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MAY 2,  2011

SECURITY REDUCED? – AT 9:53 P.M. ET:  It seemed to me that the security at Grand Central Station, a major target, was far less when I left for home than when I arrived.  I have no explanation for this.   New York is going through a severe budget crunch, and maybe that was a factor.

It's still all bin Laden all the time.  The ultimate reality show.  President Obama is coming to Ground Zero later this week, his visit symbolizing the end of the bin Laden saga.  It's a good political stroke as well.  He'll be photographed with cops, firemen and other emergency personnel, and once again we will see Obama the "moderate" presented to the electorate.

One of the most inspiring things today was to see the number of college students out demonstrating on behalf of America.  Even the most elite of college newspapers, the Harvard Crimson and the Columbia Spectator, featured bin Laden's end on their front pages, and showed photos of students cheering. 

As the news of Osama bin Laden's death began to spread late Sunday night, images of college students celebrating across the United States started to pour into CNN iReport. From waving flags and blowing vuvuzelas at Yale University to a chorus of voices rising above Penn State University, the mood among campuses was electric.

"It was crazy, everyone was so unified and excited," said Colleen Russo, who joined around 400 other Denison University students in Granville, Ohio, to celebrate the news. They sang patriotic songs, shot off fireworks and cheered "USA! USA!" until the wee hours of the morning.

Although the majority of undergrads were just elementary school students when the September 11 attacks occurred, it seems the significance of bin Laden's death is not lost upon them.

"I remember I really lost my innocence that day," said Russo.

The 21-year-old psychology major explained that she grew up knowing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bin Laden's death, 10 years later, "[is] kind of like closure for me," she said.

"The attacks happened at an age where I was just beginning to understand world politics,” said West Virginia University student Puthiwadh Owen Huot, who was in 7th grade and living in Washington D.C. at the time.

He watched thousands of rowdy students fill the streets of Morgantown, West Virginia, chanting, honking car horns, and, in some cases, setting couches on fire.

"People are celebrating like crazy where I am," said Huot. "I think its more of a mob mentality and students are just looking for a reason to celebrate."

Vanderbilt University student Chris McDonald, 22, said he was moved by seeing images of other college students reacting to the news.

It has been reported that professors watching the demonstrations were treated for shock and given the last rites of the Young Socialists Club.

May 2, 2011       Permalink

NEW YORK ON ALERT – AT 5:46 P.M. ET:  I'm writing this from a park bench just outside Central Park, on Fifth Avenue.  I'm going to hear a private talk in a few minutes on some of the creative shenanigans on Wall Street. 

I left Grand Central Station a short time ago and, yes, the security was much heavier than usual.  I saw knots of police officers with bomb-sniffing dogs, and I witnessed one traveler pulled over to have his bags inspected.  I did not hear any ACLU members shouting "Fascism!" but that may happen on the way back.  Some of the nursery schools haven't let out yet.

Obviously, security like that cannot stop a suicide bomber, but it can deter a terrorist who'd like to see tomorrow.  I was glad to see the cops, who looked pretty serious about their work.  New Yorkers tend to take these things in stride.  No one seemed particularly bothered.

I have what I call the "48-hour rule."  It holds that it takes about 48 hours after a major news event for the left to get reorganized and start spouting its line.  We're seeing some early signs.  We'll see if the rule holds.

May 2, 2011     Permalink

THE USUAL SUSPECTS – AT 10:35 A.M. ET:  While most sane people are shedding no tears over the death of Osama bin Laden, there are those who are indeed all choked up.  Included in this exclusive club are the leaders of Hamas, which controls Gaza, and has just entered into a unity agreement with the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank.  From Reuters:

GAZA (Reuters) - The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Monday condemned the killing by U.S. forces of Osama bin Laden and mourned him as an "Arab holy warrior."

"We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood," Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, told reporters.

Though he noted doctrinal differences between bin Laden's al Qaeda and Hamas, Haniyeh said: "We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs."

COMMENT:  The sound you hear is Jimmy Carter and like-minded Hamas sympathizers rushing to explain away that statement.  We should remember what Haniyeh said the next time we're informed that Hamas is really a swell group of guys who are misunderstood in the West.

No misunderstanding those words.

May 2, 2011       Permalink

THE HISTORIC PRECEDENT – AT 10:02 A.M. ET:  The erasure of Osama bin Laden marks the second time in the lifetime of many of us that the United States has mounted a spectacular operation to kill someone who masterminded a military attack on the United States.

On April 18, 1943, the United States launched Operation Vengeance to kill Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who'd planned the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.  The operation was based on intelligence reports that told us of Yamamoto's travel plans in the Solomon Islands, in the southwest Pacific.  A flight of Army Air Force Lockheed P-38 Lightning twin-engine fighters was sent out, and intercepted Yamamoto's plane in exactly the spot and at exactly the time the intelligence reports predicted.  Yamamoto's aircraft crashed on the island of Bougainville, later taken by American troops.

Yamamoto's death had a devastating impact on the morale of the Japanese Navy, equivalent, one distinguished naval historian has written, to losing a major battle.  The crash site of Yamamoto's plane is preserved to this day, and has become a tourist attraction.

May 2, 2011       Permalink

LIVE TWITTERING THE BIN LADEN OP – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  This story is going viral.  A Pakistani guy live Twittered the bin Laden operation without realizing what it was.   From London's Telegraph:

Sohaib Athar, who uses the Twitter handle "ReallyVirtual", recorded the helicopter attack that led to the death of the al-Qaeda leader.

At 1am local time, he noted on his Twitter page that a helicopter was hovering overhead, a "rare event" in sleepy Abbottabad.

The noise from the aircraft was annoying, and he tweeted: "Go away helicopter – before I take out my giant swatter :-/".

But the commotion only got worse.

Minutes later he wrote: "A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope its not the start of something nasty :-S"

Then, when the sound of the helicopter stopped following an explosion, he tweeted "seems like my giant swatter worked !"

In a few exchanges with other Twitter users he wrote: "the few people online at this time of the night are saying one of the copters was not Pakistani ".

And: "Since taliban (probably) don't have helicpoters, and since they're saying it was not 'ours', so must be a complicated situation".

Shortly later he went offline for a few hours, returning in the morning to work out what had happened.

He retweeted a post from Munzir Naqvi: "I think the helicopter crash in Abbottabad, Pakistan and the President Obama breaking news address are connected."

Soon another Twitter user had confirmed the news. Mr Athar tweeted "RT @ ISuckBigTime: Osama Bin Laden killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan. ISI has confirmed it [[ Uh oh, there goes the neighborhood :-/"".

COMMENT:  Watch this guy become a 15-minutes-of-fame American TV star. 

May 2, 2011       Permalink

MYSTERY – AT 8:27 A.M. ET:  There will be many mysteries to come out of the bin Laden operation, but one that is featuring prominently this morning involves the question of how much Pakistan actually knew about bin Laden's whereabouts, and whether elements within the Pakistan government were actually helping him.  From the L.A. Times:

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan –— The fact that Osama bin Laden was killed not in the tribal badlands of northwestern Pakistan but in a small city just north of the capital is likely to raise new suspicions in Washington about how much the country's security establishment knew of his whereabouts — and whether elements of it assisted him.

For many years, the hunt for Bin Laden focused on the rugged tribal areas along the Afghan border. Instead, he was killed in the city of Abbottabad, in a neighborhood near the Pakistan Military Academy, the training center that has produced many of the country's powerful military leaders.

Right near the training center?  I wonder how many cadets were brought in for inspiration.

That Bin Laden was caught in the heart of the Pakistani state may deepen the mistrust between the U.S. and its nominal anti-terrorist ally, which is the recipient of billions of dollars in U.S. military aid.

Officials in Washington have long accused the Pakistani government and its security bodies of providing sanctuary and other means of support to militant groups that were closely allied with Al Qaeda and helped the terrorist organization hide and operate there.

In July, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton bluntly accused the Pakistani government of less than full cooperation in the hunt for Bin Laden.

Clinton did not charge that top government officials were protecting the Al Qaeda leader, but instead said she believed that elements of the bureaucracy had to know where he was hiding.

A senior U.S. official who briefed reporters at the White House late Sunday said no Pakistani forces were involved in the operation to kill Bin Laden and that Pakistan was not told of the mission beforehand.

COMMENT:  Pakistan is insisting this morning that the bin Laden operation was an entirely U.S. affair.  Obviously, the Pakistan government fears retaliation from the huge number of fanatics residing in the country should they suspect that their own country was involved in killing the Islamist matinee idol.

May 2, 2011       Permalink

DETAILS EMERGE – AT 8:05 A.M. ET:  We don't have all the details on the American operation that killed bin Laden, but some facts are known.  It is widely reported that Navy SEALS were involved.  From CNN:

(CNN) -- In the dark of night, U.S. helicopters approached a high-walled compound in Pakistan on a mission to capture or kill one of the world's most notorious terrorist leaders.

Less than 40 minutes later -- early Monday morning in Pakistan -- Osama bin Laden was dead, along with four others inside the complex, and the U.S. forces departed with the slain al Qaeda leader's body to fulfill a vow that originated shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

Speaking from the White House Sunday night, U.S. President Barack Obama announced the successful raid. Senior administration officials provided further details on the assault on the compound they believe was built five years ago for the specific purpose of hiding bin Laden.

The compound is in Abbottabad, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. The city sits in a mountainous region of Pakistan and is not heavily populated. Many of the residents are army personnel.

While senior administration officials would not offer a breakdown of the U.S. mission's composition, a senior defense official said U.S. Navy SEALs were involved.

And...

The mission ordered Friday by Obama encountered outer walls up to 18 feet tall topped with barbed wire, with two security gates and a series of internal walls that sectioned off different portions of the compound, the senior administration officials said. The main structure was a three-story building with few windows facing the outside of the compound, and a third-floor terrace had a seven-foot privacy wall, they said.

Months of intelligence work determined that the compound was custom-built to hide a high-value terrorism suspect, almost certainly bin Laden. The officials noted there was no telephone or Internet service at the dwelling, which was valued at more than $1 million, and its occupants burned their trash, rather than leave it out for collection like other area residents.

And...

U.S. officials said they used a number of methods to identify the body as bin Laden.

One official said it was clear to the assault force that the body matched bin Laden's description, but they used "facial recognition work, amongst other things, to confirm the identity."

A senior national security official told CNN that they had multiple confirmations that the body was bin Laden, saying they had the "ability to run images of the body and the face."

I wonder if Hollywood will now make a movie, or will the "artists" out there consider the theme too pro-American?  I think all bets are off.

We also await the first book claiming that bin Laden is alive and playing poker with Elvis.

May 2, 2011        Permalink

BIN LADEN APPARENTLY BURIED AT SEA – AT 7:38 A.M. ET:  As Staples says, "That was easy."

News reports say that Osama bin Laden, biologically impacted yesterday by an American team, has been buried at sea.  This is entirely logical, and it's not the first time the oceans have been used to swallow up a demon.  When Israel executed Adolph Eichmann, the organizer of the Holocaust, he was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea.  The purpose:  A burial site on land can become a shrine. 

A number of leaders, including Angela Merkel of Germany and David Cameron of Britain, have praised the American operation that led to bin Laden's final chapter.  But it is reported that Al Qaeda websites, and those of fellow travelers, are filled with outrage and anguish.  Thus, American officials have alerted U.S. embassies around the world to take special precautions.  Those precautions will extend to the United States itself.  Retaliatory attacks are expected.  From WaPo:

WASHINGTON — The State Department early Monday put U.S. embassies on alert and warned of the heightened possibility for anti-American violence after the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by American forces in Pakistan.

In a worldwide travel alert released shortly after President Barack Obama late Sunday announced bin Laden’s death in a U.S. military operation, the department said there was an “enhanced potential for anti-American violence given recent counterterrorism activity in Pakistan.”

Americans are reacting with understandable glee, and with a sense that justice has been done.  However, we have yet to hear from Code Pink or the ACLU.

May 2, 2011     Permalink

MAY 1,  2011

OBAMA CONFIRMS BIN LADEN DEATH – AT 11:56 P.M. ET:  President Obama delivered an effective and disciplined speech a few minutes ago confirming that an American team operating in Pakistan killed Osama bin Laden today.  (Or, as some in the president's base might put it, Osama bin Laden's civil liberties were seriously violated by culturally insensitive members of America's industrial-military complex.  Demonstrations tomorrow.)

The president's speech did not go into much detail.   There was only one curious statement – that there was a firefight, and that bin Laden was killed after the firefight.  We'll want to know more about the timeline. 

Americans are understandably rejoicing at the news that the mastermind of 9-11 is now dead.  Obama made only one reference to President Bush in his statement – recalling Bush's admonition after the 9-11 attacks that we were not at war with Islam.  In my view Mr. Obama should have shared credit with Mr. Bush, but that has never been his style.

It is too soon to make any accurate assessment of the political implications of this major news.  The election is a year and a half away, but this won't hurt Obama's national-security credentials.  You may be sure that his handlers will bill him as the man who got bin Laden.

More in the morning.

May 1, 2011       Permalink

BULLETIN – AT 11:14 P.M. ET:  All major news organizations are reporting that Osama bin Laden is dead, and that he was killed by American action in Pakistan.  The United States reportedly has the body.  We are awaiting a statement from the president.

Obviously, this will be a major event.  We withhold comment until more facts are in and the presidential statement made.

May 1, 2011      Permalink

WANT ADS POSTED – AT 11:31 A.M. ET:  The New York Times reports that Republican operatives are encouraging more candidates to get into the presidential race, a reflection of the belief, accurate or not, that the current field doesn't inspire excitement. 

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Republican leaders, activists and donors, anxious that the party’s initial presidential field could squander a chance to capture grass-roots energy and build a strong case against President Obama at the outset of the 2012 race, are stepping up appeals for additional candidates to jump in, starting with Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana.

“I’m getting letters from all over the damn country, and some of them are pretty moving,” Mr. Daniels said in an interview last week at the Capitol in Indianapolis, where his friends believe he is inching closer to exploring a candidacy. He added, “It can’t help but affect you.”

The first contests of the primary are about eight months away, and most of the candidates have yet to fully open their campaigns. But some party leaders worry that Republicans are making a bad first impression by appearing tentative about their prospects against Mr. Obama and allowing Donald J. Trump to grab headlines in the news vacuum of the race’s early stages.

“The race needs more responsible adults who can actually do the job,” said Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who leads many polls despite taking few steps to organize a campaign, is quietly asking supporters to be patient. And Jon M. Huntsman Jr., a former governor of Utah and a relative moderate in a party that has moved to the right, has just returned from his post as ambassador to China to decide whether to join a campaign-in-waiting built by Republicans who see an opening for him.

The wish list among Republicans is wide and varied. Sarah Palin, a former governor of Alaska, retains a devoted following. But activists also express a longing for others to step off the sidelines, including Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, the chairman of the Budget Committee.

COMMENT:  Republican anxiety is a reflection of three things:  First, Obama, a mediocre president, is a superb candidate, and great salesmen can often sell a weak product.  Second, the Republican Party itself is not very popular, and a charismatic candidate is needed.  Third, Republican pros understand that the media will be deep in the tank for Obama, even deeper than in 2008, and a Republican candidate will have to speak over the heads of the journalists and directly to the American people, as Reagan did artfully.

Marco Rubio has just ruled himself out, once again, for a place on the national ticket.  That, however, can be reversed later on, with no penalty.  He is one of the few potentials who has a compelling personality. 

Mitch Daniels, a superb governor of Indiana, appears to be the flavor of the month, and he has indicated that he will decide in the next few weeks whether to run.  His selling point is his record.   But he is vulnerable to charges that he is too narrowly focused on budgetary matters and has difficulty holding an audience for more than a few minutes.  Intriguing guy, though.

We'll be watching the initial field on May 5th, this week, in the campaign's first public debate.  Now it all begins.

May 1, 2011       Permalink

WELL DESERVED – AT 10:48 A.M. ET:  The late Pope John Paul II moved a step closer to sainthood today in a moving Vatican ceremony:

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II before 1.5 million faithful in St. Peter’s Square and surrounding streets Sunday, moving the beloved former pontiff one step closer to possible sainthood in one of the largest turnouts ever for a Vatican Mass.

The crowd in Rome and in capitals around the world erupted in cheers, tears and applause as an enormous photo of a young, smiling John Paul was unveiled over the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica and a choir launched into hymn long associated with the Polish-born pope.

“He restored to Christianity its true face as a religion of hope,” Benedict said in his homily, referring to John Paul’s decisive role in helping bring down communism. Benedict dotted his remarks with personal recollections of a man he came to “revere” during their near-quarter century working together.

Beatification is the first major milestone on the path to possible sainthood, one of the Catholic Church’s highest honors. A second miracle attributed to John Paul’s intercession is needed for him to be canonized.

COMMENT:  I am not an expert on the Catholic religion, and would never attempt to make religious judgments.  However, if ever there was a man who deserved honor it is John Paul II.  He was one of that great triumvirate, along with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, who brought Communism to its knees in Europe. 

Isn't it interesting, though, that John Paul II was never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the dramatic impact he had.  Neither, of course, was Ronald Reagan or Prime Minister Thatcher.   The fraudulent Norwegian leftists wouldn't have it.  Instead they awarded their "peace" prize to Mikhail Gorbachev, certified Marxist, whose only contribution was realizing that his country was cooked.  The prize, of course, has also gone to Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, and, after three days in office, Barack Obama.

The Vatican ceremony is vastly more important than the Nobel Peace Prize, which should be placed in retirement.  It is a fake and an obscenity, a joke on humankind by minor-league European politicians with a cultural death wish.

We recall John Paul II today.  And Ronald Reagan.  And Lady Thatcher, who is still with us.  Their great prize is their legacy, far greater than a plaque and a check.

May 1, 2011     Permalink

LIBYA UPDATE – AT 10:35 A.M. ET:  We are following the report that Gaddafi's son and three grandchildren were killed yesterday in a NATO air raid.  There still is no confirmation, and Western countries are not accepting the report at face value, a wise decision considering that the source is the Libyan regime.  From Reuters:

Britain cannot confirm reports that a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed in a NATO air strike, junior Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said on Sunday. "We've no verification of that at the moment. These are still unconfirmed reports. I'm afraid we don't know one way or the other," Burt told Sky News when asked about a Libyan government statement that a NATO air strike in Tripoli had killed Gaddafi's youngest son and three grandchildren.

Burt said command and control centers were "often placed in civilian areas by forces overseas".

A Libyan government spokesman said on Saturday that Gaddafi survived a NATO air strike that killed his youngest son and three grandchildren and destroyed a Tripoli house.

"What we have now is the law of the jungle," government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told a news conference. "We think now it is clear to everyone that what is happening in Libya has nothing to do with the protection of civilians."

Authorities said Gaddafi's youngest son, Saif Al-Arab, had been killed in the attack. Saif al-Arab is one of Gaddafi's less prominent sons, with a limited role in the Tripoli power structure.

Of course, condemnations of the attack are coming from the usual suspects, most prominent among them Hugo Chavez, star of stage and screen, and a Hollywood favorite. 

Other reports this morning say that smoke has been pouring from the Italian embassy in Tripoli, as well as other Western embassies:

A day after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son was killed in a NATO airstrike that targeted the strongman's compound, reports surfaced of attacks on Western embassies in Tripoli and renewed fighting broke out across the country.

Witnesses told Reuters that smoke was rising from the Italian embassy building in the Libyan capital Sunday afternoon. The UK said it was investigating reports that its own mission in Tripoli had been destroyed, the BBC reported, and protests were said to be taking place outside the US embassy.

Oh, the president of the United States spent last night telling jokes at the White House Correspondents Dinner, a dinner that received lavish press coverage, as if it were a state occasion.  There was a time when journalists were told to report the news, not to make the news.  Ah, but times have changed.

We'll follow the Libya story to see if there are any hints of serious change.  We won't have much to say about the dinner. 

May 1, 2011     Permalink