U.S. kills Osama Bin Laden, Obama announces. "Justice has been done."

by Lynn Sweet

(May 02, Washington DC, Sri Lanka Guardian) President Obama on late Sunday night announced the death of Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9-11 attacks that triggered the U.S. global war on terror. Obama declared, "Justice has been done."

"The images of 9-11 are seared into our national memory, Obama said, announcing that Bin Laden was dead from the White House at11:5 p.m. est.

After the 9-11 attacks, former President Bush ordered U.S. forces into Afghanistan to find Bin Laden and shut down his Al Qaeda terrorist network. With other Al Qaeda plotters killed or in custody-- Bin Laden had eluded capture for almost a decade.

Obama said he was briefed last August on a possible lead to find Bin Laden in a compound in Pakistan and that on Sunday a "small team of Americans" was able to kill Bin Laden after a firefight and "take custody of his body."

"The death of Bin Laden" marks "the most significant achievement to date," Obama said, to bring down Al Qaeda.

Obama took care to note that the U.S. was not at war with Muslims.

"The American people did not chose this fight. It came to our shores," Obama said.

Vice President Biden briefed congressional leaders about Bin Laden's killing, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)

"I was advised by Vice President Biden this Sunday evening that Osama bin Laden has been killed. Though this is not the end of the threat of terrorism, it is a clear warning to our enemies that when they threaten and kill Americans, they will be pursued and held accountable. Our nation owes a great debt of gratitude to our intelligence community and military for pursuing this manhunt for almost ten years and successfully eliminating the most high profile terrorist on earth. Those who believed bin Laden and his network were invincible will now awaken to a new reality," Durbin said.

Terrorism experts had not agreed whether Bin Laden had groomed a successor. The Saudi-born Bin Laden came from a wealthy family and was regarded as not only the mastermind of 9-11, but also of the 1993 New York World Trade Center bombing and the 2000 bombing of the U.S. warship Cole in Yemen.