Man Unknowingly Tweets the Osama Raid 354
Sohaib Athar, a.k.a. @ReallyVirtual, had no idea the helicopters he was complaining about on twitter were part of the top secret mission that killed Osama bin Laden Sunday night. 10 hours before bin Laden's death was announced Athar posted: "Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).” From the article: "During the raid, Athar speculates that he was two or three kilometers away from the shooting that took place. Once news broke that bin Laden had been killed in Abbottabad, Athar tweeted, 'Uh oh, now I’m the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it.'”
Re:This is good to know (Score:5, Informative)
Nah, it was a US helicopter that went down, but it was a minor incident. The "window shaking bang" was when the seals blew up the chopper on the way out (since it apparently couldn't fly). There's been a lot of news coverage on that topic. :-P
Re:I can't find it (Score:5, Informative)
Here it is http://maps.google.com/maps?q=osama+bin+laden+&hl=en&view=map&mcsrc=google_reviews&num=10&ie=UTF8&start=20&cid=11196890339658103699&t=h&ll=34.184471,73.246193&spn=0.010331,0.01929&z=16&iwloc=A [google.com]
Re:I can't find it (Score:2, Informative)
Re:This is good to know (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Call me Crazy... (Score:3, Informative)
We invaded Afghanistan because we demanded that they turn over Osama bin Laden, and they demanded we follow an extradition process.
-Rick
Re:I can't find it (Score:2, Informative)
No, that doesn't make sense. I've seen a few locations guessed wrong (including on CNN, who just zoomed in on downtown Abbottabad). None of those locations in the thread are right so far.
It's been described as a 3-story building with a walled balcony on one side and a high wall around it, fitting what is seen in the ground photos in the news stories. Location-wise, yes, it is near Abbottabad, but is described as being in the outskirts, and only a few hundred metres from the local military school -- that places it on the east or northeast side of Abbottabad. The neighborhood has also been described in the media, and a BBC article showed a box around the relevant area on the map, between Abbottabad and Kakul. Within that area, this building and walled compound [google.com] is noticeably bigger and has a higher wall than most other buildings in the area, has a bunker on one side of the roof as seen in the ground photos (at the N side of the roof), and a walled balcony on the opposite side (the S side). It closely matches the appearance of the building in the ground photos. Ah, just as I was about to add in the BBC link, I discovered that they've already updated their map with a more precise location: that is the right spot [bbc.co.uk].
Re:Call me Crazy... (Score:2, Informative)
You're wrong, son. Afganistan only offered *after* the invasion had begun [guardian.co.uk].
Nice revisionist history though...
Re:I can't find it (Score:2, Informative)
Here it is http://maps.google.com/maps?q=osama+bin+laden+&hl=en&view=map&mcsrc=google_reviews&num=10&ie=UTF8&start=20&cid=11196890339658103699&t=h&ll=34.184471,73.246193&spn=0.010331,0.01929&z=16&iwloc=A [google.com]
Not according to the BBC, who place it slightly further east: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=osama%27s+hideout&ie=UTF8&hq=osama%27s+hideout&hnear=&cid=11926225655530825281&ll=34.169377,73.242888&spn=0.00348,0.006968&t=h&z=18&iwloc=A
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13257330