collective bargaining rights of government workers, a Republican cause, which was false. In fact, 61 percent of Americans were against it.ROTH ARMY MILITIA
Originally posted by EAT MY ASSHOLE
Sharky sometimes needs things spelled out for him in explicit, specific detail. I used to think it was a lawyer thing, but over time it became more and more evident that he's merely someone's idiot twin.Comment
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