PENTAGON FORCE PROTECTION AGENCY'S 10TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
Photo:   Pentagon,  U.S. Department of Defense
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta delivers remarks at the Pentagon Force Protection Agency's 10th anniversary event at the Pentagon, May 2, 2012. DOD Photo By Glenn Fawcett
Panetta Praises Military Professionals for Bin Laden Raid
By Jim Garamone and Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2012 – To most Americans the news that Navy SEALs had killed Osama bin Laden came as a shot from the blue.

But to Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, the mission was the culmination of years of painstaking intelligence gathering, put to good use by a joint service team.
Panetta spoke about the raid today at the Pentagon. “Just yesterday, the nation marked one year since the operation that successfully took down Osama bin Laden,” he said. “It was a day that I hope Americans take the time to thank the very dedicated intelligence and military professionals who planned and executed that raid that delivered justice to al-Qaida’s leader.”

“We will always be grateful for their service, their sacrifice and their professionalism,” the secretary added.

During a recent trip to South America, Panetta discussed the raid itself. Last year, he was the Director of Central Intelligence monitoring the operation from CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. The intelligence professionals with the CIA located the al-Qaida leader’s hiding place in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Still, it was far from absolute confirmation that the compound held bin Laden. Intelligence analysts used a lot of circumstantial evidence to deduce that the compound held the terror leader.

President Barack Obama made a gutsy call ordering the raid, the secretary said.
The special operations team flew to Abbottabad from Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The compound is 100 miles inside Pakistan from the border. Crossing into Pakistani airspace was just one gut-check moment for U.S. leaders monitoring the operation. “When they crossed the border and were going into Pakistan there were a lot of tense moments about whether or not they would be detected,” Panetta said.

Another “nail-biting moment” came when one of the helicopters carrying the SEALs lost lift upon arriving at the compound and make a hard landing. Panetta was on the phone with Navy Adm. William H. McRaven, then the commander of the Joint Special Operations Command and now commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. McRaven was monitoring communications from Jalalabad.

After the loss of the helicopter, Panetta recalled asking McRaven, “Okay, what’s next?” The admiral, the secretary said, replied, “Don’t worry, we’re ready for this.”
The SEALs entered the three-story building at the heart of the compound and it was 20 minutes before there was any report from the ground. “We knew gunshots had been fired but after that I just didn’t know,” Panetta said.

It was at that point that McRaven reported that he might have heard the code word -- Geronimo -- that would mean they had found bin Laden. “We still were waiting, and then within a few minutes McRaven said the words, ‘Geronimo KIA,’” the secretary said, which meant that bin Laden had been killed in action.

“And that was that,” Panetta said.

But even with the mastermind of the 9-11 attacks dead, there were still tense moments. U.S. officials were concerned about what the Pakistani government would do, and whether the U.S. team could get out of the country without problems. “The moment they crossed the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, we finally knew that the mission had been accomplished,” Panetta said.

With the success of the operation assured, there were no over-the-top celebrations. “We had some special forces people at the operations center at CIA and we all kind of looked at each other,” Panetta said. “As a matter of fact, I have a picture in my office of all of us putting our arms around each other, just [acknowledging that] we got the job done.”
The secretary told members of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency today that the bin Laden operation was a remarkable experience and “one of the greatest memories in 40 years that I’ve been in Washington.

“Having the opportunity to work with the intelligence professionals, to work with Adm. Bill McRaven, to work with the SEALs in that operation was incredible,” Panetta said. “This was because of the professionalism and great dedication involved with that mission. It was the kind of stuff that makes you proud to be an American.”

With the death of bin Laden and many other strikes on the al-Qaida leadership, the terror group is a shadow of its former self, the secretary said. Still, it remains a threat, he said, and the dedicated intelligence and military professionals will continue with this mission.

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF OSAMA BIN LADEN'S DEMISE

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

White House Photo

Obama Notes bin Laden Mission as Anniversary Nears

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2012 - President Barack Obama today praised the U.S. military and intelligence communities as he reflected on the approaching one-year anniversary of the mission that killed al-Qaida leader and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Speaking during a news conference alongside Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the president praised the intelligence effort of tracking bin Laden down and the May 2, 2011, military mission that killed him.

"It's a mark of the excellence of our intelligence teams and our military teams -- a political process that worked," the president said. "And I think for us to use that time for some reflection, to give thanks to those who participated, is entirely appropriate, and that's what's been taking place."

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, commenting April 27 on a return trip from South America, noted "America has become a safer place" since a team of Navy SEALs killed bin Laden in his Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound. Panetta was director of the CIA at the time of the raid.

"I don't think there's any question that America is safer as a result of the bin Laden operation," Panetta told reporters traveling with him. But al-Qaida remains a threat, he added.

U.S. BELIEVES AL-QAIDA IS STILL MAJOR THREAT

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Al-Qaida Offshoots Are Biggest Terror Threat, Official Says

By Jim Garamone

WASHINGTON, April 29, 2012 - Core Al-Qaida – the group led by Osama bin Laden – has been surpassed by its affiliates as the biggest terrorist threat to the United States, a senior intelligence official said.

"With bin Laden's death, the global jihadist movement lost its most iconic, most effective and most inspirational leader," Robert T. Cardillo, deputy director for intelligence integration with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, told reporters in an April 27 conference call.

Bin Laden's death allowed al-Qaida second-in-command Ayman al Zawahiri to move up, but he has not changed the group's strategic direction and does not have the charisma to appeal to new recruits, Cardillo said.

Navy SEALs killed bin Laden in Pakistan during an intelligence-driven operation on May 2, 2011.

The al-Qaida offshoots – al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Shabob in Somalia, al-Qaida in the Mahgreb – "will surpass the core al-Qaida remaining in Pakistan," Cardillo said. "Each group will seek opportunities to strike Western interests in its operating area, but each group will have different intent and opportunity to execute those plans."

The "Arab Spring" uprisings that began last year have influenced the jihadist movement, the deputy director said. "The unrest and reduced security provides terrorists inspired by that movement more operating space as security services focus more on internal security and regime stability," he said.

As new Middle East leaders address public demands for their participation in government, "we assess that core al-Qaida and the jihadist movement will suffer a strategic setback in that the Arab Spring strikes at the very core of their jihadist narrative," he said.

Al-Qaida believes in progress by violence, but the elections in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and the up-coming election in Libya rebuke that assertion, Cardillo said.

"However, prolonged instability or unmet promises by these new governments ... would give al-Qaida, its affiliates and its allies more time to establish networks, gain support and potentially engage in operations," he said.