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MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011
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Based on statements given by U.S. detainees, intelligence officials have known for years that bin Laden trusted one al-Qaida courier in particular and they believed he might be living with him in hiding. In November, intelligence officials found out where he was living, a huge fortified compound in an affluent suburb of Islamabad. It was surrounded by walls as high as 18 feet high, topped with barbed wire. There were two security gates and no phone or Internet running into the house. Intelligence officials believed the $1 million home was custombuilt to harbor a major terrorist. CIA experts analyzed whether it could be anyone else, but time and again, they decided it was almost certainly bin Laden. Three adult males were also killed in Sunday’s raid, including one of bin Laden’s sons, whom officials did not name. One of bin Laden’s sons, Hamza, is a senior member of al-Qaida. Bin Laden has been the target of history’s most intense international manhunt, an operation that’s focused on the remote tribal areas of Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan. While bin Laden’s death will represent a major blow to the international terrorist network that he led, U.S. officials have long said that it will not end the threat of Islamic extremist because al Qaida has metastasized into lethal branches based in Yemen and North Africa, and has inspired militants around the world. Bin Laden’s death represents a major boost for Obama coming as he struggles with mixed public sentiment about the U.S. approach to civilian uprisings in Libya through the Mideast and North Africa. But bin Laden’s death is unlikely to alter the course of the insurgency in neighboring Afghanis-
AP PHOTO
A crowd outside the White House in Washington, cheers Sundayupon hearing the news that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is dead.
tan, where al Qaida has been playing a secondary role to the Taliban and allied militant groups. Meanwhile, the State Department is putting U.S. embassies on alert and is warning Americans abroad of possible reprisal attacks from al-Qaida and its affiliates around the world after the killing of bin Laden. In a worldwide travel alert released shortly after the president late Sunday announced bin Laden’s death in a military operation, the department said there was an "enhanced potential for anti-American violence given recent counterterrorism activity in Pakistan." It said Americans living or traveling abroad, particularly in areas that have been hit by anti-American violence in the past should limit travel outside their homes and avoid large gatherings.
The alert said U.S. embassy operations would continue "to the extent possible under the constraints of any evolving security situation." Also, the New York Police Department will be ramping up security measures across the city as a precaution given the news bin Laden has been killed, according to Paul Browne, an NYPD spokesman. Former President George W. Bush, who was in office on the day of the attacks, issued a written statement hailing bin Laden’s death as a momentous achievement. “The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done,” he said. In a statement Sunday night, Bush said Obama called to inform him that U.S. forces had killed bin
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sm in his native Poland with support for the Solidarity labor movement, accelerating the fall of the Iron Curtain. “He rightly reclaimed for Christianity that impulse of hope which had in some sense faltered before Marxism and the ideology of progress,” Benedict said. “He restored to Christianity its true face as a religion of hope.” John Paul’s beatification, the fastest in modern times, has however triggered a new wave of anger from sex-abuse victims because much of the criminality occurred during his 27-year watch. Critics also say John Paul’s legacy is clouded by evidence of a dwindling faith: empty churches in Europe, too few priests in North and South America, priests who violate their celibacy requirement in places like Africa and a general decline of Catholicism in former Christian strongholds. John Paul’s defenders argue that an entire generation of new priests owe their vocations to John Paul, and that millions of lay Catholics found their faith during the World Youth Days, which were a hallmark of his papacy. Vatican officials have insisted that the saint-making process isn’t a judgment of how John Paul administered the church but rather whether he lived a life of Christian virtue. Benedict put John Paul on the fast-track for possible sainthood when he dispensed with the traditional five-year waiting period and allowed the beatification process to begin weeks after his April 2, 2005, death. Benedict was responding to chants of “Santo Subito!” or “Sainthood Immediately” which erupted during John Paul’s funeral. With a sea of red and white Polish flags fluttering in the square, the beatification Sunday evoked the days after the pope’s death in 2005, when some 3 million faithful held vigil under his studio window and filed past his remains for days on end. Pilgrims from Mexico to Mali repeated the procession after the Mass Sunday, for hours filing past the simple wooden coffin that had been raised from the grottoes underneath St. Peter’s Basilica to the church’s center aisle, where it was surrounded by four Swiss
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AP PHOTO
Faithful take pictures of the casket containing the remains of the late Pope John Paul II laid out in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
Guards standing at attention. Beatification is the last major milestone before a candidate is declared a saint. John Paul needs another miracle attributed to his intercession before he can be canonized. Already, Vatican officials have said reports of inexplicable cures were pouring in, suggesting it is only a matter of time before John Paul is declared a saint, or even a doctor of the church — an even greater honor. Police placed wide swaths of Rome miles from the Vatican off limits to private cars to ensure security for the estimated 16 heads of state, eight prime ministers and five members of European royal houses attending. Helicopters flew overhead, police boats patrolled the nearby Tiber River and some 5,000 uniformed troops manned police barricades to ensure priests, official delegations and those with covet-
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ed VIP passes could get to their places amid the throngs of pilgrims. Many in Rome and in capitals around the world erupted in cheers, tears and applause as Benedict pronounced John Paul “Blessed” and an enormous color photo of a young, smiling John Paul was unveiled over the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica. “John Paul is an angel, he has such charisma,” said Esperanza Concilion, a 69-year-old hairdresser who traveled from Guadalajara, Mexico for the beatification. Catholics jammed churches from Mexico to Australia to pray and watch broadcasts of the Rome Mass on television. “He was a model and an inspiration who united the world with his extraordinary charisma,” said John Paul Bustillo, a 16-year-old medical student named after the pontiff.
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Laden. Bush said he congratulated Obama and also congratulated the men and women of the military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to the mission. Bush said, "This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001." Former President Bill Clinton said the death of bin Laden is “a profoundly important moment.’’ The news of bin Laden’s death comes just months before the 10th anniversary of the Sept.11attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon, orchestrated by bin Laden’s al-Qaida organization, that killed more than 3,000 people. The attacks set off a chain of
events that led the United States into wars in Afghanistan, and then Iraq, and America’s entire intelligence apparatus was overhauled to counter the threat of more terror attacks at home. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says Americans have kept their promise after Sept. 11 to capture or kill bin Laden. Bloomberg says the killing of the terrorist leader doesn’t lessen the suffering Americans experienced at his hands the day the World Trade Center was destroyed but is a "critically important victory" for the nation. He says it’s a tribute to the men and women in the armed forces who’ve fought so hard. Bloomberg says in a statement he hopes news of bin Laden’s demise will "bring some closure and comfort to all those who lost loved ones" that day.
who turned out Sunday along with more than 3,000 others for a six-mile (10-kilometer) race followed by a Mass near Manila Bay in the Philippines. In Brazil, which has more Roman Catholics than any other nation, the beatification resonated among the faithful and sparked hope that it might renew faith in the church in the South American nation which is facing stiff competition for souls from evangelical Protestant movements. “The beatification is going to renovate the faith of those who may have lost their way and left the church,” said Adimir Godoy, as he left a Sunday mass at the Santa Cecilia church in central Sao Paulo. “We were all blessed by the life of Pope John Paul and he deserves to be a saint.” In John Paul’s native Poland, tens of thousands of people gathered in rain in a major sanctuary in Krakow and in Wadowice, where the pontiff was born in 1920 as Karol Wojtyla. Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his wife Malgorzata watched the ceremony together with Wadowice residents. After the nearly three-hour Mass, Benedict prayed before John Paul’s coffin, which had a copy of the Lorsch Gospels on it, a medieval book of the Gospels that is one of the most precious in the Vatican’s collection. The basilica was expected to stay open for as long as it took to accommodate the throngs of faithful who paid their respects.
FOSTER Continued from Page 3A
to the editor in her hometown newspaper. Always on the lookout for opportunities for community involvement, she brought the idea to Pastor Paul Metzloff and the congregation. “We were really happy to help,” he said. Andhelptheydid.Theirwell-executed plan involved 14 children from the church’s youth group programs, ranging in age from 3 to 16 years old, and parishioners. A table with a wooden cross was placed in the church’s lobby. Several little pieces of paper pinned on the cross asked for specific items. Written on the little pieces of paperweresimplerequestsforspecific items, such as “5-10 year old boy, tooth brush and tooth paste, Preteen comb and brush.”
HOLOCAUST Continued from Page 3A
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M A R I N O S TAT E M E N T Statement by U. S. Rep. Tom Marino, R-Lycoming Township. “This development is welcome news to our nation and the world and is a tribute to the strength and perseverance of our military and our intelligence community. “Hopefully, this will provide some sense of justice to the families of the thousands of people who died at the hands of this terrorist and will help heal the wounds inflicted on 9/11. “Let the word go forth that the elimination of this cold-blooded murderer sends a distinct message to the terrorists around the world that the United States of America will track down and eliminate those cowards who think they can create an atmosphere of horror and get away with it. “We are Americans. We are united. We are determined.”
JessicaJones,20,ofWilkes-Barre, saidherheartbrokewhensheheard the experience many children have when entering foster care. “If I had 10 minutes to pack, I would not get very far,” she said. While shopping, she said she tried to imagine what needs the children might have. It was not hard to pick up several toothbrushes, some magazines and books, she said. Hannah Gaydos, 9, of Forty Fort, madeabout100homemadecrayons in various shapes. It took her an hour to make one tray of crayons, she said. One tray could make four to 10 crayons depending on the shape of the molds. She had each crayon individually wrapped and placed in canisters. The outpouring of donations, which filled the back of Coolbaugh’s SUV, made her eyes watery. The need is great, she said. Coolbaugh said she has cared for many foster children. 150 miles from Auschwitz and their air force could have dropped commandos by parachute into the camps to overpower the Nazi guards, he theorized. But those were just possible scenarios that could have been undertaken with uncertain results, said Miller. “Nobody, whatever you say, I defy the person who can tell me with credibility what would have happened,” he said. Whether it should have been done is a “tough issue,” he said.
industrial targets in Europe. McCloy was wrong about the distance that is more like 1,500 miles, Miller pointed out. “That means a lot,” he said. American air forces would have had a shorter flight from a base in Foggia, Italy, just 640 miles away, Miller said. Still there was another option, he pointed out. “In this whole debate, nobody Jerry Lynott, a Times Leader staff ever mentions the Russians,” writer, can be contacted at 570 said Miller. Russian forces were 829-7237.
phenomenon that’s still traveling faster than the Millennium Falcon on the Kessel Run. To celebrate this fact, fans of the films have designated May 4 as Intergalactic Star Wars Day. It’s a day to revel in everything Star Wars, from Wookies to Gungans to Droids to Tauntauns. Enjoy you will. >> TIEMPO DEL PARTIDO: Thursday is May 5 and, not coincidentally, that means it’s also Cinco de Mayo – a Mexican holiday loosely translated as “Day to drink beer with limes jammed into the bottle.” OK, it doesn’t mean that. It’s actually a day noting a famous Mexican army victory from 1862, but after a few Coronas most people forget that.
Statement by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, Chairman of the Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “On September 11, 2001, the United States was viciously attacked in a cowardly terrorist plot masterminded by Osama bin Laden. Today, U.S. forces have killed bin Laden and exacted justice for his terrible crimes which killed thousands. “I thank our troops, the intelligence community and diplomats who have worked today and since September 11th to bring Osama bin Laden to justice. "On September 11th, Pennsylvania was directly impacted by Al Qaeda when Flight 93 was downed over Shanksville. In the nearly ten years after September 11th, Pennsylvania has lost 68 troops in Afghanistan and hundreds have been injured. The sacrifice of those families who lost loved ones on September 11th and in the following years can never be made whole, but I hope that the death of bin Laden can help to bring some closure. "While today’s development does not mean an end to terrorism or the need to remain relentlessly vigilant, the death of bin Laden has enormous significance in American and world history."
York is legend. It’s in the same realm as the Hatfields and McCoys, The Montagues and Capulets, King Kong and Godzilla. On the Triple-A level, the hatred isn’t that intense but it still carries some extra fire when Pawtucket and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre do battle. Which they will do for the first time in 2011 this Thursday at 6:30 at PNC Field. >> IT’S HAMMER TIME: The summer movie season is upon us this week, when the first of many blockbusters hit the big screen. First up is the tale of the Norse God who moonlights as a Marvel superhero. His name is Thor, and he will be kicking some Asgard in theaters this Friday. It looks like a fine action flick with explosions and monsters and rockets and robots and .. well, all the good stuff that makes movies fun.