Navy SEAL Who Killed Bin Laden Is Revealed

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 06 November 2014 | 22.57

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Video: Man Who Killed Bin Laden Revealed

By Sky News US Team

The former Navy SEAL who shot and killed Osama bin Laden has been identified for the first time as Rob O'Neill.

The revelation in the Mail Online came ahead of a Fox News interview in which Mr O'Neill is expected to discuss the May 2011 raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where the terror mastermind was killed.

The website described Mr O'Neill, 38, as a veteran Navy SEAL who had concluded several tours of duty, including in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He earned two Silver Stars and four Bronze Stars with Combat "V" among other decorations, the report said. He left the service after 16 years.

His decision to come out as the killer of al Qaeda leader bin Laden was made in part because he lost some military benefits, having left the SEALs before a full 20 years of service, according to the report.

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Gallery: Bin Laden's Hideout From Air And Ground

This aerial view of Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad shows the area (highlighted) before the building was built in 2004 and then again in 2011.

This photograph was taken in 2005. It is believed bin Laden could have lived in the compound for up to six years before he was finally tracked down by the CIA last August.

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The location of the heavily fortifed villa, located just a few miles from the capital Islamabad, has raised questions about how Pakistani intelligence agents failed to detect the world's most wanted man.

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This illustration shows the high walls surrounding the house and the area where all of the property's rubbish was burnt.

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He did so fully aware of the risks he faced.

"People are asking if we are worried that ISIS will come and get us because Rob is going public," his father, Tom O'Neill, told the Mail Online.

"I say I'll paint a big target on my front door and say 'come and get us'."

Video: May 2011: 'Bin Laden Is Dead'

Mr O'Neill had already spoken to Esquire magazine in a piece published last year, but his identity had not been revealed and he had been identified only as "The Shooter".

In that interview, he said he had joined the US Navy at the age of 19 following a heartbreak. He described the top secret lead-up to the raid, his training and finally the mission.

"I'm not religious, but I always felt I was put on the Earth to do something specific. After that mission, I knew what it was," he told Esquire.

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Gallery: Seals Shirt From Bin Laden Raid Displayed

The shirt a Navy Seal wore in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden is being displayed at the September 11 museum. Pic: 9/11 Memorial/Jin Lee

The shirt was among items that went on display just days before the anniversary of the 2001 attack. Pic: 9/11 Memorial/Jin Lee

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US Navy SEALs, both on active duty and retired, possess highly sensitive information about tactics and techniques that are central to the success of their secret and often dangerous missions overseas.

That is why they are obliged to sign non-disclosure agreements when they enter service and when they leave.

Another member of the team, Matt Bissonnette, who wrote a first-hand account called No Easy Day under the pseudonym Mark Owen, is under criminal investigation.

Video: On 9/11 Eve, Clinton Rued Bin Laden

He is suing his ex-lawyers for allegedly giving him bad advice.

The Fox News documentary is scheduled to air this month.

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Written By Unknown on Rabu, 05 November 2014 | 22.57

By Tom Rayner, Middle East Reporter, in Jerusalem

Amnesty International has claimed Israeli forces "flouted the laws of war" on numerous occasions during this summer's conflict in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of civilians.

The group's latest report, Families Under The Rubble, examined a series of airstrikes on Palestinian homes during "Operation Protective Edge".

Some of the strikes resulted in entire families being killed.

It focuses on eight incidents in which a total of 111 people were killed, of whom at least 104 were civilians, with 66 children among them.

Amnesty claims the cases indicate that Israel failed to observe its obligations under international law to limit the risk to civilian lives.

"Israeli forces have brazenly flouted the laws of war by carrying out a series of attacks on civilian homes, displaying callous indifference to the carnage caused," said Philip Luther, Amnesty's Middle East Director.

Throughout the conflict, the Israeli military issued numerous statements insisting they were doing all they could to protect civilians.

They accused militants from Hamas and other organisations of being responsible, as a result of hiding in civilian areas and using residents as human shields.

Although the Amnesty investigation did identify named individuals who may have been the targets in some of the cases, the report claims Israel has failed to explain why the targeting of those individuals justified the huge loss of civilian life.

The most deadly airstrike examined was that on the three-storey al-Dali building in Khan Younis on 29 July, in which 36 members of four families were killed, including 18 children.

Amnesty identified one of the building's residents, Ahmad Muammar, an engineer for Islamic Jihad, as the likely target of the strike.

Witnesses told Amnesty investigators how Muammar used a room inside the house for work using computers and electronics.

The second most deadly case documented occurred in Khan Younis on 20 July, when 24 civilians, including 19 children, were killed following an airstrike on the Abu Jame house.

Amnesty believes a member of the Hamas armed wing may have been standing near the house.

In both cases, the report claims Israel has failed to explain what the targets were or why they justified the clear risk to civilians.

"The onus is on Israeli officials to explain why they chose to deliberately flatten entire homes of civilians (...) even if a fighter had been present in one of these residential homes, it would not absolve Israel of its obligation to take every feasible precaution to protect the lives of civilians caught up in the fighting," Mr Luther added.

Nearly 2,200 Palestinians died during the 50-day war in Gaza between July and August. UN figures suggest at least 1,523 of those killed were civilians.

During the conflict Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza fired thousands of rockets into Israel, resulting in the death of six civilians, including one child. Some 66 Israeli soldiers were killed over the course of Operation Protective Edge.

:: The Israeli government issued a statement in response to the Amnesty report:

Amnesty's report on this summer's conflict between Israel and the Hamas terror group accuses Israel of wrongdoing while producing no evidence. At the same time the report ignores documented war crimes perpetrated by Hamas, including the use of human shields, as well as ammunition storage and firing at Israeli civilian population centres from within schools, hospitals, mosques and civilian neighbourhoods in Gaza.

The report does not mention the word terror in relation to Hamas or other armed Palestinian groups, nor mentions tunnels built by Hamas to infiltrate Israel and perpetrate terror attacks.

By ignoring the nature of the enemy Israel faced in Gaza - a terror group recognised as such by the European Union, the United States and others - Amnesty's report fails to contribute to the important discussion needed to solve the conflict.

Instead, Amnesty serves as a propaganda tool for Hamas and other terror groups.

In Israel, investigations are currently underway by several bodies, inside and outside the Israel Defence Forces, into over 90 incidents. Two criminal investigations are underway.

These measures are dismissed by Amnesty as insufficient yet in comparison to Israel's rigorous procedures Amnesty's own methodology raises questions: The report was not written by Amnesty staff but by local contractors not mentioned by name and referred to only as "field workers".

Their own credibility in producing the testimonies detailed in the report is never questioned; independent verification of their claims apparently not deemed necessary.

The extreme bias of the report is best displayed in its recommendations: Hamas is not mentioned, as if the group has no responsibility for the bloodshed; meanwhile, the report dismisses Israel's security challenges.

Amnesty should understand that producing a narrow, decontextualised report restricts its capability to advance positive change.

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US Midterms: Republicans Take Over Senate

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Video: Republicans Take Control Of Senate

By Sky News US Team

The US Republicans have swept to power in both houses of Congress for the first time in eight years in midterm elections shaped by President Barack Obama's unpopularity.

Results continue to trickle in across the US, but the conservatives won seven seats from Democrats, one more than they needed to take control of the 100-seat Senate.

Tha takeover will limit Mr Obama's political influence and curb his legislative agenda in his last two years in office. The President plans a news conference later on Wednesday.

Key battlegrounds West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Montana, Colorado, North Carolina and Iowa all fell to the conservatives.

The Democrats are still battling to hold on to Senate seats in Virginia and Alaska, while Louisiana's race will go to a run-off next month.

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Gallery: Midterms: Election Day In America

The Empire State Building in New York City turns red to mark the Republican triumph in the Senate midterm election races

Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell will be the next leader of the US Senate as his party swept to power

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The conservatives cruised to control of the Senate, boosted their House of Representatives majority and chalked up a slew of gubernatorial victories, breaking political opponents' hearts

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Elections judge Constance Rolon, 96, hands out "I Voted!" stickers in Denver, Colorado

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The Republicans also successfully defended Senate seats in Georgia, Kentucky and Kansas. Democrats could not win a single conservative seat.

Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, who cruised to re-election, will become the new leader of the Senate.

He told cheering supporters as he captured a sixth term: "It's time to go in a new direction! It's time to turn this country around!"

However, in his victory speech and in an interview with Time magazine, Mr McConnell also suggested that he would seek to work with the President, at least on some issues.

Video: How The Senate Looks After Midterms

"After all, he's going to be there for two more years. Maybe there are things that we can agree on," he told Time, mentioning tax reform and trade agreements.

Mr McConnell also ruled out the possibility of a government shutdown.

Outgoing Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said: "The message from voters is clear: They want us to work together."

Republicans, who already controlled the House of Representatives, were also on track to expand their majority in that chamber, too.

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Gallery: Midterms Winners and Losers

The vote was widely seen as a repudiation of Barack Obama's policies and will curb the President's political influence in the last two years of his presidency

Republican Mitch McConnell is certain to become Senate majority leader

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Overall on Tuesday, 36 of the 100 Senate seats, all 435 House seats and 36 of 50 governors' seats were up for grabs.

In state governor races, the Republicans ousted a Democrat in Mr Obama's home state of Illinois and won the liberal strongholds of Maryland and Massachusetts.

They also fended off a string of stiff challenges from Democrats.

Georgia's Nathan Deal defeated former President Jimmy Carter's grandson, potential 2016 presidential hopeful Scott Walker won a tight race in Wisconsin and Rick Scott was triumphant in Florida.

Video: Why Are Midterm Polls So Expensive?

The few consolations for Democrats included wins in New Hampshire's Senate race and Pennsylvania's governorship contest.

Mr Obama, who was shunned by many Democrats on the campaign trail because of his low approval rating, called Democratic and Republican congressional leaders to the White House on Friday to discuss the new political landscape.

He is likely to face pressure to overhaul his White House team.

Exit polls showed most of the Americans voting on Tuesday were unhappy or even angry with the Obama administration. There was also criticism of Republican congressional leaders.

Video: Midterms: The Hillary Factor

Even with control of the Senate, the Republicans do not have the 60-vote super-majority needed to pass major legislation.

A difficult election had been expected for Mr Obama's allies: governing parties tend to lose seats in midterm votes and many Democrats were defending seats in states that lean Republican.

Voters in Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia approved ballot measures allowing the recreational use of marijuana by adults.

Congressional races alone cost almost $4bn (£2.5bn), an unprecedented sum for a non-presidential year election.

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