Did Spurlock Find Osama?

(NEWSER) - Al Qaeda is weak militarily and “has been rejected by a great majority of Muslims,” Steve Coll writes in the New Yorker, but the terrorist organization and its affiliates can still create a “shock” like today's bombings in Jakarta. Despite the group's apparent inability to pull off a major attack like Sept. 11, “bombings like the one in Jakarta will recur for an indefinite time.” The only solution is for the US to assume “a posture of strategic patience about terrorism that is durable, vigilant, and proportional.” More»

But Pakistani intelligence agent learned little

(NEWSER) - Osama bin Laden's three wives mostly stayed mum while being questioned, reveals the Pakistani intelligence agent who interrogated them. Despite speaking with them (or, at least, trying to) once or twice a week for months, the agent tells Reuters he didn't garner much that was useful. But it seemed clear that they were devoted to their husband. "They were all nostalgic whenever they talked about him," the agent says. While the older two mostly kept silent, the youngest, Amal al-Sadah, "was always angry whenever I spoke with her." More»

Despite leak warnings, CIA, Pentagon and White House rolled out the red carpet

(NEWSER) - The White House, CIA, and Pentagon all gave special access to Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow to help with her movie about Osama bin Laden's death, according to documents obtained by the conservative Judicial Watch . In one interview , Undersecretary of Defense Mike Vickers tells Bigelow that top admirals can't talk because it would set "a bad example if it gets out," but that she could interview a SEAL Team 6 operator, who would "give you everything you … would get from Adm Olson or Adm McRaven." More»

Pakistan jails Shakil Afridi for treason

(NEWSER) - The Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA take down the world's most notorious terrorist will spend the next 33 years of his life in prison for his troubles. Dr. Shakil Afridi ran a vaccination program that the US used to verify Osama bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad, reports Reuters , and Pakistan today slapped him with the stiff sentence for treason. Adding insult to injury, he was ordered to pay a fine of about $3,500—or spend an extra three and a half years behind bars, notes the AP . More»

Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri suspected

(NEWSER) - The CIA has stopped al-Qaeda from bombing a US-bound airliner with a new kind of underwear bomb intended to slip past metal detectors, the AP reports. US officials say that agents grabbed the bomb in Yemen from a would-be terrorist who hadn't picked a flight yet, but planned to strike on the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death. The FBI is now inspecting the bomb to see if it would have worked. More»