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This week on Uprising: Special Report: The Death of Osama bin Laden

* Reactions in the United States
* Analysis of bin Laden’s Death, Al Qaeda, and the U.S. War
* Anand Gopal: Reaction from Afghanistan
* Ending the Afghan War

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Reactions in the United States

Osama bin Laden, the purported master mind of the 9-11 attacks, is dead. American helicopters attacked a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad on Sunday May 1st in the dead of night. Authorities have confirmed that bin Laden was killed, along with 4 other individuals including a woman. Initial reports claimed that bin Laden was armed and that he used one of his wives as a human shield. But the Obama administration has since backed off from those claims. Bin Laden was unarmed and in the compound with members of his family and other residents, including small children. The residence lies close to a Pakistani military base, about 30 miles from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. The operation was reported to have been years in the making and involved tracing and following a courier used by bin Laden. A team of U.S. Navy SEALs carried out the operation in two stealth helicopters, one of which reportedly failed during the raid and was destroyed by the American forces for security purposes. Bin Laden’s body was reportedly dumped into the sea to prevent a land grave site from being turned into some sort of shrine in the future. After being pressured to release photos of bin Laden’s body the Obama administration has decided to keep the pictures secret to discourage sparking outrage in Muslim countries. A number of Americans gathered outside the White House on Sunday night into Monday celebrating the news of bin Laden’s death.

The morning after the news of bin Laden’s death, I spoke with a woman whose brother was killed in the World Trade Center attacks, and a veteran of the Afghanistan war, about their reactions. [But first, let’s hear President Obama’s announcement on Sunday evening of the news of bin Laden’s death.]

GUEST: Colleen Kelly, lost her brother, William Kelly, in the attacks at the World Trade Center and is a member of September 11th families for Peaceful Tomorrows (www.peacefultomorrows.org), Rick Reyes, Vice President of the LA Chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Co-Founder of Veterans for Rethinking Afghanistan (www.rethinkafghanistan.com/veterans/)

Analysis of bin Laden’s Death, Al Qaeda, and the U.S. War

Osama bin Laden, the purported master-mind of the 9-11 attacks was killed on Sunday May 1st by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs in a large house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, just 30 miles from Islamabad, and very close to a Pakistani military academy. Bin Laden’s surviving widow told Pakistani authorities that their family had lived in the house for five years. We’re spending the hour on bin Laden’s death and we turn now to two guests.

GUEST: Ann Wright, retired US Army Colonel, former US Diplomat, were in Afghanistan from Dec 2001 to April 2002, reopening the US embassy, author of Dissent: Voices of Conscience and foreign policy critic

GUEST: Robert Dreyfuss, author of Devil’s Game: How the US Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam (www.robertdreyfuss.com)

Anand Gopal: Reaction from Afghanistan

Within hours of Osama bin Laden’s killing at the hands of U.S. Navy Seals in Pakistan, the Department of Homeland Security warned of “threats of retaliation” from members of al Qaeda. DHS issued a travel warning for Americans, and put American diplomatic offices around the world on high alert. And news is now emerging that there were potential plans for an Al Qaeda attack on the 10th anniversary of September 11th 2001. However, it has been in Afghanistan that the first revenge attacks have happened. About two dozens fighters, mostly Arab and Chechen, crossed from Pakistan into Afghanistan on Monday and were apprehended by Afghan forces. Afghan President Karzai has responded to bin Laden’s death, vindicated, saying Afghanistan is not a “place of terrorism.” He said, “[t]he war against terrorism is in its sources, in its financial sources, its sanctuaries, in its training bases, not in Afghanistan.” Karzai went on to urge Taliban forces to lay down their weapons, “to learn from what happened yesterday and stop fighting.” However, Taliban forces announced the launch of their Spring offensive on the same day bin Laden was killed. They have promised to “attack military bases, convoys and Afghan officials, including members of the peace council working to reconcile with top insurgent leaders” (Associated Press). In fact, the offensive was launched on Tuesday with a 12 year old suicide bomber who killed four people in Eastern Afghanistan.

GUEST: Anand Gopal, independent journalist based in Afghanistan and has reported for the Christian Science Monitor and the Wall Street Journal

Ending the Afghan War

For the final part of our hour-long special on bin Laden’s death we look at the future of the Afghanistan war in light of what has just happened. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced on Friday that bin Laden’s death “could be a game changer” for the situation in Afghanistan. But he wasn’t talking about the U.S. war, rather he was referring to Al Qaeda’s relationship to Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Questions about the longest war the U.S. has ever officially waged are coming to the forefront given that even American intelligence officials have often admitted that Al Qaeda no longer has a significant presence in Afghanistan.

GUEST: Robert Greenwald, founder of Brave New Films, Director of Rethink Afghanistan (www.rethinkafghanistan.org)

GUEST: Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Non-Violence (www.vcnv.org)

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day:

A quote that’s been circling through cyberspace this week: “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” — Martin Luther King Jr.