Ndani ya Situation Room Ikulu ya Marekani Wakati Shambulizi Lililomuua Osama Likiendeshwa (PICHA)

Rais Obama,Makamu wake wa Rais Joe Bden (wa kwanza kushoto),Waziri wa Mambo ya Nje Hillary Clinotn (aliyeweka mkono mdomoni),Waziri wa Ulinzi Robert Gates (wa kwanza kulia),pamoja na timu ya usalama wa taifa wakifuatilia shambulizi la askari wa kikosi maalum (SEALs) nchini Pakistan lililopelekea kuuawa kwa Osama Bin Laden.Hapo ni katika ukumbi wa kutathimini mwenendo wa mambo (Situation Room),Ikulu ya Marekani

Rais Obama akisisitiza pointi huku Mshauri wake wa usalama wa taifa Tom Donilon (kulia) akisikiliza.

Rais Obama na timu yake ya usalama wa taifa huku Makamu  Mnadhimu Mkuu wa Majeshi ya Marekani,Jenerali James Cartwright akonekana kwenye screen

Rais Obama akisikiliza kwa makini mwenendo wa operesheni ya kumuua Osama Bin Laden

Rais Obama akiongea kwenye simu katika moja ya simu mbalimbali muhimu alizopiga kufahamisha mafanikio ya operesheni ya kumuua Osama,ikiwa ni pamoja na simu kwa Maraisi wa zamani wa nchi hiyo Bill Clinton na George W. Bush

Rais Obama akipitia hotuba yake kabla hajalihutubia taifa kufahamisha kuwa Osama ameuawa

Viongozi waandamizi katika utawala wa Rais Obama wakifuatilia hotuba yake kwa taifa kuhusu kuuwawa kwa Osama.Kutoka Kulia kwenda Kushoto ni Makamu wa Rais Joe Baden,Waziri wa Nje Hillary Clinton,Mkuu wa Majeshi ya Marekani Jenerali Mike Mullen,Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa Shirika la Ujasusi la Marekani (CIA) Leon Panetta,Mshauri wa Rais katika usalama wa taifa Tom Donilon,na Mkurugenzi wa Usalama wa Taifa James Clapper.

Rais Obama akiwahutubia Wamarekani na dunia kutangaza kuuawa kwa Osama Bin Laden

Rais Obama akipena mkono na Mkuu wa Majeshi ya Marekani Jenerali Mullen baada ya hotuba yake.Wengine pichani ni Hillary Clinton na Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa CIA Panetta.

CHANZO: Picha za Ikulu ya Marekani katika tovuti ya picha ya Flickr

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With the death of Osama bin Laden Barack Obama trumps 2012 opponents – for now anyway

Ed Pilkington

guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 May 2011 10.52 BST

How sweet it was on Saturday night for Barack Obama to be able to take to the stage at the White House correspondents dinner in Washington and mock his nemesis Donald Trump for having embraced the birther conspiracy that the president scotched only last week with the production of his birth certificate.

That was nothing compared with the sweetness of the moment that came 24 hours later when Obama took to the national stage, announcing from the East Wing of the White House that he had successfully ordered the killing of Osama bin Laden.

That address, delivered sombrely but with evident relish by Obama, will almost certainly dash any remaining hopes on Trump's part that his wife Melania will be choosing new curtains for the White House in 2013. It may also sweep away the aspirations of several other potential Republican candidates hoping to limit Obama to one term.

Rarely has an incumbent president been handed such a gift in the runup to an election year. As the huge crowd that assembled outside the White House testified, "getting Osama" is grounds for national jubilation, free from party affiliation.

Obama was at pains in his announcement to emphasise the personal role he had played as commander-in-chief. He underlined that he had ordered the CIA to make the killing or capture of Bin Laden its top priority, that he had met repeatedly with the national security team when the al-Qaida leader's whereabouts had become known, and that it was "at my direction" that the operation to assassinate him was launched.

The accent on his firmness in the face of the terrorist threat is unlikely, in the case of Bin Laden, to displease even the most liberal of Democratic voters who have grown increasingly despondent about the president's refusal to break with the central features of George Bush's "war on terror", such as the maintenance of the detention camp at Guantánamo Bay. It is likely to play very well with independent voters upon whom his re-election depends.

In his wording, it was clear that Obama was seeking to put to rest the comparison with Jimmy Carter, the last Democrat to be thrown out of the White House after just one term, that has dogged his presidency.

Obama stressed that none of the US special forces had been harmed in the operation to kill Bin Laden, an allusion to Carter's disastrous attempt in 1980 to rescue the Iranian hostages that cost American lives.

Obama will be hoping that the feelgood fallout from the news of Bin Laden's death will lead to a bounce in his popularity ratings that have remained worryingly low for many months. In the latest Rasmussen poll, 49% of voters said they disapproved of his leadership, 37% strongly, although that was before this weekend's events in Pakistan.

On the other hand, the polls show consistently that the top priority for voters is no longer national security – that has waned as a preoccupation almost 10 years after 9/11 – but the economy.

With petrol prices at a historic high, and unemployment still at 9.2%, Obama will know that even the death of Bin Laden will not secure him a second term unless the economy improves.

At least, for now, he has the pleasure of watching his opponents squirm. The announcement saw Republican 2012 hopefuls reaching for the superlatives, including Mitt Romney who called the news "a great victory for lovers of freedom and justice everywhere".

The gloves won't stay off for long, but for now Obama can enjoy being on top.

SOURCE: The Guardian

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BUSH NA NEOCONS "WAMECHEMSHA" KWENYE WAR ON TERROR?

Hivi ukiwa na glasi yenye maziwa yenye ujazo unaofikia nusu ya glasi hiyo,utasema iko HALF FULL au HALF EMPTY?Au,unapokwenda kazini,shuleni,kwenye mizinguko,nk je unakuwa umetoka NJE ya makazi yako au umetoka NDANI ya makazi yako?Haya ni maswali yanayohusiana na mantiki na maana ya kauli.Nimekuchokoza ili utafakari hoja hii:je vita dhidi ya ugaidi (war on terror) imefanikiwa-hata kama ni kwa kiasi kidogo-huko Mashariki ya Kati na Ghuba au ndio imeifanya dunia kuwa sayari hatari zaidi kwa maisha ya binadamu?

Hebu tuangalie Iraki ya Saddam Hussein na hii ya baada ya uvamizi wa Marekani na washirika wake.Wakati wa utawala wa Saddam,hakukuwa na demokrasia ya aina yeyote ile,kauli ya dikteta huyo ilikuwa na nguvu pengine zaidi ya kauli ya Mungu.Lakini pamoja na hayo,Wairak kwa kiasi kikubwa hawakuwa na hofu ya kuwa kwenye mkusanyiko kwa kuhofia kulipuliwa na suicide bombers,hatukuwahi kusikia jina la mtu aitwaye Muqtada al Sadr,hakukuwa na kitu kiitwacho Al Qaeda in Iraq,huduma za muhimu kama maji,umeme,barabara,nk zilikuwa zikipatikana kwa wingi,utajiri wa mafuta ulisaidia kuifanya nchi kuwa yenye nguvu,na kadhalika na kadhalika.Baada ya uvamizi wa Marekani na washirika wake,demokrasia imepatikana na watu wamepiga kura japo kwa hofu ya suicide bombers na snipers waliotapakaa nchini humo.Hata hivyo,uvamizi huo umezaa "majimbo mapya" ikiwa ni pamoja na lile lililopachikwa jina la "pembetatu ya kifo" (Triangle of Death),umeibua vikundi kama Mehdi Army,uliwavutia watu kama Zarqawi,umekosesha huduma nyingi muhimu kama maji,umeme,barabara na uhaba wa mafuta licha ya nchi hiyo kuwa mzalishaji mkubwa wa mafuta na,kama Obama alivyomjibu McCain-baada ya kutupiwa kijembe kwamba (Obama) ni dhaifu kwa kudai kwamba hakuna Al-Qaeda nchini Irak-hivi sasa kuna kitu kiitwacho Al-Qeada in Iraq.Je Iraki chini ya Saddam ni bora zaidi kuliko hii ya sasa au ni vice versa?Tunarudi kulekule kwenye "mwenye nyumba ametoka ndani au ametoka nje."

Bush na neocons wenzake walikuwa na sababu muhimu za kuivamia Afghanistan baada ya mashambulizi ya Septemba 11,2001.Hakuna wakati ambao kiongozi wa nchi anatakiwa kuonyesha msimamo kama pale linapotokea jambo la kutikisa nchi.Kama utamaduni huu utazingatiwa basi si ajabu kelele za wanaolialia kuwa wameonewa kwenye sakata la Richmond na BoT/EPA zikasikika kutoka Segerea,Keko,Ukonga au hata wakiwa deathrow huko Isanga,japo I doubt).Nadhani kila Mmarekani alisapoti uvamizi dhidi ya Taliban huko Afghanistan hasa kwa kuzingatia usemi "akuanzae mmalize."Lakini kabla mission ya Afghanistan haijazaa matunda yaliyotarajiwa,na Osama bin Laden na mpambe wake Zawahiri wakiendeleza ngebe zao,Bush na neocons wenzake wakaamua kumalizia kiporo cha Joji Bush Mkubwa cha kumng'oa Saddam kwa kisingizio cha WMD.Haya,Saddam aliondoka madarakani na hatimaye kunyongwa lakini Irak imetokea kuwa sumaku ya magaidi kuliko ilivyokuwa kipindi cha dikteta huyo.Pia chuki dhidi ya taifa la Marekani imekua maradufu katika Muslim World.So far,taarifa kutoka Afghanistan zinaonyesha dalili za mission impossible.

Anyway,hiyo ndio siasa:ubabaishaji,udanganyifu,utapeli,uzushi,kuzinguana na lolote lile linaloweza kumfanya mwanafunzi wa siasa kama mie kujiuliza nyakati flani kama hiki nachosoma kina umuhimu wowote.Well,at the end of the day,"kinacho-matter" ni shahada uliyonayo na si shahada kwenye fani gani (in most cases,watu huwa hawaulizi Profesa Othman Haroub,Issa Shivji au Mwandosya ni wahitimu wa fani gani....)In simple words,Politics sucks!

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