Topic: Osama bin Laden

Osama's Bin Laden's Death Photos Will Be Kept Secret for Your Own Good

AP

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that more than 50 images of America's most-wanted terrorist will remain confidential — apparently because America's morbid, jingoistic fascination with the dead-body images, or conspiracy theories about them, aren't worth putting American lives at risk.

By Adam Clark Estes

Mar 27, 2013

CNN Debunks CNN's Debunker of Esquire's Bin Laden Shooter Story

Remember 24-hours ago, when we told you that the official story of who shot Bin Laden had given way to a stupid media feud? We underestimated the situation. It's downright ridiculous at this point.

Comments | 1,579 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Mar 26, 2013

The Official Story of Who Shot Bin Laden Has Given Way to a Stupid Media Feud

Now that CNN is challenging Esquire's story and Navy SEALs are continuing to stake their claims to the narrative, the shadowy, sometimes schizophrenic and increasingly desperate struggle to figure out what really happened in Abbottabad is starting to get a little bit dirty.

Comments | 7,549 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 8, 2013

Yes, the Trial of Bin Laden's Son-in-Law Is in NYC, and He's Pleading Not Guilty

As the most high-profile al-Qaeda trial in New York City since 9/11 began with high tension, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith made his first appearance in a Manhattan courtroom Friday to face charges of conspiracy to kill Americans.

Comments | 1,494 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Mar 7, 2013

Iran Stashed Bin Laden's Son-in-Law in Jail, Possibly to Use as a Bargaining Chip

On Thursday morning, we learned that that the United States had successfully captured Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who's also al Qaeda's spokesman. You'll never guess where he's been hiding the past ten years.

Comments | 4,956 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 7, 2013

U.S. Captures Bin Laden's Son-In-Law and Will Put Him on Trial

U.S. officials have announced that a former spokesperson for al Qaeda — who also happens to be a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden &mdash has been captured overseas and is being brought to America to stand trial.

Comments | 2,242 Views

By Philip Bump

Feb 27, 2013

Bradley Manning Is Getting the Other Kind of 'Zero Dark Thirty' Treatment

Perhaps having seen one too many second-tier Oscar contenders, the government may call a Navy SEAL from the Osama bin Laden raid into a strained effort to prove the most serious charge against Bradley Manning, that he "aided the enemy."

Comments | 690 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 12, 2013

Actually, the Guy Who Shot Bin Laden Can Get Free Health Care

The Navy SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden "IS SCREWED" blares Esquire's new cover. But he's not quite as screwed as the much discussed story makes him out to be.

Comments | 7,115 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Feb 11, 2013

The Man Who Shot Bin Laden Breaks His Silence

Phil Bronstein got the first interviews with the man who actually fired the bullets that killed Osama bin Laden — a man who would be considered a hero to most Americans, but whose story since leaving the Navy has not been a happy one.

Comments | 14,252 Views

By David Wagner

Jan 17, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Thursday Columns

Dana Milbank on kids being used in the gun debate, Fred Kaplan on Mali, Jonathan Mahler on Lance Armstrong, Slavoj Žižek on European elites, and Ricky Sekhon on playing bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty.

Comments | 1,855 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Jan 17, 2013

Trimming the Times

Washington's Mali Dilemma, Joe Arpaio vs. Guns in Schools, and Inaugural Balls

A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.

Comments

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 10, 2013

Will We Ever See the Osama bin Laden Corpse Photos?

A conservative watchdog group says the U.S. government has provided no reason to block the photos' release. Whether the perceived threat to national security can convince the courts remains to be seen.

Comments | 1,203 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Jan 9, 2013

The Prosecution Is Dragging Bin Laden into the Bradley Manning Case

There's no better way to prop up the seriousness of threats to national security than to get Osama bin Laden involved. That's exactly what the prosecutors in the Bradley Manning case are doing.

Comments | 172 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Dec 19, 2012

'Zero Dark Thirty' Is Now Officially Wrong About Torture

We already knew that Zero Dark Thirty messed up a couple of details about the bin Laden raid, but now, some senators would like the filmmakers to know they're straight up "incorrect."

Comments | 5,461 Views

By John Hudson

Nov 2, 2012

The Factual Errors in Harvey Weinstein's Obama-Boosting Bin Laden Movie

Last night, minutes before the world premier of the controversial new film SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden in Washington, D.C., director John Stockwell made a brief announcement to attendees: The facts in his film were not "confirmed or denied" by White House officials. When the movie's ending credits rolled down the screen 90-minutes later, that fact was abundantly clear. 

Comments | 10,863 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 26, 2012

National Geographic Is the Big Winner of the Bin Laden Movie Controversy

If there's no such thing as bad publicity, the National Geographic Channel's decision to premiere an action film about the killing of Osama bin Laden two days before the election was a stroke of marketing genius.

Comments | 3,450 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Oct 23, 2012

Harvey Weinsten Recut His Bin Laden Movie to Make Obama the Star

During primetime on November 2nd, the National Geographic Channel will air the hotly anticipated SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden movie with a very special star: President Barack Obama.

Comments | 1,778 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 15, 2012

How Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette Won the Bin Laden Book Competition

We may know a little more about why former Navy SEAL author Matt Bisonnette rushed to publish his memoir No Easy Day before receiving Pentagon approval: to get his book out before Mark Bowden published his own big Osama bin Laden raid book. 

Comments | 18,062 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 9, 2012

Satellite Images of the CIA's Secret Bin Laden Training Facility

One of the reasons U.S. Navy SEALs were able to so skillfully execute the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound last year was a CIA training facility in North Carolina that mirrored the architecture of bin Laden's actual compound in Pakistan.

Comments | 386,468 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 5, 2012

Harvey Weinstein's November Surprise

In May, we speculated that staunch Democrat and Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was planning an October Surprise with the release of his special ops thriller SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden, a dramatization of the mission to kill al Qaeda's leader. Turns out, we were one month off: Weinstein is releasing his film two days before the election.

Comments | 4,244 Views

By John Hudson

Oct 3, 2012

Obama Would Have Put Bin Laden on Trial If He Were Captured

In a report that's frankly difficult to believe, Vanity Fair says President Obama intended to put Osama bin Laden on trial in federal court if the Al Qaeda leader had survived the Abbottabad raid last May.

Comments | 2,583 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 26, 2012

Olympus Senses a Marketing Opportunity in the Death of Bin Laden

There's no question the death of Osama bin Laden was great for President Obama's poll numbers—could it also be great for a Japanese camera-maker?

Comments | 961 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 11, 2012

It's a Bad Day for Dick Cheney to Talk About Presidential Intelligence Briefings

Dick Cheney picked the wrong day to criticize Barack Obama for not paying close enough attention to presidential daily briefings.

Comments | 14,450 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 11, 2012

Pakistani Doctor Who Helped on Bin Laden Raid Describes 'Brutal' Torture

The imprisoned Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden's compound, Dr. Shakil Afridi, managed to make a phone call to Fox News' Dominic Di-Natale and describe the brutal tortue he says he's been subject to since being arrested for treason last year.

Comments | 4,921 Views

By John Hudson

Sep 11, 2012

How Does SEAL Team 6 Get to Sleep? Lots of Ambien

CBS News anchor Scott Pelley was stunned when the ex-Navy SEAL author of No Easy Day told him members of SEAL Team 6 were napping on the helicopter ride over to Osama bin Laden's hideout. But one explanation that occurs often in the book is that members of SEAL Team 6, apparently, are extensive users of potent sleeping pills such as Ambien.

Comments | 32,371 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Sep 11, 2012

Bush Knew More About Bin Laden's Plans Than We Realized

Now, 11 years later, new details of the attack on the World Trade Center continue to emerge from the government's vault of classified documents and the journalists who've gained access.

Comments | 57,317 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Sep 7, 2012

Pentagon Discloses the Non-Disclosure Agreement Navy SEALs Sign

The latest in the legal fight between No Easy Day author and former Navy SEAL Matthew Bissonette and the Pentagon, a Defense Department spokesman shared with Reuters the nondisclosure agreement that they say they make SEALs sign.

Comments | 3,629 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Sep 5, 2012

Pentagon Says Navy SEAL's Book Contains Classified Information

The admiral who overseas the Navy's special operations units slammed the former SEAL team member for selling his story as the Pentagon declares that the book No Easy Day contains sensitive and classified military information.

Comments | 1,927 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 31, 2012

Navy SEAL Author Rejects the Pentagon's Legal Threat

Former Navy SEAL author Matt Bissonnette is going to tell his version of events surrounding the death of Osama bin Laden, even if the Pentagon sues him for every last penny. 

Comments | 261,687 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 31, 2012

Pentagon Threatens Legal Action Against Navy SEAL Author and Publisher

The Defense Department threw down the gauntlet last night, telling former Navy SEAL author Matt Bissonnette he's in "material breach" of his agreements not to disclose military secrets with his book, No Easy Day, and, as a result, the Pentagon is considering legal action against him.

Comments | 1,724 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 30, 2012

Navy SEAL Author Goes on 60 Minutes

It turns out, Navy SEAL author Matt Bissonnette was in disguise when he appeared on 60 Minutes last night.

Comments | 18,863 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 29, 2012

Lawyers: Former SEAL Author Is Almost Certainly Facing Legal Trouble

The publisher and author of No Easy Day, an upcoming tell-all on the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, promised the book doesn't reveal classified information. But government privacy lawyers speaking with The Atlantic Wire say the book almost certainly does. 

Comments | 12,808 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Aug 29, 2012

SEAL Book Says Bin Laden Was Unarmed, Killed Outside His Bedroom

Several news outlets have finally got their hands on a copy of the new book about the raid on Osama bin Laden's Pakistan compound, and the details emerging contradict many of the earlier reports about what happened inside the house on the night the al Qaeda leader was killed. 

Comments | 321,506 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 28, 2012

CIA Emails Reveal Winners and Losers of National Security Access

For everyone who didn't get special access to information about the Osama bin Laden raid, today was a little bit discouraging as new e-mails revealed CIA officials gushing over Hollywood filmakers at the expense of trained reporters and documentarians.

Comments | 10,492 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 28, 2012

Spielberg Passes on Navy SEAL Book Amid Pentagon Scrutiny

Sorry patriotic moviegoers, you'll have to settle for two well-financed movies about killing Osama bin Laden instead of three.

Comments | 5,928 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 27, 2012

The Document That Might Spell Trouble for Ex-Navy SEAL Author

If ex-Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette discloses classified information in his upcoming tell-all on the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, he could be subject to criminal prosecution under the Espionage Act, as we noted earlier. But even if he doesn't divulge any secrets, he's still got major legal problems.

Comments | 12,850 Views

By Connor Simpson

Aug 26, 2012

Steven Spielberg In Talks to Direct 'No Easy Day' Movie

There are already two movies coming out this fall about the Bin Laden raid, and now apparently there's going to be a third. The New York Post's Page 6 reports the new book from a Navy SEAL Team 6 member is going to be turned into a movie, and Steven Spielberg is in talks to direct. 

Comments | 5,224 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 24, 2012

Jihadist Websites Target Navy SEAL Author

It only took one day for Fox News to identify the ex-Navy SEAL responsible for a new book on the death of Osama bin Laden. It took even less time for Al Qaeda-affiliated websites to begin distributing his name and image while calling for his "destruction."

Comments | 15,075 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 24, 2012

Navy SEAL Author Is Also Cashing in on a Special Ops Video Game

There's more than one way to profit from your experience in the military. For Matt Bisonnette, the former Navy SEAL Team 6 member who wrote a book about killing Osama bin Laden, that includes offering consulting services to a big name video game maker. 

Comments | 1,367 Views

By Adam Martin

Aug 24, 2012

No Easy Week for Outed Navy SEAL Author

The day after Fox News outed the former Navy SEAL Team 6 member who wrote an account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, 60 Minutes announced it had interviewed him, military officials confirmed his identity, and The New York Post ran his picture.

Comments | 6,735 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 23, 2012

Fox News Outs Navy SEAL Team 6 Author

The former Navy SEAL Team 6 member and anonymous author of a soon to be released tell-all book about the mission to kill Osama bin Laden better hire a security guard and a good lawyer: He's just been outed by Fox News.

Comments | 34,077 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 22, 2012

Obama's Navy SEAL Critics Are Failing Miserably

They were the Republicans' best chance at swift-boating President Obama, but they're unraveling at the seams.

Comments | 30,864 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 22, 2012

Get Ready to Rethink the Osama bin Laden Raid

There have been numerous revisions to the official account of how Osama bin Ladan was killed on May 2, 2011, but a new book, set for release on September 11, promises to deliver what no one else has: The perspective of a Navy SEAL who actually participated in the raid.

Comments | 9,828 Views

By Jen Doll

Aug 21, 2012

Claim: Hillary Clinton Convinced Obama to Go After Bin Laden

Investigative journalist Richard Miniter has a new book out today, Leading From Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him, in which he claims Barack Obama is "fully vetted" for the first time in history. He also claims Obama has been heavily influenced in his decision-making by women.

Comments | 1,379 Views

By Adam Martin

Aug 17, 2012

For Just $325 You Too Can 'Kill' Osama bin Laden

The amazing thing about reporter Madeleine Baran's Minnesota Public Radio story about a former Navy SEAL who runs a company that reenacts the Osama bin Laden raid is that he can charge people $325 to play pretend, and it's successful.

Comments | 2,210 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 16, 2012

Obama Campaign Strikes Back Against Former Navy SEALs

Politically speaking, Navy SEALs aren't the safest targets to rail against in a presidential race, but the Obama campaign isn't hesitating to take down a group of former SEALs who've criticized the president's national security decisions. 

Comments | 37,157 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 15, 2012

'You Didn't Build That' Meme Takes on the Bin Laden Raid: 'You Didn't Kill That'

The anti-Obama campaign slogan "you didn't build that" has reached its inevitable extension into the foreign policy arena. But this may be its worst application yet. 

Comments | 7,822 Views

By Adam Martin

Jul 30, 2012

White House: Of Course Obama Didn't Call Off Bin Laden Raid

You can almost hear the heavy sigh emanating from the White House press office as it disputes a charge in a forthcoming book by Richard Miniter that President Barack Obama called off the operation to kill Osama bin Laden three times before finally giving the OK.

Comments | 2,976 Views

A Look at Obama's Other Secret National Security Policies

Inspired by The New York Timesexposé on Obama's "secret 'kill list,'" we collected some of the best pieces of watchdog journalism on Obama's national security policies.

Comments | 1,724 Views

By John Hudson

May 30, 2012

The Crooked Case Against Pakistan's CIA-Assisting Doctor

Just when you thought Pakistan's shady legal system couldn't get any shadier, the treason case against Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden, takes a wild turn.

Comments | 1,018 Views

By John Hudson

May 29, 2012

Pakistan Is Making Life Miserable for the Doctor Who Helped Find Bin Laden

He may have helped find the world's number one terrorist, but Pakistani doctor Jamil Afridi has been smeared, tortured, starved and improperly prosecuted in the weeks and months following his arrest, according to a handful of new reports.

Comments | 2,501 Views

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