NCTC: How A Little-Known Spy Agency Helped Track Down Osama Bin Laden

A little-known spy agency in Washington helped track the hour-by-hour movements of the al Qaeda courier who inadvertently led a Navy SEALs assault team directly to Osama bin Laden on Sunday, where they killed the terrorist mastermind with two precision shots to the head.

For eight months, after analysts tentatively identified a spacious walled compound near Islamabad, Pakistan, as a possible bin Laden hideout, an array of satellites and unmanned drones kept an unblinking, day-night “staring eye’’ watch, tracking individuals’ movements in and out, and following “individuals of interest’’ as they traveled across the region.

The data was continuously downloaded to an Air Force ground station housed in a nondescript hangar at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, where teams of analysts pored over the “take’’ and streamed it live to intelligence analysis cells at the CIA, the National Security Agency and the National Counterterrorism Center.

The NCTC, housed in an innocuous office building in Rosslyn, Va., just across the Potomac River from Washington proper, operates far from the spotlight that illuminates even the secretive CIA, but it played a pivotal role in the bin Laden manhunt.

Working with the military’s Joint Special Operations Command Targeting and Analysis Center, located at Langley, and with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency up the river in Bethesda, Md., the NCTC analysts helped develop what the military calls a “common operating picture.’’ In layman’s terms, that amounted to a detailed four-dimensional “map’’ of the bin Laden compound and its occupants and their patterns of living and working.

The data enabled JSOC’s commandos to build, in a remote section of the U.S. air base at Bagram, Afghanistan, a full-scale replica of the al Qaeda compound at Abbottabad, an hour’s drive north of Islamabad. In constant rehearsals at the mock-up, they perfected the timing and the tactics used in Sunday’s raid.

NCTC officials declined to comment publicly on the agency’s operations or the work that led to bin Laden’s death on Sunday.

But a senior intelligence official, who briefed reporters anonymously because much of the information is classified, said the breadth and depth of the information was critical. After the compound was initially discovered last summer, he said, officials “developed good information on how life at the compound was carried out.’’

The information was so complete, he added, that “the operators who assaulted the compound felt they had all the intelligence they needed.’’ Such assessments are unusual because the military, and commandos in particular, rarely acknowledge they have “enough’’ intelligence.

In a statement, James R. Clapper, the director of national intelligence who presides over all 16 of the country’s intelligence agencies, said that in his nearly 50-year career “never have I seen a more remarkable example of focused integration, seamless collaboration and sheer professional magnificence’’ as was evident in the final hunt for bin Laden.

As impressive as it is, the elimination of the al Qaeda founder, after nearly a decade of effort, won’t have nearly the impact on global terrorism that it might have several years ago, counterterrorism officials say. Thanks to the “franchising’’ of extremist Islamist terror cells to Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere, the danger -- and the action -- has shifted away from bin Laden’s core al Qaeda group, according to NCTC director Michael Leiter.

None of the recent terrorist operations against the United States, including the 2009 Fort Hood shootings that killed 13 Americans and the drive-by shooting later that year that killed a soldier at a Little Rock, Ark., recruiting station, were directed or inspired by bin Laden. Rather, these two attacks, together with the three failed but potentially deadly attacks -- the attempted Times Square bombing, the bungled Christmas 2009 airliner bombing, and the parcel bombs hidden in printer cartridges last fall -- all were inspired or directed by a the Yemeni-based cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, and the al Qaeda offshoot, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also based in Yemen.

Leiter and other counterterrorism officials say that AQAP and other “franchises’’ have surpassed the original Pakistan-based al Qaeda in terms of speedy planning and imaginative attacks. They cite a further threat: the emergence of homegrown Islamist terrorists in the United States, such as the alleged Little Rock shooter, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, a 24-year-old Muslim convert formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe.

“Bin Laden personally, al Qaeda’s terrorist tradecraft, all of that is becoming less popular in most places in the world,’’ Leiter said in a December speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

The affiliates, he added, “no longer simply rely upon their linkages to al Qaeda senior leadership in Pakistan but they have in fact emerged more as self-sustaining, independent movements and organizations.”

Leiter also noted that the affiliates maintain “important tentacles back to al Qaeda senior leadership” but operate with a high degree of independence.

“And, frankly, they operate at a different pace and with a different level of complexity than does al Qaeda senior leadership, and that has complicated our task significantly,’’ Leiter added.

The NCTC’s role in the killing of bin Laden is payback of sorts for the U.S. intelligence community, which was criticized for its failure to prevent the 9/11 attacks -- when a lack of coordination kept intelligence officers from fitting together known pieces of the al Qaeda plot. In the aftermath of the attacks, a presidential commission urgently recommended the establishment of a new agency to unify “strategic intelligence and operational planning against Islamic terrorists.’’

The NCTC was operational by 2004.

This time, by all accounts, the intelligence agencies and the military operational headquarters worked together smoothly and swiftly, justifying the effort put into breaking down institutional walls and separate data bases, said counterterrorism officials who requested anonymity because their operations are classified.

A former Navy pilot who flew EA6B Prowler jamming and attack planes over the Balkans and Iraq, Leiter, 42, is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer before starting work in counterterrorism. He was appointed as NCTC director by President George W. Bush -- and asked to stay on by President Barack Obama. He was married Saturday evening in Washington; the honeymoon was postponed.

SOURCE: Huffington Post

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CCM Yakanusha Kujivua Magamba,Yasema Hakuna aliyepewa Siku 90 Kujiondoa

Hapana,leo sio April 1-Siku ya Wajinga- bali habari ifuatayo ni ya kweli na wala si kanyaboya flani.Baada ya usanii uliodumu kwa takriban mwezi mzima,hatimaye CCM imerejea kwenye asili yake.Wengine tulishashtukia mapema usanii uliobeba jina la "kujivua magamba".Tangu lini nyoka akageuka mjusi baada ya kujivua magamba?Na tangu lini mchawi akageuka mtu mwema kwa vile tu kavua tunguri?

Enewei,habari kamili ni hii:

CCM yatoa msimamo

*Mukama asema maazimio ya NEC yamepotoshwa

*Ataka chama kiheshimu taratibu, aisulubu Chadema

Na Mwandishi Wetu

KATIBU Mkuu wa Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), Wilson Mukama, amesema Halmashauri Kuu (NEC) ya CCM, haijawahi kutoa maazimio ya kuwataka watuhumiwa wa ufisadi kujiuzulu nyadhifa zao ndani ya siku 90, ila wenye kutoa kauli hizo wanapotosha.

Mukama alikuwa akizungumza na wahariri wa vyombo vya habari vyote nchini, walipokutana jijini Dar es Salaam jana. Alitoa kauli hiyo baada ya kuhojiwa ataje majina ya mafisadi ni akina nani, na kwamba barua wanazosema watapewa zitakabidhiwa lini kwa wanachama hao wa CCM.

Akizungumza kwa tahadhari kubwa, Mukama alisema NEC ilitoa maazimio 26, na kati ya hayo, azimio namba 15 lilikuwa likiwataka watuhumiwa wa ufisadi, “kupima, kutafakari na kuchukua hatua wenyewe,” ila akaongeza kuwa wakati Mwenyekiti, Rais Jakaya Kikwete anafunga kikao cha NEC, alisema watuhumiwa wasipochukua hatua wenyewe chama kitawachukulia hatua.

“Kwa maana hiyo, kuna watu wame-hype information (wamepotosha taarifa kwa propaganda)… sijui hizi siku 90 zimetoka wapi? Kwanza NEC haikutani kila baada ya siku 90. NEC inakutana kila baada ya siku 120, yaani miezi minne au mara tatu kwa mwaka… Mimi nasema maamuzi ya NEC hayakutaja majina ya watu. Kitu hiki hakipo. Mtuache kama Chama tuna taratibu zetu, wala hatuhitaji mashinikizo kutoka popote,” alisema Mukama.

Mukama alisema yeye anaamini katika utaratibu wa kuendesha chama kama taasisi, hivyo kauli za watu zinazotoa siku 90 si za chama, bali chama kinasimamia maamuzi yanayotokana na kumbukumbu rasmi ambazo ni maazimio 26 ya NEC na hotuba rasmi ya Mwenyekiti wao wakati anafunga kikao cha NEC.

Msimamo huu wa Katibu Mkuu Mukama, umekuwa tofauti na kauli zilizotolewa na Makamu Mwenyekiti wa CCM (Bara), Pius Msekwa, Naibu Katibu Mkuu (Bara), John Chiligati na Katibu wa Itikadi na Uenezi, Nape Nnauye, ambao wamekuwa wakitamba kuwa baada ya siku 90 chama kitawafukuza kwenye chama watuhumiwa wa ufisadi ikiwa wao watashindwa kujiondoa sasa.

Hata hivyo, Mukama alisema watu wanaotuhumiwa wanapaswa kufikiri na kuchukua hatua wenyewe wanazoona zinafaa kwa nia ya kujenga chama chao upya. Alisema falsafa ya kujivua gamba imefanyiwa kazi kwa Kamati Kuu na sekretarieti ya chama kujiuzulu, hivyo hakuna sababu ya watu kupotosha falsafa hiyo na kukilazimisha chama kufanya maamuzi ya kujiua.

Wakati huo huo, Mukama alikishambulia Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) kuwa kitakufa kabla ya CCM, kwani chama hicho kimeanzishwa kwa shinikizo la Shirika la Fedha Ulimwenguni (IMF). “You can quote me on this (nikariri katika hili) Chadema kilianzishwa kwa shinikizo la IMF. Yule aliyetofautiana na Nyerere ndiye aliyekwenda kukianzisha,” alisema Mukama bila kufafanua.

Katika mkutano huo, Mukama aliambatana na Katibu wa Idara ya Siasa na Mambo ya Nje, January Makamba, Katibu wa Fedha na Uchumi, Mwigulu Mchemba na Katibu wa Itikadi na Uenezi, Nape Nnauye.

Mukama alisema CCM haijapoteza mwelekeo, na itaendelea kujijenga upya kwa nia ya kutumikia vyema wananchi, huku akisisitiza kuwa mabadiliko yaliyofanywa yalikuwa ya lazima kukipa uhai mpya chama hicho.

CHANZO: New Habari

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Ukweli Mgumu au Utani Mbaya? Ridhiwani Kikwete Adai Magari ya Kifahari Anayoendesha ni ya Kuazima

Mtoto wa Rais Kikwete aukana ubilionea

na Betty Kangonga

MJUMBE wa Baraza Kuu la Umoja wa Vijana (UVCCM), Ridhiwan Kikwete, amekanusha tuhuma zilizoelekezwa kwake juu ya kumiliki mali na mabilioni ya fedha.

Ridhiwan alikanusha madai hayo baada ya nyakati tofauti Katibu Mkuu wa Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA), Dk. Willibrod Slaa na Mchungaji Christopher Mtikila kutoa madai kuwa Ridhiwan pamoja na kumaliza shule miaka michache iliyopita, hivi sasa ni tajiri bilionea.

Akizungumza jana jijini Dar es Salaam na waandishi wa habari, Ridhiwan, alisema habari hizo si za kweli bali za kizushi na kwamba zimejaa uongo unaolenga kumchafua yeye pamoja na baba yake Rais Jakaya Kikwete huku wakipandikiza chuki kwa umma.

Ridhiwan alisema kwa sasa anamiliki shamba la hekari moja na nusu, gari aina ya Toyota Cami na akaunti tatu tofauti zilizo katika benki ya NBC, Stanbic na CRDB.

Alipoulizwa mbona anaonekana akitembelea magari ya kifahari, mtoto huyo wa Rais alisema: “Hapa mjini unaweza kumuona mtu amevaa suti ukadhani ya kwake kumbe ameazima. Mimi nina marafiki wengi, huwa wananiazima magari yao nitembelee, juzijuzi hapa nilikuwa na benzi ya rafiki yangu….jamani miundombinu ya mjini si mnaijua?”

Alisema kutokana na kuwaheshimu wazee hao na umri walionao ni bora watumie busara na kujitokeza ili watoe ushahidi juu ya hayo waliyoyasema na hatua zaidi zichukuliwe.

Aliongeza kuwa iwapo itadhihirika kuwa habari walizozieleza ni za uongo basi atakuwa tayari kuwasamehe; lakini alidai leo atawafikishia barua wazee hao ambapo ndani ya wiki mbili amewataka wathibitishe taarifa hizo walizozitoa juu yake.

“Kama haitoshi narudia tena niliwaahidi ushirikiano na endapo watataka ili kuthibitisha yote hayo waliyosema na hata yale wanayoyasikia, wakithibitisha habari walizopewa ni za uongo basi wasisite kuueleza umma,” alisema Ridhiwan.

Ridhiwan alienda mbali zaidi na kudai kuwa si mara ya kwanza kwa Dk. Slaa kuongopewa, akidai kuwa wakati wa uchaguzi mkuu wa mwaka jana, watu wasiopungua 50 walikutana katika mji wa Mwanza kwenye Hoteli ya La Cairo ili kuhujumu uchaguzi.

“Mchungaji Mtikila ambaye yeye amewahi kukiri wazi kuwa alishawahi kuongopewa hivyo, imani yangu kwamba atakapojiridhisha juu ya maroli, maghorofa na hiyo kampuni ya kutengeneza barabara atatumia busara ili hatua za kisheria zifuatwe,” alisema.

Aliwataka wazee hao kutokuwa makanjanja wa kutengeneza habari katika njia ya kutafuta sifa za kisiasa na kuonekana wanajua kuongea.

Ridhiwan alieleza kutokana na kutokuwa na kinga ya aina yoyote na kutambua nchi inaendeshwa katika misingi ya utawala bora ambao unaheshimu haki za binadamu, yuko tayari kutoa ushirikiano kwa vyombo mbalimbali ili ukweli uwekwe wazi.

Mwishoni mwa wiki iliyopita mchungaji Mtikila alimtuhumu Rais Jakaya Kikwete kuitumia Ikulu kumtajirisha mwanawe, ambaye anaaminika kuwa tajiri bilionea.

CHANZO: Tanzania Daima

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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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Update: Taarifa Kamili ya Rais Obama kuhusu Kuuawa kwa Osama bin Laden

For Immediate Release

May 02, 2011

Remarks by the President on Osama Bin Laden

East Room

11:35 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory -- hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.

And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.

On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.

We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda -- an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.

Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great strides in that effort. We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.

Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, al Qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.

And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.

Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.

For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.

Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must –- and we will -- remain vigilant at home and abroad.

As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.

Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we’ve done. But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding. Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.

Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.

The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded.

So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done.

Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.

We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.

Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.

And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.

The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.

Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

SOURCE: The White House

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Breaking News: Osama bin Laden Auawa.

Breaking news kwenye vyombo mbalimbali vya habari vya kimataifa ni kuhusu kuuawa kwa gaidi wa kimataifa Osama Bin Laden.Rais Barack Obama ametangaza taarifa hizo ambazo zitakuwa ahueni kubwa kwa Wamarekani baada ya kumwinda Osama kwa muongo mzima tangu mashambulizi ya September 11,2001 ambayo inaaminika yalipangwa na Osama.

Taarifa zaidi baadaye

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Married Canadian tipped as next PM 'found naked in brothel with a prostitute'

Canada’s lacklustre federal election campaign has finally ignited after claims the man many tip to be the country’s next prime minister was found naked by police in a suspected illegal brothel.

Jack Layton, the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), was discovered lying on a bed in a room with a 5ft 10in Asian woman in her mid-20s during a police search for underage prostitutes in 1996.

The married Layton, who was a Toronto city councillor at the time, was cautioned and released without charge, a retired Asian crime unit officer told the Sun News Network.

In a campaign that has been overshadowed by the royal wedding and hockey playoffs the report comes a critical time - just one day before Canadians go to the polls for the fourth time in seven years.

Mr Layton’s popularity surge is unprecedented in recent Canadian political history with polls and political analysts even tipping him to become the country’s first NDP Prime Minister.

The genial 60-year-old, nicknamed ‘Gentleman Jack’, uses a cane after undergoing hip surgery in March and is recovering from a recent battle with prostate cancer.

The left-leaning NDP currently sits in fourth position on Canada’s political map with just 49 seats. It is well behind Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s ruling Conservatives (143 seats), the Liberal Party (77) and the nationalist Bloc Quebecois (49).

But Mr Layton has been riding an extraordinary wave of popularity, seemingly spurred on by an electorate desperate to break the political stalemate which has delivered a series of Liberal and Conservative minority governments.

Olivia Chow, Mr Layton's wife and a New Democratic Party MP seeking re-election in Toronto, issued a statement saying Mr Layton told her about the incident at the time it happened.

‘No one was more surprised than my husband when the police informed him of allegations of potential wrongdoing at this establishment,’ Mrs Chow said. ‘Any insinuation of wrongdoing on the part of my husband is completely and utterly false.’

Married: Jack Layton and his wife Olivia Chow wave to his political supporters

Mrs Chow described the business as a ’massage clinic’ that was registered with the City of Toronto.

The notebook of the officer who questioned Mr Layton details how the NDP leader was asked whether he received any services of a sexual nature, to which he replied: ‘No sir, I was just getting a shiatsu.’

The officer then asked Mr Layton if he knew that sex acts were being carried out in the building, to which he replied: ‘No sir.’

The policeman’s notes also detail how the woman, from China, denied carrying out a sex act on Mr Layton.

During an unscheduled press call in Vancouver Mr Layton claimed he was being smeared in the final hours of a campaign just as opinion polls have his party poised to make a historic breakthrough.

‘It's unfortunate to see the smear campaign starting in these last few days of the campaign. Absolutely nothing wrong was done,’ he said.

‘There was no wrongdoing here, yet the smears start. And you know, this is why a lot of people get turned off politics and don't even want to get involved.’

Mr Layton did not address the allegations specifically but a lawyer for the New Democratic Party issued a stern warning about the reports.

‘The facts are that Mr Layton had obtained a massage from a massage therapist, but had no knowledge whatsoever that the therapist’s location may have been used for illicit purposes,’ Brian Iler said.

‘Any statement or inference that Mr Layton’s actions or behaviour was other than the facts stated above would be without any factual basis, would clearly (be) made with malice, and ought not to be published.’

Mr Iler added that Mr Layton was told by police he did nothing wrong but that the location was questionable. He said Mr Layton gave police his name and address and nothing further happened.

Prostitution is legal in Canada but brothels are outlawed.

SOURCE: Dailymail

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Maswali Magumu ya Ansbert Ngurumo: "CCM Imekunywa Sumu,Itakufa"

Ansbert Ngurumo

CHAMA Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) kinajitapa kwamba kinajivua gamba. Lakini sasa imeanza kudhihirika kwamba badala ya kujivua gamba kinajichuna ngozi. Kitakufa!

Bahati mbaya, kama baadhi yetu tulivyowahi kuandika huko nyuma, CCM kinashindwa kuwaaminisha watu wenye akili timamu kwamba kikiwafukuza ujumbe wa Kamati Kuu na Halmashauri Kuu watu watatu – Andrew Chenge, Edward Lowassa na Rostam Azizi – kitakuwa safi. Kinajidanganya!

Taarifa zinaonyesha kuwa wanaoshabikia igizo hili la kujivua gamba ni Mwenyekiti wao, Rais Jakaya Kikwete, Katibu wa Itikadi na Uenezi, Nape Nnauye, na kundi linalofuata mkumbo kwa unafiki na woga.

Lakini wapo wana CCM wengi wenye akili timamu, na wananchi wengine, wanaosema wazi kwamba hata hao watatu wakiondoka, CCM haiwezi kuwa safi tena. Wala haitamsaidia Rais Kikwete kuonekana mwema kwa Watanzania. Na haitakifanya chama hicho kirejeshe mng’aro wake kwa umma.

Ni wazi, jitihada za Rais Kikwete na wenzake zinatokana na ukweli unaomuuma yeye binafsi kutokana na CCM kufanya vibaya katika uchaguzi mkuu uliopita.

Na ingawa kuna ukweli kwamba ufisadi umechangia kukifanya CCM kichukiwe na wananchi, hoja hiyo haiishii kwa watatu hawa. Mafisadi CCM ni wengi. Nimesema huko nyuma, kwamba hata Rais Kikwete mwenyewe, alitajwa kuwa miongoni mwao.

Hata jana alitajwa upya katika mkutano wa Mchungaji Christopher Mtikila na waandishi wa habari jijini Dar es Salaam, akimhusisha rais na utajiri wa ghafla wa mtoto wake.

Ufisadi huu wa rais unamnyima makali ya kuwashughulikia mafisadi wenzake. Na zaidi ya hayo unapanua wigo wa adui zake, maana sasa anagombana na watu wanaomfahamu vema; waliomsaidia na kumjenga, wakambeba hadi Ikulu.

Woga wake ni kwamba baadhi ya hawa waliombeba hadi Ikulu wana uwezo wa kutumia nguvu zile zile kumwondoa ama Ikulu au kwenye chama. Anachofanya sasa ni kuwashughulikia mapema ili kujinusuru.

Lakini nina hakika jitihada hizi hazitakinusuru chama chake. Na ingawa ameaminishwa kwamba mafisadi hawa ndio waliokifanya chama chake “kishindwe” uchaguzi mwaka jana, wapo wanaosema yale asiyotaka kusikia.

Anajiuliza zilikokwenda kura zake mwaka 2010, anapolinganisha na mwamko wa 2005. Anatafuta wachawi, lakini anasahau mambo kadhaa.

Kwa mfano, serikali imeshindwa kukidhi matakwa ya wananchi kama ilivyoahidi mwaka 2005. Kwa nini waipe CCM kura nyingi hata kama inawahonga mashati, kanga, kofia, pesa na pombe?

Wananchi walimsikia Rais Kikwete mwenyewe akiwaambia wafanyakazi ”sitaki kura zenu!” Wengi walikuwa waaminifu kwa kauli yake; wakamnyima. Si wao tu, bali hata rafiki zao, ndugu zao na wajuani wao, walikaa upande wa wafanyakazi. Kwa nini atarajie kura za CCM ziongezeke?

Mara kadhaa, Rais Kikwete alijikuta akigombana na baadhi ya viongozi wa dini kubwa zenye ushawishi kwa umma. Aliwadanganya Waislamu kuhusu Ofisi ya Kadhi Mkuu. Wamedai hadi wakakata tamaa. Hatimaye akawapatia ufumbuzi usioendana na ahadi yake. Wana sababu ya kumwamini na kumpa kura nyingi?

Serikali yake, kupitia kwa wasaidizi na washauri wake kadhaa, na hata yeye binafsi, ilijiingiza katika mzozo usio wa lazima na madhehebu kadhaa ya Wakristo, ikikerwa na jitihada zao za kukuza elimu ya uraia, na kuwahamasisha kuchagua viongozi waadilifu.

Sasa kama alikerwa na kampeni ya kuchagua viongozi waadilifu, tutamwaminije leo katika vita dhidi ya ufisadi? Na anapata wapi ujasiri wa kupiga vita mafisadi wale wale ambao alifika kwenye majimbo yao akawamwagia sifa na kuwanyanyua mikono kuwaombea kura?

Na kumbukumbu zinaonyesha kwamba katika wote, kama tunarejea ile orodha ya mafisadi ya awali (ambamo naye yumo), walishinda wote isipokuwa mmoja – Basil Mramba.

Zaidi ya hayo, walishinda wa kura nyingi. Maana yake ni kwamba wanakubalika katika majimbo yao, na hata nguvu yao inapenya katika vikao vya juu vya chama.

Ndiyo maana baadhi yao (kwa mfano Lowassa) wamefanikiwa hata kupata uongozi katika kamati za Bunge. Anajua nguvu yao ya ushawishi. Ndiyo inayomtisha.

Zaidi ya hayo, CCM kimetumia mabilioni ya shilingi kwa ajili ya “kununulia kura,” kinyume kabisa cha sheria ya gharama za uchaguzi. Ni mbunge gani wa CCM anaweza kujitapa kuwa amepita bila nguvu za ufisadi? Sasa rais na wenzake wanapiga vita ufisadi gani wakati wenyewe wamepita kifisadi, na chama kimejaa wabunge waliopita kifisadi?

Ndiyo maana sisi wengine tunakwenda mbali. Tunasema katika igizo la sasa la kujivua gamba, Rais Kikwete na wenzake, kama wana ujasiri wa kutosha, wasiishie tu kuwafukuza kwenye vikao vya Kamati Kuu na Halmashauri Kuu.

Wawavue na ubunge. Wapoteze kila kitu. Tuanze upya. CCM igombee majimbo hayo bila nguvu ya rushwa. Je, CCM ina ujasiri huo?

Wapo wanaodokeza pia kwamba hata udhaifu binafsi wa rais kiafya ulichangia kupunguza imani na matumaini ya watu. Kwa mfano, madaktari wake walijaribu kufunika funika kwa taarifa zenye utata, lakini walishindwa kumzuia kuanguka hadharani mara kadhaa. Wanadhani hiyo ilikuwa mbinu ya kumwongezea kura?

Hizi ni chache tu, lakini zipo sababu nyingi za kuanguka kwa CCM katika uchaguzi uliopita. Hata maisha magumu yanayowakabili wananchi sasa hivi, ni kigezo kingine cha kuwahamasisha wananchi waichukie serikali na chama chake.

Ndiyo maana wenye akili wanapotazama kampeni hii ya kuvuana magamba wanasema bila woga kwamba tatizo la CCM si watu fulani, bali mfumo. Chama kimejikita katika mfumo wa ufisadi, kinaongoza kwa mazoea, kinakumbatia udikteta wa rais na mwenyekiti, na kinaogopa mabadiliko.

Mtu mmoja amenidokeza kwamba haikuwa kwa bahati mbaya Pius Msekwa kuteuliwa makamu mwenyekiti wa CCM. Ni Msekwa huyu aliyekuwa Katibu Mtendaji Mkuu wa CCM mwaka 1977.

CCM haina muono mpya, au damu mpya za kushika nafasi ya Msekwa katika chama? Maana yake ni kwamba CCM iko nyuma ya wakati kwa miaka 34.

Hii ndiyo CCM inayoshabikiwa na kina Nape waliozaliwa ndani ya kipindi cha u-CCM wa Msekwa?

Ndiyo maana wanashindwa kujivua gamba, maana wao wenyewe ni magamba manene yaliyoshikamana na nyama za chama. Wakidiriki kuyavua, wataondoka na mnofu wa CCM.

Lakini hili haliwezekani kwa sababu CCM bila ufisadi, haiwezi kudumu. Ninachoona ni kwamba, ingawa wanaogopa kujichuna ngozi ili wasife, jitihada wanazofanya sasa ni sawa na kunywa sumu kali ambayo haiwezi kuwaepusha na mauti ya kisiasa. Wanalijua hilo?

CHANZO: Tanzania Daima

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