Bin Laden used wife as human shield: US official

[Turborama]

Source: AFP

(AFP) – 47 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden used one of his wives as a human shield in an apparent attempt to try to save his own life during a raid by US covert forces, a top US official said Monday.

"There was family at that compound, and there was a female who was, in fact, in the line of fire that reportedly was used as a shield to shield bin Laden from the incoming fire," counter-terrorism official John Brennan said.

Pressed on reports the woman shot dead by Navy SEALs during a firefight at a compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan was one of bin Laden's four wives, Brennan told a White House briefing: "That's my understanding."

Brennan said it was not entirely clear "whether or not bin Laden or the son or whatever put her there or she put herself there" or whether the Al-Qaeda chief himself fired rounds during the exchange.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ivt4LyhJzqXFgshGZWOWwgDm22dA?docId=CNG.5ae3097ac9c6854f3b91c0b67078c88f.141

---

Related comments he made transcribed from the press conference:

"From a visual perspective, here is bin Laden who has been calling for attacks, living in this million dollar plus compound, living in an area that's far removed from the front, hiding behind women who were put in front of him as a shield...

...I think it really just speaks to just how false his narrative has been over the years, and so again looking at what bin Laden was doing, hiding there while he's putting other people out there to carry out attacks, again, just speaks to, I think, the nature of the individual he was."

[glen123098]

1. Fuck Bin Laden.

What a pile of shit this guy was, and what a terrible cowardly way to die.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MineralMan]

2. Not surprising, really. Personally a coward, but always ready

to "let you and him fight." It's a common problem with a lot of so-called leaders.

[Plucketeer]

17. Hitler, Stalin,

when did they ever visit an active front? Never. The days when a king might lead his forces into battle are long gone. That sorta folly ended once it became evident that kings were mortal too. Consequently, it's better for them to lead from a safe location than at the head of the charge!

[Amonester]

26. Gawd-awful,

and too many 'others' it would be impossible to name them all here.

[Kurska]

34. Hitler and Stalin were both on actives fronts at different times.

Stalin remained in Moscow throughout the entire battle for that city in December 1941 while the majority of his government fled.

Meanwhile, everyone is aware of how Hitler spent his last days in Berlin resisting numerous attempts to get him to flee. Hitler also spent a large portion of the Eastern campaigns dangerously close to the front, at one point a group of Soviet tanks on a deep probing attack got within gun range of the airfield hitler was to take off from later in the day (though they had no idea).

Hitler and Stalin were also both veterans of different conflicts. Hitler served in world war I and Stalin fought in the Russian civil war in the city that would eventually bare his name.

Now, I'm not going to attribute courage to either of these choices. Hitler was furious with his generals for supposed failure to follow orders and insisted on close personal supervision of the war effort. Stalin on the other hand felt like if Moscow was lost so was the war and decided that if he must die he was going to die in the capital. Still, if you're looking for examples of leaders who asked other men to die while fleeing to safety they just aren't very good examples.

[Plucketeer]

35. I'll agree on a technicallity,

but I doubt Hitler or Stalin were actually ON the battle lines (IN WWII) at any time. With Hitler, in the end, what choice did he have but to be close? And while it's true that Hanna Reitsch (sp?) flew in to extract him, at that point, he'd realized what his fate was going to be. He knew he was gonna take his own life rather than risk the humiliation of trial.
As you point out, Hitler and Stalin DID get close to action in earlier wars, but I was talking about conflicts they directed - not ones where they were just cogs in the fighting machines.

[Kurska]

36. Fair, Neither Hitler nor Stalin fought hand in hand with the soldiers.

But if you must credit the murderous bastards with something, when they felt like the curtain might fall (Moscow) or when it did fall (Berlin) they remained on the stage ready to die with the average man. If only every dictator and murderer had the same conviction you wouldn't have men like Idi Amin eating oranges recharging his "sex power" in Saudi Arabia after slaughtering his own people.

[Cal33]

49. If I remember correctly, bin Laden was in active combat as a young man

volunteering to fight in Afghanistan when the USSR invaded that country.

Also, not to forget, bin Laden was from a wealthy family and inherited hundreds
of millions. He gave up a life of ease to live in danger. He had had more than
his share of living in misery and danger during his time.

I think he is a fanatic filled with hate, but I don't think he is a coward.

[ronnie624]

39. Hitler was wounded twice in his service during WWI.

He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class and the Iron Cross 1st class, which were not handed out like candy. He was an evil man, but he was no coward.

[Blue Owl]

3. His cowardice was epic

Kinda like the GOP's, come to think of it.

[Iliyah]

4. Hehehehe

my thoughts exactly about the gopers.

[MsPithy]

5. That in his final moments this coward

acted in an extremely cowardly manner is totally believable.

[laconicsax]

6. Pretty sure that counts against you if you're going for a martyrdom. n/t

[BobbyBoring]

7. Not really

I hear Allah hates women

[Ninjaneer]

14. +1

[gauguin57]

8. Chivalry is dead ... and so is bin Laden.

Just for that spectacular example of wuss-puss-ery, you get no virgins in the afterlife, Osammaramma!

[MinneapolisMatt]

9. COWARD.

Disgusting.

[Odin2005]

10. Fucking coward.

[benld74]

11. It shows HOW females are thought of in these particular countries

males are everything. Females nothing but baby making machines, and those babies BETTER be male.

[totodeinhere]

25. +1

[ronnie624]

43. I know people from "these particular countries",

And they are not as you say, AT ALL.

That sort of vilification serves no good purpose.

[CJvR]

12. Why the outrage?

If you dont own a Kevlar vest you have to use your other property - like a wife. When you have three spares one hardly matters much.

[dipsydoodle]

13. Narrative contradicts the headline

Brennan said it was not entirely clear "whether or not bin Laden or the son or whatever put her there or she put herself there"

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Sonoman]

16. Fact, speculation or Psy-Ops?

It doesn't matter if is fact or fiction, this would have been floated immediately. If anything - just one thing - was to come out of this situation, it would be that Bin Laden was a coward at the bitter end of the line.

S.O.P.

Sonoman

[Poll_Blind]

24. Actually, I watched the press conference and several times the question came up until the....

...spokesman basically said "There was a woman. There was a firefight. At some point she was between the US military and bin Laden. She was killed. Whether she was commanded there or whether she placed herself there, I don't know."

This was near the end of the press conference, I think when the reporter with the thick Russian accent started off with "What was the legal justification" for the action- I think it was that guy's second question, but I'm unsure.

Anyway, the guy who is credited with making the statement eventually showed that he was parsing words. It was the one the Whitehouse broadcast live so I assume there will be a transcript. He went on about it long enough I'm assuming that it won't have been skipped.

PB

[Turborama]

38. Transcript and 50 minute video of the press briefing are available now

Knowing how much you like to keep facts straight, I'm sure you'll be going over it with a fine tooth comb, as I'm starting to...

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney and Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan

Transcript: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/02/press-briefing-press-secretary-jay-carney-and-assistant-president-homela

Video: http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/05/02/press-briefing

[Bette Noir]

18. So he was not only a terrorist chief, but a really, really bad husband.

[pmorlan1]

19. I take this story with a grain of salt

We will never know exactly what happened but the torture tainted John Brennan is not a man that is to be trusted. His description below could just as easily be used to describe himself and all the other war cheerleaders in the government and our establishment press.

"From a visual perspective, here is bin Laden who has been calling for attacks, living in this million dollar plus compound, living in an area that's far removed from the front, hiding behind women who were put in front of him as a shield," he said.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Gemini Cat]

20. Of course. No surprise here.

Cowardly fuckwad.

[LanternWaste]

21. It wasn't very effective at Okinawa...

It wasn't very effective at Okinawa. Doesn't seem to have been very effective yesterday either.

[KamaAina]

22. Which one?

:evilgrin:

[DinahMoeHum]

23. Hope the SEALs actually caught OBL screwing in bed. . .

when they stormed the place.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!

:rofl:

[Kurovski]

27. Reporting on MSNBC states that reports are now that she was not his wife, and

she was merely caught in the crossfire.

When will i learn to wait?

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kurovski]

33. I do tend to get caught up in things, but I'm not averse to admitting i'm wrong.

it keeps me from falling into a world of complete self-delusion.

I need a little to get through the day, but not in regard to current events. :)

[ronnie624]

40. It's weird, considering the blatant, pervasive propaganda.

It seems that Americans, for the most part, are incapable of learning once they've reach adulthood.

[Hannah Bell]

45. +100

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[freshwest]

37. Disgusting. Not unexpected, since she was just a lowly woman. Good riddance to him.

[EFerrari]

41. Update: Wh House official says the wife was not used as a human shield

Bin Laden's wife not killed in raid, White House says

– Mon May 2, 7:56 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A woman killed during the raid of Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan was not his wife and was not used as a human shield by the al Qaeda leader before his death, a U.S. official said on Monday, correcting an earlier description.

John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top counter- terrorism adviser, told reporters earlier that the slain woman had been one of bin Laden's wives and had been used -- perhaps voluntarily -- as a shield during the firefight.

However, a different White House official said that account had turned out not to be the case. Bin Laden's wife was injured but not killed in the assault.

U.S. officials have said a small U.S. strike team, dropped by helicopter to bin Laden's hide-out near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad under cover of night, shot the al Qaeda leader dead with bullets to the chest and head. He did not return fire.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110502/wl_nm/us_binladen_usa_wife_2

[Turborama]

42. So, if true, no women were killed in the operation.

ETA

Who is this "different White House official" that's contradicting what John Brennan said?

Why don't they use their name?

ETA 2

Wikipedia only has 4 males killed in the operation (of course Wikipedia can be wrong and I corrected it by crossing out the wife below).

If so, that means no women were killed in the operation.

Casualties and losses

Osama bin Laden
bin Laden's son
Amal al Ahmed Sadah (Bin Laden's wife)
Maulawi Abd al-Khaliq Jan (courier) and his brother

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Osama_bin_Laden

[PurityOfEssence]

44. self edit

.

[Hannah Bell]

46. lol. more propaganda from the mills. that would mean our brave boys shot the hostage, btw.

maybe that's why they changed the story.

[Javaman]

47. this is the second version of this...

first one was that she through herself in front of him.

well, did he at least say, "you'll never get me, coppers!"

[Bonobo]

48. Sounds like it was written by the same guy as the Jessica Lynch story. nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

50. Osama, you're gonna need a bigger wife

If it's good advice against great white sharks, it's good advice against SEALs.

:hi: