The suspect, 21-year-old Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, is a Bangladeshi national who came to the U.S. on a student visa in January for the specific purpose of launching a terror attack here, authorities said. He allegedly told an undercover agent last month that he hoped the attack would disrupt the presidential election, saying “You know what, this election might even stop,” according to the criminal complaint against him.
Authorities say Nafis bought what he thought were explosives from who he thought was “an al-Qaida facilitator.” It was actually an FBI agent, and Nafis was arrested by the bureau after parking a truck full of the “explosives” next to the New York City Federal Reserve building and attempting to detonate it with a cell phone. A statement praising “our beloved Sheikh Osama bin Laden” and claiming responsibility for attack was found on a thumb drive on his body. source
“No Easy Day” author speaks: Wearing a disguise and having his voice modified to hide his identity, Mark Owen, the Navy SEAL who has been outed by some media outlets, will make an appearance on “60 Minutes” tonight, in which he discusses taking photos of Osama bin Laden after his death. “I figured these were probably some of the most important photos I’d ever take in my life,” he said. Should we take his claims with a grain of salt? The Pentagon says that Owen’s account of the incident is inaccurate.
“No Easy Day” for Pentagon: The Pentagon wasn’t quite ready for an unauthorized biography written by an anonymous Navy SEAL. “Sensitive and classified information is contained in the book,” says Pentagon spokesperson George Little. The book, “No Easy Day,” describes the fateful mission that led to the death of Osama bin Laden last year. The author wrote the book under an anonymous guise, but Fox News revealed his identity last month. The man’s lawyer says the Pentagon “invites but by no means requires” publication review, though Little suggests the author violated a non-disclosure agreement. (photo by Peter Foley/EPA)
We worked to get you information as quickly as possible following the raid, and as more debriefings happened — debriefings of the special operators involved in the mission as well as others – some of the initial information turned out to be incomplete. We acknowledged that at the time….Again, as far as this individual’s account, it’s one individual’s account, and I just can’t comment on it.White House Press Secretary Jay Carney • Responding to questions about the account of the raid that led to Osama bin Laden’s death, which appears in the upcoming book “No Easy Day.” Carney also told reporters that he’d not yet read the book, and therefore could not speak personally on why author Mark Owen’s story doesn’t line up with the official one released by the White House. For those in search of answers, he recommended that questions on the matter be directed to the Pentagon and/or Department of Justice. source (via • follow)
Going too far: An autobiographical book, titled “No Easy Day”, which contains a firsthand account of the raid that led to Osama bin Laden’s death is scheduled to be released on October 16. The author, an unidentified Navy SEAL credited as Mark Owen, adopted a pen name for safety reasons; plus, the book was never cleared with anyone inside of the Department of Defense, White House, or CIA. But, apparently, the exceptional journalists over at Fox News just couldn’t sleep without knowing the identity of this mystery hero…and they assumed you couldn’t either. During a broadcast this morning, which will remain unidentified on SFB so as not to make the tracking of this information easier, Fox News displayed what they believe to be the name and hometown of the author. We aren’t really sure why they thought doing so was a good idea. But who knows … maybe they just forgot which side of this issue they were on when another organization, that they aren’t particularly fond of, tried to do the same thing with an official tied to the same raid. Stay classy, guys. Stay classy. source
For Just $325 You, Too, Can ‘Kill’ Osama bin Laden
Role-playing participants use high-end paintball guns to attack a guy wearing pads and a bin Laden costume in what looks… like a bare room.
[…] Of course, none of this would probably work if the guy running the whole operation, Commander Larry Yatch, wasn’t a former Navy SEAL himself, getting people involved in the fantasy through his own connection to the reality
Read more. [Images: Sealed Mindset Studios / Facebook]
Arrested Development should somehow work this idea into one of their plots in their upcoming season.
The new movie directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Academy Award-winning director of “The Hurt Locker”, portrays one version of the events that ultimately led to the death of Osama Bin Laden in his Abbottabad compound last year. While many eagerly await the film’s release, some have called it a propaganda film to boost President Obama’s image ahead of the election. To fight that notion, Sony has delayed the movie’s release from October to December, and a depiction of President Obama reportedly does not appear in the film. But, do you still think it was wrong for the White House to work with Bigelow and her team on production of the movie? source
If this facility is so secret that the name cannot even be seen by the public, then why in the world would the Obama administration allow filmmakers to tour it?Representative Peter King • Expressing his dismay over news that director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal were given access to Seal Team Six and information about the death of Osama bin Laden for their upcoming movie Zero Dark Thirty. Information which the Obama Administration has steadfastly defended from Freedom of Information Act inquiries, Congressional committees, and anyone else not involved in making movies about war-zones. Oh, and they received a tour of the complex that Seal Team Six used to prepare for the operation. You know, nothing special. source (via • follow)
I think as far as the case of Mr. Afridi is concerned, it was in accordance with Pakistani laws and by the Pakistani courts, and we need to respect each other’s legal processes.Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Moazzam Ali Khan • Discussing the sentence the country gave to Dr. Shakil Afridi for ”conspiring ‘to wage war against Pakistan or depriving it of its sovereignty,’ ‘concealing existence of a plan to wage war against Pakistan’ and ‘condemnation of the creation of the state and advocacy of abolition of its sovereignty’,” according to Pakistani newspaper Dawn. Afridi’s work running a vaccination program that doubled as a DNA-tracing program helped the U.S. find Osama bin Laden, making the decision to imprison Afridi one that has built tension between the two countries. Will the U.S. respect Pakistan’s decision?
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
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Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
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» And no, the U.S. isn’t happy: Previously, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped to see Shakil Afridi freed, as his work helped capture a pretty bad dude. Instead, Afridi is heading to jail, a move which will likely strain relations between the U.S. and Pakistan, who are currently locked in a diplomatic battle over Afghan War supply routes. (EDIT: We apologize for the inital error in the title. Total accident. Sorry guys.)
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Making bombs is not that difficult. It’s the creative touch he adds, how they’re concealed, how they’re conceived. The printer bomb, for instance, was considered by bomb technicians around the world to be a brilliant stroke. So it boils down to one person, but one very dangerous person.CBS correspondent and former Deputy Director of National Intelligence John Miller • Discussing the alleged creator of the latest “underwear bomb,“ Ibrahim Hassan al Asiri, who is considered supremely skilled at creating — and more importantly, cleverly hiding — dangerous weapons. The bomb was uncovered before it could get on a plane and acquired via a covert CIA operation in Yemen. FBI bomb experts are currently investigating the weapon in Virginia, which they note does not contain metal. (via • follow)
So, what was al-Qaeda’s network like? After a year, we finally have insight at a level we never did before, from the Abbottabad compound where the al-Qaeda leader was killed almost exactly one year ago. The documents show the group’s struggle to keep a consistent message, with debates on how to market itself to appeal more to Muslims and how to best target the U.S. The New York Times has a pretty solid summary, but if you’re looking to dig in, our pal Matt has put everything in a Scribd document perfect for digging.
Front pages: 5/2/03 vs. 5/2/11
HT @nytjim
It’s almost funny, how sad it all is.
In other words: Bush declared a major victory, while Obama scored one.
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