memeorandum: Remarks by the President on Osama Bin Laden East Room (The White House)

2:00 PM ET, May 2, 2011

Top Items:

The Secret Team That Killed bin Laden — From Ghazi Air Base in Pakistan, the modified MH-60 helicopters made their way to the garrison suburb of Abbottabad, about 30 miles from the center of Islamabad. Aboard were Navy SEALs, flown across the border from Afghanistan, along with tactical signals …

Discussion: protein wisdom, msnbc.com, The Enterprise Blog, Weasel Zippers, Danger Room, First Draft, Mediaite, The New Republic and Guardian

New York Times:

Bin Laden Is Dead, Obama Says — WASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the most devastating attack on American soil in modern times and the most hunted man in the world, was killed in a firefight with United States forces in Pakistan on Sunday, President Obama announced.

New York Times:

Detective Work on Courier Led to Breakthrough on Bin Laden — WASHINGTON — After years of dead ends and promising leads gone cold, the big break came last August. — A trusted courier of Osama bin Laden's whom American spies had been hunting for years was finally located in a compound 35 miles north …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, National Review, The Hill, ABCNEWS, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, Weasel Zippers, The Enterprise Blog, Washington Post, Top of the Ticket, newsfeed.time.com, Atlas Shrugs, Reuters, New York Magazine, City Room, Washington Monthly and The BLT

Dean Schabner / ABCNEWS:

Osama bin Laden Killed by U.S. Strike — Osama bin Laden, hunted as the mastermind behind the worst-ever terrorist attack on U.S. soil, has been killed, sources told ABC News. — His death brings to an end a tumultuous life that saw bin Laden go from being the carefree son of a Saudi billionaire …

Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:

Joe Scarborough: Obama's Base Didn't Want Him To Catch Bin Laden — With the announcement of Osama Bin Laden's death last night, President Obama secured a decade-long goal in eliminating a mass murderer and global terrorist. While his leadership behind the accomplishment has spurred …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Monthly, Huck PAC, Agence France Presse, The Raw Story and MyDD

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Yes, Bin Laden's Death Will Help Obama, but for How Long? — Osama bin Laden is dead. — I got the news on Twitter while in a taxi back from J.F.K. Airport. I told my cabbie, who was in disbelief at first, to turn the radio on. We took in the story together. I'm as patriotic as the next guy: it was a nice moment.

Discussion: The Page, Danger Room, Commentary Magazine, Washington Post, Guardian, News Desk, American Prospect, The Mahablog, Politics and Outside the Beltway

Brian Ross / ABCNEWS:

40 Minutes That Changed the World: Inside the Operation That Brought Bin Laden Down — Exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden is shown in Afghanistan, in this April 1998 file photo. A person familiar with developments on Sunday, May 1, 2011 says bin Laden is dead and the U.S. has the body.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, Fox News, Fox Nation, Taylor Marsh, Oliver Willis and Politics

The Atlantic Online:

Osama Bin Laden's Compound Already Mapped on Google — Less than an hour ago, President Obama addressed the nation in a special press conference held to announce the death of Osama Bin Laden. The September 11 mastermind was hiding out in a mansion in Abbottabad, Pakistan, about 80 miles north of Islamabad.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and justoneminute.typepad.com

The Note:

Osama Bin Laden Body Headed for Burial at Sea, Officials Say — ABC News' Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) reports: Now that bin Laden has been killed and his body has been positively identified, what is to be done with his remains? — U.S. officials tell me the last thing they want is for his burial place to become a terrorist shrine.

Discussion: The Politico, newsfeed.time.com, Pajamas Media, CNN, CBS News, Poynter, ABCNEWS, The Huffington Post, Fox News, Reuters, Political Punch, TBD All News and protein wisdom

Ryan Brenizer:

Osama is Dead; Photos from a historic party at Ground Zero — On a gorgeous September day almost ten years ago, I had just started my morning as the editor-in-chief of an upstate newspaper when one of my reporters told me a plane had hit the World Trade Center.

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel

Matt Negrin / The Politico:

Corpse handled in ‘Islamic practice’ — The United States is treating Osama bin Laden's body in “accordance with Islamic practice,” a White House official says. — President Obama announced Sunday night that American forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan and that they took his body afterward.

Discussion: CNN, The Note, FOK News Channel, This Just In, ThinkProgress and ABCNEWS

NationalJournal.com:

TEXT: President George W. Bush's Statement on Osama Bin Laden's Death — Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001. — I congratulated him and the men …

Discussion: Facebook, The White House, Power Line, Fabius Maximus, CNN, Aljazeera, Another Black Conservative, normblog, Politics and The Atlantic Wire

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

Pakistanis Stunned and Angered at News of Osama's Death — People buy newspapers reporting the killing of Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, at local newspaper printing press in Karachi, Pakistan Monday, May 2, 2011. (VOA) — Pakistanis are stunned by the news of Osama Bin Laden's death.

Discussion: Voice of America

Mike Butcher / TechCrunch Europe:

Here's the guy who unwittingly live-tweeted the raid on Bin Laden — Yesterday Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual on Twitter) was just a “an IT consultant taking a break from the rat-race by hiding in the mountains”, specifically Abbottabad, northern Pakistan. — The IT contractor and graduate …

Discussion: Mediaite, Reuters, New York Magazine, newsfeed.time.com, Poynter, The Paratrooper Association, Ben Smith's Blog and Outside the Beltway, more at Mediagazer »

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:

White House Officials Debate Releasing Photographs of Bin Laden's Corpse — The Obama administration has photographs of Osama bin Laden's dead body and officials are debating what to do with them and whether they should be released to the public, officials tell ABC News.

Discussion: The Hill, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and iOwnTheWorld.com

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Killing of bin Laden: What are the consequences?

Discussion: Nicholas D. Kristof, The Hill, The Agonist and The Nation, more at Mediagazer »

Michelle Malkin:
All About Obama: Who's politicizing bin Laden kill?

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Hill, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, Runnin' Scared, The Daily Beast, Datechguy's Blog, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Associated Press, Nice Deb, Guardian, Weasel Zippers, Firedoglake, The Gateway Pundit and The Lede, more at Mediagazer »

David Sirota / Salon:
“USA! USA!” is the wrong response

Discussion: National Review

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Arab world reaction mixed

Discussion: Pew Global Attitudes Project, The Note, presstv.ir, ibnlive.in.com and The Enterprise Blog

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
How the Bin Laden Announcement Leaked Out

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Politico, New York Times, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, Poynter, TechCrunch, Runnin' Scared, Aljazeera, Mashable!, Unqualified Offerings and Politics, more at Mediagazer »

Reuters:
U.S. team's mission was to kill bin Laden, not capture

Discussion: BLACKFIVE, Shakesville and Sweetness & Light

The Note:
Donald Trump Congratulates Obama On Osama Bin Laden Killing, Asks For End To ‘Party Politics’ Debate …

Discussion: timpawlenty.com, Inside TV, Los Angeles Times, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice, The Gateway Pundit and ABCNEWS

Ilya Somin / The Volokh Conspiracy: The Death of Bin Laden and the Morality of Targeted Killings

Tim Lister / CNN:
Abbottabad — The military town where bin Laden hid in plain sight

Discussion: Guardian

Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Death of a Failure — For months after 9/11, people watched planes.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, News Desk, National Review and Reuters

Steve Coll / News Desk: Notes on the Death of Osama bin Laden

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Graham questions decision to dispose of bin Laden's body

Discussion: Associated Press, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Ballot Box

Alyssa Rosenberg / Yglesias:
Kathryn Bigelow's bin Laden Movie-And Everyone Else's

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

Nidal al-Mughrabi / Reuters:
Abbas government welcomes bin Laden death, Hamas deplores

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Maggie's Farm and The Washington Note

Bill Adair / PolitiFact:
In 2008, Obama vowed to kill Osama bin Laden

Discussion: The Note, AlterNet, Focal Point, The Politico and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Aamer Madhani / NationalJournal.com:
Step by Step: How the U.S. Killed bin Laden

Discussion: Pajamas Media and Sweetness & Light

New York Times:
The Most Wanted Face of Terrorism

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Huffington Post, Runnin' Scared, The Last Tradition, Taylor Marsh, GOOD, Ecocentric and Time

Elliott Abrams / Pressure Points:
Bin Laden, Obama, and the Arab Spring

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and The Future of Capitalism

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
What Osama bin Laden's Death Means

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mother Jones and Washington Post

The White House:
Remarks by the President on Osama Bin Laden East Room

Mike Allen / The Politico:
Getting Osama bin Laden: How the mission went down

Discussion: CNN, Ben Smith's Blog, The Lede and The Blaze, more at Mediagazer »

Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. / The Jawa Report:
New York Islamists: Congratulations to Sheikh Osama bin Laden on His Martyrdom!

Discussion: Moonbattery

Matthew Yglesias / Yglesias:
Safe Haven Myth Should Die With Bin Laden

Discussion: BLACKFIVE

Bob Cusack / The Hill:
Former CIA official: US will likely release photos of bin Laden to prove he's dead

Discussion: Wonkette and Runnin' Scared

Associated Press: Islamic scholars question bin Laden's sea burial

Matthew Yglesias / Yglesias: Osama Bin Laden's Death Could Be a Great Time To Declare Victory In The “War On Terror”

Dexter Filkins / News Desk:
What Pakistan Knew About bin Laden

Discussion: New York Times, Times of India, Guardian, Newshoggers.com and Big Peace

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Cheney, Rumsfeld laud Obama

Discussion: The Caucus

The Atlantic Online: What Bin Laden's Death Means: Seven Observations

Yahoo! News Canada:
Hamas condemns killing of “holy warrior” bin Laden

Discussion: New York Times, Guardian, RedState, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers, The Enterprise Blog and Hit & Run

Ewen MacAskill / Guardian:
It took years to find him, but just minutes to kill him

Discussion: India Real Time, The Atlantic Online, The Huffington Post, This Just In, msnbc.com, Washington Post, Poynter, UNCOVERAGE.net and BLACKFIVE

Glen Johnson / Boston Globe:

Brown heading for Afghanistan — UPDATED — Senator Scott Brown issued a statement this morning saying he has requested to conduct his annual National Guard training in Afghanistan. … Brown has been in the Guard since 1979, but he has never been deployed to a war zone.

Discussion: CNN, The Note and Washington Post

Meredith Shiner / The Politico:
Scott Brown to train in Afghanistan

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and Outside the Beltway

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:

Giuliani praises Obama's ‘courage’ — Rudy Giuliani praised President Obama's “courage” for the risky method he chose to take down Osama bin Laden, adding his death is a “significant step” in the war on terror - but saying the tones of jubilation feel strange to him.

Discussion: Cubachi and Runnin' Scared

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

THE 2008 DEBATE, REVISITED.... In July 2008, CNN's Larry King interviewed then-presidential candidate John McCain. The host asked the Republican senator, “If you were president and knew that bin Laden was in Pakistan, you know where, would you have U.S. forces go in after him?” — McCain said he would not.