NATIONAL SECURITY TEAM PHOTO: Apprehensive Faces in the White House Situation Room

Faces of apprehension in the White House Situation Room during the operation to capture or kill Osama bin Laden near Abbottabad, Pakistan.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011. A classified document seen in this photograph on the notebook computer in front of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been obscured. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

In the photograph provided by the White House, President Barack Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden shown on the left; Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen stands behind the president; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon stands next to Mullen; White House Chief of Staff William M. Daley stands next to Donilon; Deputy National Security Advisor John O. Brennan stands next to Daley; Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper stands next to Brennan; Defense Secretary Robert Gates sits next to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Other members of the National Security team not yet identified in the photo.

“Geronimo” was the operational name for the target Osama bin Laden.

The National Security team members were relieved when a Navy SEAL transmitted a coded message to the White House Situation Room “Geronimo-E KIA” — “E” for ENEMY and KIA for KILLED IN ACTION. Bin Laden was shot twice, once in the head and once in the chest after hiding behind a woman.

The operation sent two teams of 12 NAVY SEALS in for a drop from Blackhawk helicopters to a walled compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan.
















First photo os osama dead unconfirmed






The following is the photo first appeared on the internet after news of Osama’s death spread, First photo os osama dead unconfirmed.

A photo released by the Associated Press late Sunday night shows the dead body of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.

In an image made from Express TV video, bin Laden’s body is seen in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Monday, May 2, 2011.

Bin Laden, the elusive mastermind behind the deadly Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that led the United States into wars in Afghanistan and later Iraq, was killed in a firefight, President Barack Obama said in Washington on Sunday.










Osama Bin Laden is Not Dead

Ok so I know that the reports from Barack Obama (documented below as they unfolded) and the press say that Osama Bin Laden is dead- and I totally agree. Although many people are relieved about the news, I get the opposite reaction. Here are my reasons;

1. This man has thousands of followers- who will stop at nothing to keep his evil spirit alive.
2. His followers aka the Al-Queda Network are furious about his death and are probably as I write this plotting some sort of revenge.

Therefore, as much as I'm glad that Osama is dead, I'm more terrified that something bad (maybe worse) will happen soon.
I just hope that it doesn't come down to this and that the world can be a peaceful place (naive- I know) but wouldn't be nice?

Anyway, this marks an important day in history and although it's not related to fashion, I just thought I'd share it with all of you.

Updated at 11:44 p.m. ET

Obama is finishing up and addressing the families who lost loved ones on 9/11:

"We have never forgotten your loss. Today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people," Obama said.

"Americans can do whatever we set our minds to. ...We are one nation, under god, indivisible for liberty and justice for all."

Updated at 11:43 p.m. ET

"Justice has been done," Obama said.

Updated at 11:42 p.m. ET

Obama said this news "should be welcome by all who believe in peace and human dignity."

He praised the counterterrorism efforts given by Pakistan that helped lead us to bin laden.

"This is a good and historic day for both of us," He said.

Updated at 11: 39 p.m. ET

Obama said last week he "determined there was enough intelligence to take action and authorized action."

He said that "after a firefight" U.S. forces "killed bin Laden and took custody of his body."

No Americans were harmed and care was taken to avoid civilian casualties, Obama said.

Updated at 11:38 p.m. ET:

Obama is going over the 10-year hunt for bin Laden. He said he directed the CIA director to make the killing of bin Laden our top priority.

Updated at 11:36 p.m. ET

Obama discusses 9/11: "The American people came together... we reaffirmed our ties to each other."

Updated at 11:35 p.m. ET

President Obama just announced that the U.S. has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden.

Updated at 11:30 p.m. ET

Some reaction on reports that Osama bin Laden is dead:

"It's not going to mean the end of the movement because there are still those feeding off the anger. They will take up arms. This movement has grown beyond this man," said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute.

"It means a lot," said Carie Lemack, whose mother, Judy Larocque was aboard American Airlines flight 11. "The man who plottred to kill my mom." Lemack, who was sobbing at the news, said she was contacted by the White House about half an hour before Obama spoke and told to watch. No one told her the subject. She was with her father and sister, celebrating her sister's birthday. "I just want to make sure we focus on the people he murdered," she said. "I don't want this day to be about him."

Our original post begins here:

President Obama will soon announce that Osama bin Laden is dead, according to several news reports.

CNN reports that bin Laden was killed by the U.S. in a mansion outside Islamabad.

A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said bin Laden was killed in a ground operation in Pakistan, not by a Predator drone. The official told the Associated Press it happened last week.

The al-Qaeda figurehead was a mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

The White House said Obama will make a major announcement about national security on Sunday evening








Osama Bin Laden a face for a new type of warfare nicknamed terrorism is reported DEAD

The world in which we live has reached a crossroad in history. Osama Bin Laden a face for a new type of warfare nicknamed terrorism is reported DEAD. I say “reported” because in this multi-media saturated society, it was bit of a let down not to see a body, a foot, or something. Well, the inadvertent tweets (as reported by http://latimesblogs.latimes.com) from Sohaib Athar did give validity to the events that unfolded. Let me stop, I shall not give into any conspiracy theories at this juncture. I shall say this though. When I saw the celebrations of the Osama’s death, I thought to myself: What is the difference between people dancing in the streets in America now versus people dancing in the streets in the middle east a decade earlier?

NOTHING… With that said I want you to ponder who the winner is in this Pyrrhic Victory the United States has endured. And I leave you with this

”I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy.

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that” — Martin Luther King, Jr.








Obama: Dunia salama pasipo bin Laden

Rais Barack Obama wa Marekani amekielezea kifo cha kiongozi wa al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, kuwa ni "siku njema kwa taifa la Marekani," na kusema sasa dunia imekuwa mahala salama na pazuri zaidi.

Nyumba ambako Osama bin Laden alikutwa na kuuawa huko Pakistan.


Bin Laden aliuawa katika shambulio lililofanywa na vikosi maalum vya Marekani kwenye nyumba moja ndani ya mji wa Abbottabad nchini Pakistan.

Anaaminika kuwa ndiye mtu aliyeagizwa kufanyika kwa mashambulio yaliyotokea New York na Washington, Septemba 11 mwaka 2001, pamoja na mashambulio mengi kadhaa ya mabomu yaliyosababisha vifo.

Alikuwa ndiye mtu anayesakwa zaidi duniani.

Lakini maelezo yake katika orodha hiyo yamebadilishwa na sasa kuna sehemu inasomeka: "Amefariki".

Uhakika

Vipimo vya DNA vilivyofanywa baada ya harakati hiyo vinaonyesha kwa uhakika wa asilimia "99.9%" kuwa mtu aliyepigwa risasi ni Osama Bin Laden, maafisa wa Marekani walieleza.

Maafisa wa wizara ya ulinzi wanaeleza kuwa alizikwa baharini baada ya kuswaliwa kwa mujibu wa taratibu za kiislamu kwenye meli ya kubebe ndege katika bahari ya Arabuni.

Marekani imeweka ofisi zake katika hali ya tahadhari kote duniani, ikiwaonya raia wake kuhusu uwezekano wa mashambulio ya al-Qaeda kulipiza kisasi kwa kifo cha Bin Laden.

Mkurugenzi wa shirika la ujasusi la CIA, Leon Panetta, amesema al-Qaeda kuna uwezekano mkubwa kujaribu kulipiza kwa yaliyotokea.











OBAMA and BIDEN Vs OSAMA bin LADEN: COINCIDENCE?

Is it just another meaningless coincidence?

In an earlier post, ‘OSAMA AND OBAMA: SAUL AND PAUL’, I had highlighted the many similarities between Osama and Obama, both of whom are creating history. Depending on which side of the seemingly unbridgeable divide you are, metaphorically one of them is Paul, and the other Saul.

The war that Obama will have to fight against Osama, should he become the Supreme Commander of US Armed Forces on January 20, 2009, is not going to be easy. Already, he has identified that the focus of the US has to be on Afghanistan and not on the quagmire in Iraq where the mindless ‘Bush Push’ has led to needless loss of lives and a huge financial drain without achieving anything at all. In fact with Saddam Hussein gone, the only secular state in the middle of the increasingly fundamentalist Muslim world has become another hotbed of Al Qaida activity.

Osama has miraculously evaded and survived all attempts of the only super power of the world to capture or kill him.

Was it by sheer chance that Bush got Dick, or was it also a coincidence of significance? With Dick, Bush probably began to fancy himself as the invincible Rambo. But, Dick was old and in virtual retirement before he was suddenly called up for duty. No wonder Bush with Dick failed to perform and deliver when and where it mattered!

For seven long years, Bush has looked inside, over and under many a 'bush’(coincidence?) without any luck. The 'bush fires' that he started to smoke out and decimate his foes have all but gone out of control, both in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama, on the other hand, has spoken with clarity about the importance of hunting down Osama and the Al Qaida elements in Afghanistan and elsewhere. He has also made it clear that if need be, US forces will go into Pakistan, where Osama and others are holed up, and from where they are directing operations in Afghanistan. Simultanoeusly, he has detailed his determination to pull out of Iraq in a definite time-frame and concentrate all resources to normalise the situation in Afghanistan.

Is Obama’s picking of Biden as running mate a fateful decision which will together see them getting the better of Osama at last? Obama - Osama; Obama and Biden - Osama bin Laden. Not only do both these combinations sound eerily similar, the total number of alphabets in both are also identical!

In 1993, James Redfield wrote ‘The Celestine Prophecy’ in which he used a mythical Peruvian manuscript to help people gain profound insights into the mysterious coincidences and synchronicities that lead us to a particular destiny. Redfield had also predicted that a massive transformation in human society would take place in the last decades of the 20th century.

Are these coincidences meaningless or is there a real reason for them, as Redfield believes? Is it also a meaningless coincidence that more than 20 million copies of his novel have been sold across the world?

Are the two wars in Iraq and the rise of the Al Qaida and Osama bin Laden an important part of the massive transformation under way in the world?

Have Obama and Biden been mysteriously driven together to play a significant role in this transformation?

Does this combination remind some of you of Christ and anti-Christ?

Are you beginning to get the goose pimples?

Or am I reading too much in too little?

We will begin to find out in November 2008. Wait











Ajali nyingine ya boti DRC

Zaidi ya watu 100 wanahofiwa kufa baada ya chombo walimokuwa ndani kuzama katika Ziwa Kivu, kusini mwa Jamuhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Congo.

Mwandishi wa BBC, amesema ajali hiyo ilitokea katika mji wa Tshikapa, Kusini mwa DRC. Ajali hiyo ilitokea jumapili usiku.

Mashua hiyo ya kusafirisha mizingo inasemekana ilizama ikiwa na zaidi ya watu 300.

Maafisa wanasema idadi kamali ya watu waliofariki haijulikana. Hata hivyo watu 30 wanasemekama wamenusurika baada ya kuogelea hadi kwa ufukwe wa ziwa hilo.

Ajali ya sasa imetokea wiki moja baada ya watu 50 kufa katika ziwa hilo upande wa Mashariki, pale mtumbwi wao ulipozama. Shughuli za uokozi zinaendelea








Uswizi yapiga tanji mali za Gaddafi

Uswizi imesema imepiga tanji takriban mali zenye thamani ya dola za kimarekani bilioni moja za Kanali Muammar Gaddafi wa Libya na viongozi walioondolewa madarakani kutoka Misri na Tunisia.

Waziri wa mambo ya nje wa Uswizi Micheline Calmy-Rey alisema takriban dola za kimarekani milioni 960 zimepatikana.

Waziri huyo alisema, kati ya hizo, kiwango kikubwa cha faranga za kifaransa milioni 410 zimehusishwa na aliyekuwa Rais wa Misri Hosni Mubarak na washirika wake.

Faranga nyingine zenye thamani ya milioni 360 zinaaminiwa kuwa za uongozi wa Kanali Gaddafi.

Na faranga milioni 60 zinamhusu aliyekuwa kiongozi wa Tunisa Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali na washirika wake.










Mtetezi wa mapenzi ya jinsia moja auawa

Wapenzi wa jinsia moja
Mauaji ya kikatili ya mwanaharakati wa kutetea mapenzi ja jinsia moja kutoka Afrika kusini yamelaaniwa na kuelezwa kama uhalifu unaohusishwa na chuki na shirika la Human Rights Watch.

Shirika hilo lenye makao yake makuu nchini Marekani limewasihi polisi kufanya jitihada zaidi ya kuwapata waliohusika na mauaji ya hivi karibuni na ubakaji wa Noxolo Nogwaza

Aliuliwa kwa kupopolewa na mawe na kuchomwa kisu Aprili 24 baada ya kutokea mabishano kwenye baa katika kitongoji cha KwaThema, mashariki mwa Johannesburg.

Wanaharakati wamesema wapenzi wa jinsia moja wa kike nchini humo hulengwa kwa kile walichosema "ubakaji wa kurekebishwa".

Tofauti na nchi nyingi za Afrika, mapenzi ya jinsia moja ni halali Afrika kusini na katiba inaharamisha ubaguzi kwa misingi ya jinsia yako.

Lakini wanaharakati wamesema wapenzi wa jinsia moja hushambuliwa kwenye vitongoji mbalimbali.

Polisi wamesema wanafanya uchunguzi juu ya mauaji hayo na wanasubiri matokeo ya uchunguzi wa maiti.








Lesbian in South Africa stoned to death after being brutally raped

Another Lesbian women in South Africa is brutally raped and then stoned to death whilst the South African Government still appear to do nothing to help about the rising homophobic hate crimes.

24 year old Noxolo Nogwaza, a lesbian was brutally raped and murdered. She was found lying in an alley in Kwa-Thema at around 9am on Sunday 24th April 2011. Her head was completely deformed and her eyes were out of the sockets, her brain split, teeth scattered all around and her face crashed beyond recognition. According to witnesses there was an empty beer bottle and a used condom were stacked up her genitals. Other parts of her body had been stabbed with glass and a large pavement brick believed to have been used to crash her head was found by her side.

Victor Mukasa from the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) said, "I am so disturbed by this horrific action. It is the responsibility of the South African Government to protect all its citizens. Hate crimes against LGBT people in this country are on the rise and the government should come out openly against these actions. Protections of individuals who are vulnerable because of their sexual orientation and or gender identity is something provided for in the Constitution of South Africa and should be put in practice. As a regional advocacy organization, CAL will work with EPOC and others to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.

Nysupe the chairperson of EPOC said, " It is very clear that these rapists are on a mission. We will however not rest until justice prevails. Eudy's case (Another Lesbian murdered in a similar manner three years ago) was not recognized as a hate crime against a lesbian and the same is not done in the cases of many other people who have been raped and/or murdered on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in South Africa. EPOC is determined to get to the bottom of the Noxola case and push for justice. It was definitely a hate crime"

Both Ekurhuleni Pride Organizing Committee (EPOC) and the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) call on the Tsakane Police Station where the case was reported, to carry out a thorough investigation into the murder of Noxolo and deal with the perpetrators accordingly.

On Saturday 30th April 2011 Noxolo Nogwaza will be laid to rest at a cemetery in Kwa-Thema.

EPOC and CAL call on everyones support in this time of grief and horror.

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) are appealing from everyone everywhere not to turn a blind eye and urgently take action and you can help.

Alex Elliott from T.I.G.R.O. said, "What has happened to this women is absolutely disgraceful and I call on the South African Government to immediately deal with the rising hate crimes against LGBT people"