Obama has wish about bin Laden’s last moments
President talks to CNN on fifth anniversary of al-Qaeda chief’s killing by US special forces at his Pakistan compound
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Five years after US special forces killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, President Barack Obama says he hopes that in his last moments the terror mastermind realized Americans had not forgotten about 9/11.
In an interview with CNN broadcast on Monday, Obama marked the anniversary of what many see as one of his presidency’s greatest achievements: ending the long hunt for the illusive Saudi-born terror boss.
US special forces killed bin Laden at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011.
“Hopefully, at that moment, he understood that the American people hadn’t forgotten the some 3,000 people who he killed,” Obama said.
Obama leaves office in January, with al-Qaeda significantly diminished by drone strikes and somewhat eclipsed by its offshoot, the so-called Islamic State group.
Documents swept up in the raid on bin Laden’s compound after his death portrayed a leader cut off from his underlings, disappointed by their failures, beset by their complaints and regretting years of separation from much of his extensive family.
Despite some surprising quirks in the collection, the overall message of the 103 letters, videos and reports made public in May 2015 hewed to the terror group’s familiar mission: In the name of God, find a way to kill Americans. Kill Europeans. Kill Jews.
The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the documents, released as online images, were among a collection of books, US think tank reports and other materials recovered in the May 2011 raid that killed bin Laden.
AP contributed to this report
The Times of Israel Community.