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Monday, May 2
Quote of the Day: bin Laden's death 'a good career move'
Today's PolyCapitalist Quote of the Day comes courtesy of retired CIA officer Robert Grenier in his assessment over at Al Jazeera.
Updated: Seal Team Six Op Details
The operation was authorized Friday morning and the objective was to kill -- not capture -- Osama bin Laden.
Because the target was bin Laden the raid required practice. Earlier this year a one-acre replica of bin Laden's compound was created at Camp Alpha, which is a segregated section of Bagram Air Base, located in the Parwan province of Afghanistan. Dry-op runs were conducted in early April.
The president authorized this incredibly daring and difficult operation during a time of “low loom” – little moon luminosity – so that U.S. helicopters could travel to the target from Ghazi Air Base in Pakistan low to the ground and undetected.
It was originally planned for Saturday night but on Friday, for weather reasons, it was pushed to Sunday.
Two
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| Real Time: Team Obama watches the op live |
The SEALs took fire on their way to the compound’s third floor, where bin Laden had been sleeping. The encounter with bin Laden lasted only seconds, and ended with a double tap -- boom, boom -- two shots, one to the chest and one to the left side of his face. Radioing a commander on Sunday, the team reported the capture with a pre-arranged signal: “Geronimo!”
Also among the dead were:
- One of bin Laden's sons named
KhalidHamza - Two brothers (or possibly cousins),
AfghanPakistani Pashtuns from Charsa, who served as bin Laden's couriers named Arshad Khan and Tareq Khan (although one police official said that Arshad was not the man’s real name and that he carried a fake identity card) - A yet to be identified woman who is a) not bin Laden's wife, and b) was not used as a human shield.
One of the U.S. helicopters was damaged but not destroyed during the initial part of the operation, and U.S. forces elected to scuttle it with explosives. Video footage of a raging fire outside the walls of bin Laden's compound is purported to be
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| The Raid: by the numbers |
The by now well travled Bin Laden corpose was next flown to the USS Carl Vinson. After a proper Islam burial ceremony conducted by a muslim member of the U.S. military the body was placed in a a weighted bag and cast overboard from the deck into the North Arabian Sea. The speedy, controversial disposal of the body was conducted inline with Islam custom to bury the dead within 24 hours.
While a video of the burial is expected to be release, the Obama administration is still debating whether to release photos of a deceased bin Laden due to their graphic nature ("skull was blown apart").
More backstory on Special Forces, the JSOC, etc. can be found here and in the below video on Seal Team Six.
Updated: Photo of Dead Osama bin Laden is Fake; Identity Confirmed with DNA from Sister
Update 2: A new purported death photo of bin Laden has been released, viewable here.
Update 1: Hat-tip to a commenter for providing evidence that the above photo is, as expected, a fake. If you're still interested in seeing the fake you can do so by clicking 'Read more' below.
Osama bin Laden's identity was confirmed with DNA from the brain of his late sister, who died of cancer in Boston. Her brain was preserved by the U.S. for the very purpose of one day identifying bin Laden's DNA.
Here is the alleged death photo that is flying around the internet, supposedly taken with a Marine's camera; the photo is also being shown on Pakistan TV.
(WARNING: graphic)
Video: Raw Footage of Osama Bin Laden Compound; Fire Suspected to be Scuttled Stealth Blackhawk Helicopter
Reports that U.S. Special Forces were inside the compound for approximately 40 minutes.
Good luck to anyone trying to get near the compound today as swarms of forensic work will be conducted here some time.
Updated: Confirmed Map, Satellite Imagery, and CIA Diagram of Bin Laden's Compound in Abbottabad (Bilal Town), Pakistan
(Note: in the hours following confirmation of bin Laden's death various maps purporting the location of the bin Laden compound were circulated by the mainstream media. In the interest of maintaining the chronology of these releases, and to highlight some of the astute comments made on this post, I've kept the two inaccurate map sets in the order they were circulated. The final, accurate satellite image from 2010, along with the CIA diagram of the compound, can be found at the bottom of this post.)
Osama bin Laden was killed today(unconfirmed death photo here, WARNING: graphic) about 100 kilometers outside Pakistan's capital of Islamabad. The op was carried out by the Special Forces 'legendary' (in both the literal and figurative sense) Seal Team Six.
The Location
Bin Laden was located in the relatively posh part of Abbottabad, Pakistan called Bilal Town. The compound itself was located a short distance from the Pakistani military academy (the "West Point or Sandhurst of Pakistan" as it's being characterized).
The Compound
His five-to-six year old property, believed to have been purpose built to hide the ultimate 'High Value Target' (HVT), was three stories tall and approximately eight times larger than any other nearby dwelling. Other key details:
Yet bin Laden's "mansion", as it has been characterized, did not have a phone line or internet. The couriers, Afghans brothers named Arshad and Tariq who were also gunned down by ST6, did not report any income and had no visible source of wealth. They also burned all their own trash. Neighbors also reported that the women who were living inside the house spoke in Arabic and not the local dialect.
Assessing Bin Laden's Hideout Strategy & What Did Pakistan Know?
Bin Laden's choice to hide near Pakistani military installations and in a residential community of retired Pakistani officers strikes me as both intriguing and suspicious. Less wise, perhaps, were some of the activities noted above, like burning the trash and not having a phone or internet line.
In short, Bin Laden stopped just short of hiding in veritable plain view. Did his failure to go all the way here do him in? One thing we do know is that the U.S. was only able to locate bin Laden by trailing his courier back to the compound in August 2010, and the whole reason bin Laden had to employ the services of a courier was due to his aversion to phones and the internet.
This location at least gave bin Laden some chance as the first assassination option considered by President Obama, employing B-2 Stealth Bombers, was abandoned due in part to the likelihood of collateral damage.
Bin Laden apparently lived in this compound for the last 5-6 years. This raises very important questions about how much Pakistan, or elements of Pakistan's military and intelligence service, knew about the whereabouts of bin Laden. The U.S. has sent billions of dollars to Pakistan over the past several years to help find and kill people like bin Laden.
Was bin Laden's thinking on where to locate influenced by his correct calculation that the U.S. was unlikely to drop a bomb or conduct a Predator drone strike on this particular location? In turn, was bin Laden expecting a tip from Pakistani intelligence should any planned U.S. Special Forces assault to be attempted?
The Map, Satellite Imagery, & Compound Diagram
From the below maps, sourced from The Atlantic, you can see that it was located very close to a police station.
And below is the pinned version marking bin Laden's compound (B) and the nearby police station (A).
Update 1: As a commenter pointed out the exact location of the compound appears to be unclear. Here are the satellite imagery of the compound's surrounding area and closeup from the above Google maps sourced from The Atlantic.
Update 2: Here's a second Google Map with corresponding satellite imagery of the compound, sourced from the Huffington Post. This location is in nearby Bilal Town, a newer development a couple miles from Abbottabad:
Update 3: As an astute commenter pointed out, based on an evaluation of these compound photos (which include a daylight image of the scuttled MH-60 Seahawk Helicopter; nighttime footage of the burning wreck here) these previously reported locations are not correct.
Below are the maps for the now CIA confirmed location of bin Laden's compound:
The following two satellite images appear to be circa 2004-2005.
This satellite shot is from 2010 and shows some of the other dwellings that sprouted up around bin Laden since 2004-2005 that are clearly visible in recent compound photos.
And here is the diagram, complete with dimensions and other pertinent op information, that the CIA just released of the actual compound.
Osama bin Laden was killed today
The Location
Bin Laden was located in the relatively posh part of Abbottabad, Pakistan called Bilal Town. The compound itself was located a short distance from the Pakistani military academy (the "West Point or Sandhurst of Pakistan" as it's being characterized).
The Compound
His five-to-six year old property, believed to have been purpose built to hide the ultimate 'High Value Target' (HVT), was three stories tall and approximately eight times larger than any other nearby dwelling. Other key details:
- 12-to-18-foot walls, topped with barbed wire
- Internal walls sectioned off different areas of the compound
- Access was restricted by two security gates
- Closed-circuit cameras positioned around the property
Yet bin Laden's "mansion", as it has been characterized, did not have a phone line or internet. The couriers, Afghans brothers named Arshad and Tariq who were also gunned down by ST6, did not report any income and had no visible source of wealth. They also burned all their own trash. Neighbors also reported that the women who were living inside the house spoke in Arabic and not the local dialect.
Assessing Bin Laden's Hideout Strategy & What Did Pakistan Know?
Bin Laden's choice to hide near Pakistani military installations and in a residential community of retired Pakistani officers strikes me as both intriguing and suspicious. Less wise, perhaps, were some of the activities noted above, like burning the trash and not having a phone or internet line.
In short, Bin Laden stopped just short of hiding in veritable plain view. Did his failure to go all the way here do him in? One thing we do know is that the U.S. was only able to locate bin Laden by trailing his courier back to the compound in August 2010, and the whole reason bin Laden had to employ the services of a courier was due to his aversion to phones and the internet.
This location at least gave bin Laden some chance as the first assassination option considered by President Obama, employing B-2 Stealth Bombers, was abandoned due in part to the likelihood of collateral damage.
Bin Laden apparently lived in this compound for the last 5-6 years. This raises very important questions about how much Pakistan, or elements of Pakistan's military and intelligence service, knew about the whereabouts of bin Laden. The U.S. has sent billions of dollars to Pakistan over the past several years to help find and kill people like bin Laden.
Was bin Laden's thinking on where to locate influenced by his correct calculation that the U.S. was unlikely to drop a bomb or conduct a Predator drone strike on this particular location? In turn, was bin Laden expecting a tip from Pakistani intelligence should any planned U.S. Special Forces assault to be attempted?
The Map, Satellite Imagery, & Compound Diagram
From the below maps, sourced from The Atlantic, you can see that it was located very close to a police station.
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| (click to enlarge) |
And below is the pinned version marking bin Laden's compound (B) and the nearby police station (A).
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| (click to enlarge) |
Update 1: As a commenter pointed out the exact location of the compound appears to be unclear. Here are the satellite imagery of the compound's surrounding area and closeup from the above Google maps sourced from The Atlantic.
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| (click to enlarge) |
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| (click to enlarge) |
Update 2: Here's a second Google Map with corresponding satellite imagery of the compound, sourced from the Huffington Post. This location is in nearby Bilal Town, a newer development a couple miles from Abbottabad:
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| (click to enlarge) |
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| (click to enlarge) |
Update 3: As an astute commenter pointed out, based on an evaluation of these compound photos (which include a daylight image of the scuttled MH-60 Seahawk Helicopter; nighttime footage of the burning wreck here) these previously reported locations are not correct.
Below are the maps for the now CIA confirmed location of bin Laden's compound:
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| (click to enlarge) |
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| (click to enlarge) |
The following two satellite images appear to be circa 2004-2005.
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| (click to enlarge) |
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| (click to enlarge) |
This satellite shot is from 2010 and shows some of the other dwellings that sprouted up around bin Laden since 2004-2005 that are clearly visible in recent compound photos.
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| (click to enlarge) |
And here is the diagram, complete with dimensions and other pertinent op information, that the CIA just released of the actual compound.
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| (click to enlarge) |
Sunday, May 1
Review: Unlocked/Off-Contract Smartphone + giffgaff = Mobile Heaven
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| Does your phone company advertise with a gimp? |
Last year after owning all of the first three iPhones, each locked and on multi-year contract to AT&T, I made the smartphone switcheroo. Crucially, I decided to purchase my new device outright to avoid any multi-year contracts or being locked to a single carrier. In exchange for paying a relatively hefty ($500+) up front for an unsubsidized smartphone, my total cost of ownership should come in around or under $1K, or 1/2 to 1/3 of the $2-$3K cost for something like the iPhone 4 on two-year contract.
How are the above savings possible? Part of the answer is the wonderful U.K. mobile provider with the quirky name called giffgaff.
Still think the name 'giffgaff' is weird? It gets weirder: my mobile plan name is called the Hokey Cokey. Funny name alright, but this plan is anything but hokey: for only £5 a month (about $8) I get 60 UK anytime minutes, 300 UK texts, 100MB/day data, a free extra minute for every minute I get called, plus free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts on top of that.
Another nice feature that giffgaff offers is that I don't have to pay when I'm not in the U.K., and when I don't pay I don't lose my phone number. I'd be more excited about this if I was getting charged the $80 or so I pay in the U.S. for a comparable plan, but it's nice all the same.
$8 for all that? Yep. There must be a catch? Yes, but it's pretty minor.
First, the Hokey Cokey is a giffgaff 'labs' plan, meaning it's experimental and may not be around after June. Also, the 100MB/day data* (see comments for further discussion) portion of the plan is not normally a part of the Hokey Cokey, but is being offered to all giffgaff customers through at least the end of
Bottom line: there is no guarantee that I'll have the same, exact plan come June. What then? If the Hokey Cokey goes bye-bye for jusst £10 a month (about $17) I can sign up to to next plan, which has 250 UK anytime minutes, unlimited UK texts, and unlimited mobile Internet (plus the same free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts as the Hokey plan).
So the plans and pricing sound incredible, but what about the network coverage? Giffgaff runs on O2's network, which is the second largest in the U.K. So far as I can tell I receive the same service quality and coverage as a regular O2 customer. In London, for example, call quality is excellent and I have no problems streaming music while on the move at the highest bitrate (320 kbps) offered by Spotify (which is another great thing the U.K. has going over the U.S., and perhaps the subject of a future review).
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