Jaw-dropping news tonight: Osama bin Laden is dead, killed by US forces. Details are still slim, but as I find out more, I’ll update. What I am hearing so far: he was killed last week, and we are in possession of the body. Fox News is saying that it was a missile strike. More to come tonight as more details emerge. President Obama should be speaking any minute to confirm.

“We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter; and we will not fail.”
George W. Bush

We need to remember right now that it’s the military that achieved this, not a president or any other politician.

UPDATE, 11:07 pm: Still no word from Obama, who was expected to speak at 10:30. Gotta say, I’m curious — with news this big, why on Earth is he over half an hour late? You’d think he’d be shouting it from the rooftops. Too much manly posturing for him or something?

UPDATE, 11:15 pm: One of my Twitter followers, BurgBill, just made an excellent point. As President Bush said, you’re either with us or against us — which means that Pakistan now has a lot to answer for… especially considering we’ve been giving them millions for years now. It’s been pointed out at Hot Air that Pakistan wanted us to wind down the drone strikes. Now, why would that be? Suspicious. Very suspicious.

UPDATE, 11:21 pm: Well, now I’m hearing that he was killed in Afghanistan, not Pakistan. Which is it? Care to comment, Mr. President?

UPDATE, 11:30 pm: From the AP:

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States, is dead, and the U.S. is in possession of his body, a person familiar with the situation said late Sunday.

President Barack Obama was expected to address the nation on the developments Sunday night.

Two senior counterterrorism officials confirmed that bin Laden was killed in Pakistan last week. One said bin Laden was killed in a ground operation, not by a Predator drone. Both said the operation was based on U.S. intelligence, and both said the U.S. is in possession of bin Laden’s body.

From Michelle Malkin:

Remember 9/11 and the 2,977 innocent men, women, and children murdered by bin Laden’s jihadi henchmen.

Remember the 2000 USS Cole and the 17 sailors killed by bin Laden’s jihadi henchmen.

Remember the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the six killed, and hundreds injured by bin Laden’s jihadi henchmen.

Remember the 1988 US Embassy Bombings in Africa, the 12 US diplomats, and hundreds of Kenyans slaughtered by bin Laden’s jihadi henchmen.

Remember the 1983 Beirut bombings and the 241 US servicemen murdered by bin Laden’s jihadi henchmen.

Thank God my son will be growing up in a world without Osama bin Laden in it.

UPDATE, 11:35 pm: Obama finally is speaking and confirms that bin Laden has been killed. Streaming video here.

UPDATE, 11:49 pm: OK, Obama’s speech is over. He was apparently killed in a ground strike in Pakistan, with Pakistan’s help. The lead was developed in August, and he was apparently killed today, not last week. There was a firefight, and no American troops were harmed.

What concerns me now is the safety of our troops worldwide — don’t think there won’t be some kind of repercussions for this. If Americans think we’re suddenly safe now, they’re insane.

UPDATE, 12:19 am: An excellent point from Hot Air:

The city where they got him is named Abbottabad. It’s not in the tribal areas; it’s in the northeastern part of the country, just 75 or so miles from the seat of government in Islamabad. A telling aside from O’s speech: He said that he called Pakistan’s president after the incident to let him know — which, presumably, means there wasn’t Pakistani cooperation after all. As I said earlier, relations between us will never be the same.

All credit to Obama, though, for pulling the trigger and sending troops in to take care of business. If OBL hadn’t been there or if things had gone wrong, this would have been an international clusterfark, especially given how deep they were inside the country. Well done.

The statement from President Bush:

Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001. I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission. They have our everlasting gratitude. This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.

And a good point from the Washington Times:

From the tone of President Obama’s speech tonight you would think that he was the one who came up with the idea that the United States should hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden. He also made it sound like he was the one who came up with the takedown plan. We can look forward in coming days to details of the actual take-down, and Mr. Obama’s intimate involvement.

“Shortly after taking office,” he said, “I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the capture or death of Osama Bin Laden the highest priority of the war on terror.” But of course this had been a high priority since September 11, 2001. And of course shortly after that Mr. Obama decided that the War on Terror was no longer a war.

The only mention of President George W. Bush came when Mr. Obama mentioned that even he had said the U.S. is not at war with Islam. But without Mr. Bush’s leadership and setting the groundwork for the conduct of the war on terrorism, Mr. Obama would never have had the tools to get this job done. The national unity, sense of purpose and offensive posture was largely the result of Mr. Bush’s decisive action and strong leadership following that national tragedy. Had Mr. Obama been in Mr. Bush’s position on September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden would still be alive today, and probably winning.

The video of Obama’s speech, from Mediaite: