Osama links

Some more OBL links:

-- Via Laura Rozen, the January arrest of a Qaeda financier in Abbottabad.

-- Steve Coll on NPR was acid in wondering how Pakistan would explain OBL's hideout. Emptywheel thinks along same lines.

-- Obama considered bombing the compound in March, but was concerned lest there be no hard proof of OBL's death.

-- The Twitter posts of an Abbottabad resident who saw the raid happening, tho of course he didn't know what it was until later. "Uh oh, now I'm the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it." Via.

-- Last night's midnight briefing at the White House.

-- Here is Steve Coll expanding on those thoughts he expressed on the radio this a.m.

It stretches credulity to think that a mansion of that scale could have been built and occupied by bin Laden for six years without it coming to the attention of anyone in Pakistan’s Army.

The initial circumstantial evidence suggests the opposite is more likely--that bin Laden was effectively being housed under Pakistani state control. Pakistan will deny this, it seems safe to predict, and perhaps no convincing evidence will ever surface to prove the case. If I were a prosecutor at the United States Department of Justice, however, I would be tempted to call a grand jury. Who owned the land on which the house was constructed? How was the land acquired, and from whom? Who designed the house, which seems to have been purpose-built to secure bin Laden? Who was the general contractor? Who installed the security systems? Who worked there? Are there witnesses who will now testify as to who visited the house, how often, and for what purpose? These questions are not relevant only to the full realization of justice for the victims of September 11th. They are also relevant to the victims of terrorist attacks conducted or inspired by bin Laden while he lived in the house, and these include many Pakistanis as well as Afghans, Indians, Jordanians, and Britons. They are rightly subjects of American criminal law.

Yes, I'm sure DOJ will get right on that. Coll also points out that Obama's heavy emphasis on nailing OBL had real effects at CIA.

-- Jukeboxgrad, possibly the World's Greatest Volokh Conspiracy Commenter, has assembled some lovely quotes from conservative reptiles mocking Obama for his campaign pledge to attack OBL in Pakistan if need be.

-- OBL reported to've been the one using a woman -- his wife -- as a human shield, resulting in her death. Hey, what's the big deal -- that's why Allah lets you have four! [Rimshot]

-- Did WikiLeaks blow the name of OBL's courier? Good thing they were sooooo voluminous. See Emptywheel.