According to US Intelligence officials, Osama bin Laden wanted to kill President Obama as part of a plot to disrupt the 2012 presidential elections. Officials have been analyzing over one million pages of data recovered during the assault on bin Laden at the start of the month, and they have learned more in the past ten days about him and his operation than in the past 10 years. "I would say this is probably very personal on bin Laden's part, to kill a President that he believes has violated the Muslim faith...He is incensed, inflamed, obsessed about killing the President," said Brad Garrett, a former FBI profiler. more ›

Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden sought to harm the US by "attempting to inflame race and class tensions in hopes of tearing down the country from the inside out," sources who have seen the evidence recovered from Bin Laden's compound have told ABC News. In addition to traditional terrorist attacks, Bin Laden wished to "create a divisiveness that would cause more damage than al Qaeda could ever do on their own." This included recruiting blacks in the US, "to capitalize on them to further the jihadi cause." more ›

Five days after President Obama announced that US forces in Pakistan had successfully located and killed Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda confirmed the death of their leader this morning. They posted a statement on jihadist forums today, which was translated by US monitoring group SITE Intelligence, vowing to avenge his death: "We call upon our Muslim people in Pakistan, on whose land Sheikh Osama was killed, to rise up and revolt to cleanse this shame that has been attached to them by a clique of traitors and thieves who sold everything to the enemies...a curse that chases the Americans and their agents, and goes after them inside and outside their countries." more ›

More details have trickled out about Osama bin Laden's demise: He had 500 Euros (about US $742-745) and two phone numbers sewn into the clothes he was wearing when Navy SEALs raided his compound. According to Politico, those were "sure signs that he was prepared to flee his compound at a moment’s notice." more ›

CIA Director Leon Panetta said of a photograph showing the corpse of Osama bin Laden, "I don't think there was any question that ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public. Obviously, I've seen those photographs. We've analyzed them. And there's no question that it's bin Laden." more ›

The White House is now offering a revised narrative on how Osama bin Laden was killed—and it turns out bin Laden wasn't armed. As the world basks in details about the operation to kill Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden ("Geronomo KIA," facial recognition software matching a photo of the slain man with Bin Laden, the couriers), the White House says the Most Wanted Terrorist was not armed but did resist when Navy SEALs stormed into his Abbottabad Pakistan compound. White House press secretary Jay Carney said, "Resistance does not require a firearm." more ›

He then described hearing a "huge windows shaking bang" and soon updated, "all silent after the blast, but a friend heard it 6 km away too." Now Athar has over 30,000 Twitter followers, and writes, "Uh oh, now I'm the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it," followed by "and here come the mails from the mainstream media... *sigh*" He's reportedly been deluged with emails and interview requests, and his most recent update is simply, "Bin Laden is dead. I didn't kill him. Please let me sleep now." more ›

Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, formerly of Staten Island, has been arrested for lying about his failed attempt to join the Taliban "or a similar fighting group." According to prosecutors, Shehadeh traveled to Pakistan as a teenager in 2008 in an attempt to join the Taliban, but was turned away by Pakistani officials and forced to return to the states. He told FBI officials he traveled to Pakistan to attend a friend's wedding and to visit a university, and then lied about ever going to Pakistan when he attempted to enlist in the U.S. Army at the Times Square recruiting station. Janice Fedarcyk, head of New York's FBI office, said in a statement, "The real purpose, it is alleged, was not to join U.S. forces, but to wage war against them. Stopping one prospective terrorist can prevent untold numbers of casualties." more ›

The Pakistani-born U.S. citizen who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison, with no chance of parole. Faisal Shahzad, a 31-year-old former budget analyst from Bridgeport, Conn., pleaded guilty in June to the failed May 1st bombing in Midtown Manhattan. Today he told U.S. District Judge Miriam Cedarbaum that a defeat of the United States is "imminent," Newsday reports (paywall). "Brace yourselves, the war with Muslims has just begun," he added portentously. more ›

Meet Osama bin Laden, climate change crusader. In his latest hit tape (which has not yet been independently verified), the Al-Qaeda leader laments the catastrophic flooding that has killed thousands in Pakistan and displaced hundreds of thousands more. "What we are facing... calls for generous souls and brave men to take serious and prompt action to provide relief for their Muslim brothers in Pakistan. Providing tents, food and medicine is a duty... Action should not be confined to providing emergency aid... but to set up a capable relief task force that has the knowledge and experience need to [meet the challenges]." Task force? Food and medicine? Has bin Laden lost his edge? more ›

Police say the phoned-in hijacking threat that grounded American Airlines Flight 24, which was headed to JFK Airport, at San Francisco International Airport was "non-credible." The SF Chronicle says the call was made to an Almeda hotel clerk. The passengers on the flight were taken off the plane, questioned by authorities, had their belongings re-screened, and were allowed to book other flights. But one passenger wondered if two fellow travelers were racially profiled. more ›

Floods and mudslides have killed an estimated 1,100 people in northwestern Pakistan since Thursday, and many Pakistani immigrants in New York have been left without contact to their families. Jahanger Khan, who lives in Midwood and sends money to his wife and seven kids in Pakistan, says his family has been left homeless. "Everything's gone. There's no transportation, no electricity, no food." He hasn't been able to reach his wife for days. Now, officials in Pakistan are worried the lack of drinking water could be spreading diseases. Syed Zahir Ali Shah, health minister for Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, said, "We estimate that about 100,000 people, mostly children, have been hit by cholera and gastro diseases." more ›

Last night WikiLeaks dumped 91,000 classified U.S. military documents detailing our current Quagmire in the Graveyard of Empires. Most of the documents, which were reviewed in advance by the Times, are low-level field reports detailing the daily grind in Afghanistan, where officers, unsurprisingly, complain of "poorly equipped Afghan forces and corrupt Afghan government officials." Other documents suggest that Pakistan's spy service, ISI, is helping Afghan insurgents attack U.S. forces. more ›

CIA Director Leon Panetta gave a sobering interview with ABC's "This Week" yesterday, in which he said the US has had no solid intelligence on Osama bin Laden's whereabouts for years. While being interviewed on the program, Panetta summarized the difficulties with the war in Afghanistan, and with the hunt for bin Laden, saying that the last "precise information" US officials had on the terrorist leader was in "the early 2000s": "Since then, it's been very difficult to get any intelligence on his exact location. He is, as is obvious, in very deep hiding ... He's in an area of the tribal areas of Pakistan." But in that case, maybe the CIA should be outsourcing their intelligence to the Osama Hunter. more ›

Gary Brooks Faulkner, the American detained in Pakistan while he was looking for Osama bin Laden, had a stopover in LA on his way home to Colorado. He told reporters he "absolutely" was going to return to Pakistan and said received dialysis for his kidney issues adding,", "This is not about me. What this is about is the American people and the world. We can't let people like this scare us. We don't get scared by people like this. We scare them. And that's what this is about. We're going to take care of business and we will take care of business very soon." Faulkner has served "five separate stints for burglary, larceny and parole violations" in Colorado, according to KTLA. more ›

Gary Brooks Faulkner, the American arrested in Pakistan while allegedly hunting Osama bin Laden, is heading back home. According to the Post, "An official with Pakistani authorities says the Colorado man has been released by the Pakistani government without any charges," also noting that Faulkner, who was found with a 40-inch sword and a gun,"had a valid visa committed no crime while there." The official also said that Faulkner's health issues—he only has "9% kidney function"— prompted the release, adding, "There is a possibility that Faulkner would be clean shaved for security reasons." more ›

Guess what: Pakistani authorities have conducted psychological tests on the American man apparently on the trail of Osama bin Laden who was arrested near the Afghanistan border. Gary Brooks Faulkner, a 50-year-old Colorado resident, was found armed and a source told the AFP, "They are asking him a lot of things, especially about the sword and dagger that look like ceremonial weapons. He said he wanted to kill Usama but killing Usama with a sword and dagger is not child's play. Carrying a pistol and such a long sword is definitely a crime but we need a lot more clarifications." more ›

A 52-year-old American was arrested in Pakistan near the Afghanistan border and claimed he was hunting Osama bin Laden. CNN reports, "The Californian named Gary Faulkner was carrying a pistol, a sword, night-vision equipment and Christian religious books, said Mumtaz Ahmed, a police chief in the area... He told police that he had been looking for bin Laden since 9/11 and had traveled to the area several times before." more ›

According to the Daily News, "Pakistani counterterror agents retracing the footsteps of accused Times Square car bomber Faisal Shahzad have confirmed his claim he was trained by militants in tribal areas near Afghanistan." A senior Pakistani military official also told the News, "Shahzad did go to the people who are operating in those areas. He did have some contact with them." Shahzad has been in custody since his arrest on May 3 and has been cooperating with the feds every day. In the meantime, relatives of three men detained by the Pakistani authorities say the men should be released because they are not linked to Shahzad. more ›

A Pakistani army major and catering executive were arrested in Pakistan for alleged ties to Times Square terror suspect Faisal Shahzad. Intelligence sources tell CBS that two of the six people detained so far in Pakistan have been "proud" of their ties to Shahzad and accused investigators of "siding with infidels." more ›

The U.S. Marshal's Service released Times Square terror suspect Faisal Shahzad, and in this image, compared to the widely seen image posted on Orkut, he looks less like Corey Feldman. more ›

Two weeks after being arrested for allegedly placing a car bomb in Times Square on May 1, suspect Faisal Shahzad finally appeared in court. The federal courtroom was emptied for a security sweep and reporters were eager for their first glimpse of him. However, as the NY Times reports, "The tension and drama that led up to the brief proceeding, including a sweep of the packed fifth-floor courtroom that cleared mobs of reporters and spectators so the room could be secured, far overshadowed the substance of the nine-minute hearing." more ›

Yesterday, the NY Times published a 2006 e-mail that Times Square terror suspect Faisal Shahzad sent to friends, wondering if "peaceful protest" to the apparent persecution of Muslims was appropriate, "Can you tell me a way to save the oppressed? And a way to fight back when rockets are fired at us and Muslim blood flows?" more ›

On Thursday, the FBI conducted raids in Massachusetts, Maine, NJ and Long Island to find possible associates of Times Square terror suspect Faisal Shahzad. It's believed that Shahzad received $4,000 during a meeting at a Dunkin' Donuts in Ronkonkoma, and some Pakistani men on Long Island were questioned. But one is particularly unhappy about being profiled and connected to Shahzad. more ›

Yesterday, the FBI raided homes in Long Island, Massachusetts, Maine and NJ as part of its investigation into the activities of Times Square car bomb suspect Faisal Shahzad. Two men in Massachusetts were taken in custody, as was one man in Maine, and it appears that Shahzad may have received money for his plot from a cash courier in Long Island. more ›

The FBI conducted raids on homes in the Northeast, including ones near Boston and on Long Island, this morning, as part of its investigation into the Times Square terror plot. FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz told the Boston Globe, "there's no known immediate threat to the public or active plot against the United States... The searches are the product of evidence that has been gathered in the investigation" so far. more ›

Guess what? If you're wearing shoes with battery cells and wires inside them, airport screeners are going to wonder if you're a shoe bomber type, when in fact you're just a passenger sporting some nifty massage shoes. Airport security officials in Karachi, Pakistan explained that a passenger's arrest, initially thought to be a "shoe bomber" arrest," was nothing to be worried about; one intelligence official told CBS News, "It was all just a hype." more ›

Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square car bomb suspect, apparently spent very little on his botched bomb. According to NY1, "Investigators say Shahzad spent $1,300 for a used sports utility vehicle, bought $95 worth of firecrackers and spent other small amounts for the tanks of gasoline and propane." Further, when his Connecticut apartment rent and plane tickets are added to the total, he may have only spent $7,000. The feds have been trying to find the courier to helped fund Shahzad's modest expenses. Of course, Saturday Night Live found a way to mock the bomb (see video below). more ›