Last night on NBC, the correspondent with Brian Williams kept repeating we would be hearing more about JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) in connection with the killing of Osama bin Laden. Today, there is this description from Marc Ambinder at the National Journal. It makes warrantless wiretapping seem so last year.

McChrystal and Flynn introduced hardened commandos to basic criminal forensic techniques and then used highly advanced and still-classified technology to transform bits of information into actionable intelligence. One way they did this was to create forward-deployed fusion cells, where JSOC units were paired with intelligence analysts from the NSA and the NGA. Such analysis helped the CIA to establish, with a high degree of probability, that Osama bin Laden and his family were hiding in that particular compound.

[More...]

Kevin Drum writes:

Tyler Cowen on the news that the intelligence that eventually led to the raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout may have been the result of torturing detainees at Guantanamo [. . .] This is one of the reasons that I think it's important not to put too much emphasis on practical arguments against torture. After all, if the reason you oppose torture is because torture doesn't work, then you'd better be prepared to change your mind if it turns out that torture does work. I'm not willing to do that.

Kevin is wrong. The practical argument is applicable as well as the legal and moral arguments. But first things first, Cowen simply is sort of making this up. The Haaretz column he is relying on says:

Via Glenn Reynolds, Mickey Kaus:

it’s easy to overestimate the significance of Osama’s demise: Remember when we thought finding Saddam would turn the tide in Iraq?

What do you mean WE, Kemo Sabe? I remember Howard Dean being excoriated (by the likes of John Kerry too no less) for saying capturing Saddam was not a panacea for the Iraq Debacle.

Speaking for me only

Open Thread.

Justice, in the sense that a mass murderer has been killed, was done yesterday. No, there was no trial, etc, but Osama bin Laden never questioned his direction of the various acts of terrorism that killed thousands of people. He proudly proclaimed his involvement. His death was justice. Speaking for me only of course.

In terms of policy, does this weaken Al Qaida itself? Perhaps. It does not, in my view, weaken Islamic extremism, called Al Qaida or something else. Combating Islamic extremism remains a major foreign policy priority and foreign policy strategy and decision making requires a close look at impacts on Islamic extremism. The reaction in Pakistan is certainly worth following today.

On a lighter note, can you imagine a worse turn of events for Donald Trump? After becoming the butt of a national joke at the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night, the next night while he was hosting his reality show - a show that, in Trump's words, is "a really successful television show," the President of the United States was reporting to the Nation on a different reality - one that did not involve whether or not to fire Gary Busey. The joke that is Trump, which did not seem possible to be bigger, is now so. What can Trump possibly say now on his "really successful television show's" finale 3 weeks from now? How much more embarrassing can he become for NBC? The end of Trump "Mania" will now be a whimper. An embarrassing whimper.

Speaking for me only

U.S. officials say Osama bin Laden's son was one of three adults besides Osama killed in the attack that killed Osama bin Laden.

Here's a thread for you to post updates with details on the killings, and your thoughts about them.

An administration briefing revealed that the CIA had been following the so-called "couriers" – a pair of brothers – for years, but only two years ago found where they lived, in the town of Abbotabad 35 miles outside Islamabad.

The group lived in a large compound built in 2005, with 12ft high walls, few windows, and with no phones or internet connection in an effort to avoid detection. As well as the brothers, a family was living inside that matched the profile of bin Laden's.

Update: The State Department just issued an increased terror threat alert for Americans worldwide.

My thoughts on Obama's speech and killing Osama bin Laden:

Justice is done when someone is apprehended and brought to trial, and convicted or acquitted. Murdering a suspect is not bringing him to justice.

What changes Osama's death will bring: Heightened security measures, retributive attacks, and years more of the Government's war on terror and war in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

I can understand that people are relieved Osama bin Laden is dead. I cannot understand cheering his murder. Murder is not a cause for jubilation. [More...]

Obama's speech: 9:36 p.m. (Live blogging) (Update: Full text now available here.)

Obama starts recounting the 9/11 attacks.

He says years ago Osama escaped from Afghanistan into Pakistan. After he took office, he directed Leon Panetta to make the killing or capture of Osama the top priority.

Last August, they got a lead. It took many months to run it to ground. Osama was within a compound deep into Pakistan. Obama determined last week we had enough intelligence to take action and he authorized an operation.

Today the targeted operation was carried out in Pakistan. No Americans or civilians were killed. They got Osama and recovered his body. Osama bin Laden was brought to justice. [More...]

The White House just announced President Obama will make a live statement tonight around 8:30 pm MT (about 3 minutes from now) on an undisclosed topic.

You can watch live here. The New York Times and CNN report Obama will announce Osama bin Laden has been killed and the U.S. has his body. McClatchy says the body was found in Pakistan. The Guardian:

Osama's body is in possession of the US, having been killed in Pakistan as the result of a US special forces and CIA operation, according to the first leaks of reporting from the US television networks.

CNN interview:

I have many, many black friends . . .

But are they some of his "best friends?"

After attacks at U.N. offices in Tripoli today, the U.N. has announced it's pulling out of Libya. The U.K. embassy in Tripoli was attacked and the U.K, has expelled he Libyan ambassador, giving him 24 hours to leave Britain. Italy closed its embassy in March after attacks. Meanwhile, Nato says its attacks yesterday were targeted military attacks:

Nato has insisted its raid targeted a "command-and-control" building, and that all Nato targets were "military in nature".

Libyan officials say funerals will be held tomorrow for Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi and "the other victims," described yesterday as Saif Gaddafi's three children. What a mess.

On another topic, many immigration reform rallies were held today. In LA, the protesters called on Obama to keep his 2008 campaign promise to provide a path to legalization for the undocumented. But they are not threatening to vote against him. [More...]

Around 10 pm last night, I noticed site traffic was crazy. There were 4,000 visits an hour -- on a Saturday night. It's still going on. Almost all visitors are coming from Reddit, where someone recommended my post about Donald Trump shelling out $85,000. in 1989 for newspaper ads seeking the death penalty for the teens arrested for raping the Central Park Jogger. (They were convicted and 13 years later, exonerated and freed from prison. They are suing New York, and there was a news article this week reporting that one of them is outraged that Trump to this day refuses to apologize for the ad.)

There are more than 600 comments to the post at Reddit, most critical of Trump.

The post is still #1 at Reddit with more than 1,750 recommendations. I don't know if TalkLeft's server can withstand this kind of traffic for so many hours, so if we go down, you know why. I'll post updates if necessary at our backup site.

This TrumpMania is so odd. Do people really think Trump is going to run? I don't. Other than Celebrity Apprentice (which I watch and like) I don't get why he is such a headline-grabber. What makes him even remotely qualified? And why are people taking him so seriously?