Newly Released Pics Offer Fresh View of Obama White House When Bin Laden Was Killed
On May 2, 2011, nearly ten years after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Osama bin Laden was killed in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad by the Navy SEALs group called DEVGRU, also known as SEAL Team Six.
SputnikNewly released photos from inside the White House the night Osama bin Laden was killed were released on Friday after the Washington Post requested them from the Obama Presidential Library using the Freedom of Information Act and Presidential Records Act.
According to the outlet, the request took 376 days to process and initially included a 161-page PDF of thumbnail pictures without metadata, timestamps, or context. The outlet then requested and received high-resolution pictures with timestamps of select pictures.
Osama bin Laden was the leader of the terrorist group al-Qaeda* and was accused by the United States of being the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C.
While bin Laden praised the attacks, he denied all responsibility for them. The Taliban, who was in control of Afghanistan where Al-Qaeda had bases, also said that there was "no proof" that bin Laden was behind the attacks.
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Obama addresses his security team while considering the operation that ultimately killed Osama Bin Laden. Air Force Brig. Gen. Marshall Webb is also pictured.
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President Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates shake hands, Hillary Clinton and other officials are also pictured
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President Obama sits at the head of the table in the Situation Room. To his right sits Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen. To Obama's right sits National security adviser Tom Donilon, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley.
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President Obama and his national security team in the large conference area of the Situation Room
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President Obama and his national security team discuss the raid
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President Obama listens as Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen speaks, the team were discussing if the announcement should be made that night or in the morning
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Left: Director of National Intelligence James R Clapper Jr., Center: CIA Director Leon Panetta, Right: White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley
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National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Intelligence Director James Clapper listen to reports about the raid.
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President Obama considers when the announcement that Osama Bin Laden had been killed should be given.
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This previously released photo became the one most associated with the operation that killed Osama bin Laden
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Deputy national security advisor Denis McDonough and Obama speechwriter Ben Rhodes speak
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President Obama, Speechwriter Ben Rhodes and White House chief of Staff Bill Daley Outline Obama's Speech
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Aides and journalists prepare for President Obama's speech announcing the killing of Osama bin Laden
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Speech writer Ben Rhodes and the teleprompter team work on last minute changes to President Obama's speech
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Obama On the Phone in the Aftermath of the Osama Bin Laden Operation. He reportedly called former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari
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Obama on the phone while, national security advisor Denis McDonough, speech writer Ben Rhodes, and national security advisor Tom Donilon sit on the right couch. The man on the left couch is unidentified.
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President Obama makes last minute changes to his speech while his advisors wait.
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Crowds gather outside the White House after media outlets report Osama bin Laden's death
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Vice President Biden and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney review Obama's speech
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Vice President Biden and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen celebrate Osama bin Laden's death, wearing matching rosary rings.
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Senior officials look on as Obama addresses the nation about Osama bin Laden's death. From left to right: James Clapper, Thomas Donilon, CIA Director Leon Panetta, Mike Mullen, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden
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President Obama addresses the nation after approving an operation that ended in Osama bin Laden's death
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The crowd celebrates after President Obama's address, informing the nation that Osama bin Laden had been killed.
Then-President George W. Bush demanded the Taliban hand over bin Laden and when they refused, the United States invaded the country and toppled the Taliban regime. The United States would go on to occupy the country for nearly two decades.
It would take nearly ten years and two presidential administrations for the United States to get their man. Bin Laden, as it turned out, wasn't hiding in Afghanistan, at least not in 2011, but was instead holed up in a compound in neighboring Pakistan.
It took another 10 years for the United States to withdraw from Afghanistan.
The operation, authorized by the Obama administration, went forward without the permission or knowledge of Pakistan's government, an ally of the United States. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf praised the killing of bin Laden, saying it would have "positive long-term implications" in the area, but also accused the United States of violating Pakistan's sovereignty.
There was reportedly some hesitation among Obama's staff in approving the operation without Pakistan's go-ahead, but Obama ultimately sided on executing it without risking leaks by informing Pakistan. Obama would also say in a later interview that the evidence they had was not "absolutely conclusive," adding to his hesitation to authorize the raid.
The operation, code-named Operation Neptune Spear was a CIA-led operation. According to US accounts of the event, SEAL Team Six descended on the compound secretly, though one helicopter reportedly clipped its tail on the compound's 18-foot walls, causing it to perform a "soft crash."
25 October 2021, 17:44 GMT
The special forces group then blew down the doors to the compound and met resistance, starting a firefight. The two dozen SEALs in the operation made their way up to the third floor where they found and killed Osama bin Laden.
US sources say bin Laden resisted, and that the orders were to "capture or kill bin Laden." They identified the body using facial recognition software, measuring the corpse and eventually, DNA analysis.
Bin Laden's body was never shown to the public and the military said they buried him at sea.
The news of bin Laden's death caused an eruption of celebration in the United States and a mix of celebration and anti-US protests around the globe.
* Al-Qaeda is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries