VOL. CLX . . . No. 55,393 + © 2011 The New York Times NEW YORK, MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011

U(D54G1D)y+#!;!=!#!=A gathering of people who blog aboutthe military made clear how much haschanged since soldiers began relatingtheir experiences online. For one thing,the military is now on board. PAGE A14

New Face of Military Blogging

NATIONAL A14-19

Miami’s collection of stars, led byDwyane Wade and LeBron James, nearright, outperformed the Boston Celtics’as the Heat won Game 1 of their N.B.A.conferencesemifinal, 99-90.The MemphisGrizzlies cap-tured Game 1 onthe road for thesecond consecu-tive series,beating theOklahoma CityThunder, 114-101. PAGE D1

SPORTSMONDAY D1-8

Heat Quickly Leads CelticsThe followers of Insane Clown Posse arestriving to transcend stereotypes andshow that they are not the rowdy repro-bates depicted in the group’s cartoon-ishly gory lyrics. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

Clown Posse Fans Plead Sanity

Paul Krugman PAGE A27

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-27

Suffolk County detectives looking forwhoever killed four prostitutes are pur-suing leads on the Web. PAGE A20

NEW YORK A20-22

Seeking a Killer’s Online Trail

BIN LADEN KILLED BY U.S. FORCES IN PAKISTAN,OBAMA SAYS, DECLARING JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE

By PETER BAKER and HELENE COOPER

WASHINGTON — Osama binLaden, the mastermind of themost devastating attack onAmerican soil in modern timesand the most hunted man in theworld, was killed in a firefightwith United States forces in Paki-stan on Sunday, President Oba-ma announced.

In a dramatic late-night ap-pearance in the East Room of theWhite House, Mr. Obama de-clared that “justice has beendone” as he disclosed that Ameri-can military and C.I.A. operativeshad finally cornered Mr. binLaden, the Al Qaeda leader whohad eluded them for nearly a dec-ade, and shot him to death at acompound in Pakistan.

“For over two decades, binLaden has been Al Qaeda’s lead-er and symbol,” the presidentsaid in a statement carried ontelevision around the world. “Thedeath of bin Laden marks themost significant achievement todate in our nation’s effort to de-feat Al Qaeda. But his death doesnot mark the end of our effort.”He added, “We must and we willremain vigilant at home andabroad.”

The death of Mr. bin Laden is adefining moment in the Ameri-can-led war on terrorism. Whatremains to be seen is whether thedeath of the leader of Al Qaedagalvanizes his followers by turn-ing him into a martyr, or whetherit serves as a turning of the pagein the war in Afghanistan andgives further impetus to the Oba-ma administration to bringAmerican troops home.

The death of Mr. bin Ladencame nearly 10 years after AlQaeda terrorists hijacked threeAmerican passenger jets andcrashed them into the WorldTrade Center in New York andthe Pentagon outside Washing-ton. A fourth hijacked jet crashedinto countryside of Pennsylvania.Late Sunday night, as the presi-dent was speaking, cheeringcrowds gathered outside thegates of the White House shortlybefore midnight as word of Mr.bin Laden’s death began tricklingout, waving American flags,shouting in happiness and chant-ing “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” In NewYork City, crowds sang the Star-Spangled Banner.

Qaeda Leader Reported Dead

in ‘Targeted Assault’

Continued on Page A12

PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Obama announcedthat Bin Laden was killed in afirefight earlier Sunday.

AL JAZEERA

As the leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, here in video recorded in 2001, waged a terror war against the United States.

By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS

In the midnight darkness, thecrowds gathered, chanting andcheering, waving American flags,outside the front gates of theWhite House. In Times Square,tourists poured out of nearby ho-tels and into the streets to cele-brate with strangers.

In the shadow of the WorldTrade Center site, as the news ofOsama bin Laden’s killing byAmerican special forces spread, apolice car drove north on ChurchStreet blaring the sound of bag-pipes from open windows. Offi-cers raised clenched fists in theair.

“I don’t know if it will make ussafer, but it definitely sends amessage to terrorists world-wide,” said Stacey Betsalel,standing in Times Square withher husband, exchanging highfives. “They will be caught andthey will have to pay for their ac-tions. You can’t mess with theUnited States for very long andget away with it.”

President Obama’s stunningannouncement Sunday night thatthe terrorist who had eluded cap-ture for almost 10 years drew anoutpouring of emotion from polit-ical figures and citizens alike.

“This momentous achieve-ment marks a victory for Amer-

ica, for people who seek peacearound the world, and for allthose who lost loved ones on Sep-tember 11, 2001,” said formerPresident George W. Bush in astatement. “The fight against ter-ror goes on, but tonight Americahas sent an unmistakable mes-sage: No matter how long ittakes, justice will be done.”

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg,whose city bore the brunt of the9/11 attack, said in a statement:“The killing of Osama bin Ladendoes not lessen the suffering thatNew Yorkers and Americans ex-perienced at his hands, but it is acritically important victory for

Amid Cheers, a Message: ‘They Will Be Caught’

MANUEL BALCE CENETA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

A crowd outside the White House cheering Sunday night at the killing of Osama bin Laden.Continued on Page A12

Farmed tilapia is promoted as good forhealth and the environment, but re-searchers say it has drawbacks. PAGE A6

Another Side of an Ideal Fish

NATO officials defended the aggressiveairstrikes in Libya after the Libyan gov-ernment said one barrage had killedfour members of Col. Muammar el-Qad-dafi’s family. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-12

Allies Defend Libya Policy

Fears of corruption and incompetencehave stymied $7.5 billion in Americanaid aimed at winning over Pakistanis,officials of both nations said. PAGE A16

U.S. Aid to Pakistan Founders

The spill in the Gulf of Mexico is compli-cating Shell Oil’s ambitious plans, to beput forth this week, to drill beneathAlaska’s Arctic waters. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-8

Spill Clouds Shell Oil’s Plans

With Congress returning on Monday,Democrats and Republicans generallyagree that spending must be controlled,but remain divided on how. PAGE A3

Fight on Deficit Spending

By KATE ZERNIKE and MICHAEL T. KAUFMAN

Osama bin Laden, who waskilled in Pakistan on Sunday, wasa son of the Saudi elite whoseradical, violent campaign torecreate a seventh-century Mus-lim empire redefined the threat ofterrorism for the 21st century.

With the attacks on the WorldTrade Center and the Pentagonon Sept. 11, 2001, Bin Laden waselevated to the realm of evil inthe American imagination oncereserved for dictators like Hitlerand Stalin. He was a new nationalenemy, his face on wanted post-ers, gloating on videotape, taunt-ing the United States and West-ern civilization.

“Do you want bin Ladendead?” a reporter asked Presi-dent George W. Bush six days af-ter the Sept. 11 attacks.

“I want him — I want justice,”the president answered. “Andthere’s an old poster out West, asI recall, that said, ‘Wanted: Deador Alive.’”

It took nearly a decade beforethat quest finally ended in Paki-stan with the death of Bin Ladenduring a confrontation withAmerican forces who attacked acompound where officials said hehad been hiding.

The manhunt was punctuatedby a December 2001 battle at anAfghan mountain redoubt calledTora Bora, near the border of Pa-kistan, where Bin Laden and hisallies were hiding. Despite days

of pounding by American bomb-ers, Bin Laden escaped. For morethan nine years afterward, he re-mained an elusive, shadowy fig-ure frustratingly beyond thegrasp of his pursuers andthought to be hiding somewherein Pakistan and plotting new at-tacks.

Long before, he had become ahero in much of the Islamicworld, as much a myth as a man— what a longtime officer of theC.I.A. called “the North Star” ofglobal terrorism. He had uniteddisparate militant groups, fromEgypt to Chechnya, from Yemento the Philippines, under the ban-ner of his Al Qaeda organizationand his ideal of a borderlessbrotherhood of radical Islam.

Terrorism before Bin Ladenwas often state-sponsored, but hewas a terrorist who had spon-sored a state. For five years, 1996to 2001, he paid for the protectionof the Taliban, then the rulers ofAfghanistan. He bought the timeand the freedom to make hisgroup, Al Qaeda — which means“the base” — a multinational en-terprise to export terror aroundthe globe.

For years after the Sept. 11 at-tacks, the name of Al Qaeda andthe fame of Bin Laden spread likea 21st-century political plague.Groups calling themselves AlQaeda, or acting in the name ofits cause, attacked Americantroops in Iraq, bombed touristspots in Bali and blew up pas-senger trains in Spain.

To this day, the precise reach of

his power remains unknown:how many members Al Qaedacould truly count on, how manycountries its cells had penetrat-ed, and whether, as Bin Ladenboasted, he sought to arm Al Qae-da with chemical, biological andnuclear weapons.

He waged holy war with dis-tinctly modern methods. He sent

fatwas — religious decrees — byfax and declared war on Ameri-cans in an e-mail beamed by sat-ellite around the world. Al Qaedamembers kept bomb-makingmanuals on CD-ROM and com-municated with encryptedmemos on laptops, leading oneAmerican official to declare that

An Emblem of Evil in the U.S., an Icon to the Cause of Terror

OSAMA BIN LADEN, 1957-2011

HENRY RAY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

The twin towers in Lower Manhattan, a symbol of commerce,were transformed into a symbol of terrorism on Sept. 11, 2001.

Continued on Page A10

By JEFF ZELENYWASHINGTON — President

Obama’s late-night announce-ment from the White House Sun-day that Osama bin Laden hadbeen killed delivered not only along-awaited prize to the UnitedStates, but also a significant vic-tory for Mr. Obama, whose for-eign policy has been the subjectof persistent criticism by his ri-vals.

In his presidential campaignfour years ago, Mr. Obama blunt-ly declared, “We will kill BinLaden.” But as time passed, BinLaden’s name had gradually fall-en from presidential speechesand from political discourse, rais-ing concern from critics that hisadministration was not sufficient-ly focused on the war on terror.

In delivering the news from the

East Room, as jubilant crowdsgathered outside the WhiteHouse waving American flagsand cheering in celebration, Mr.Obama did not address his criticsor gloat about his trophy. He in-stead used the moment to re-member the victims of the terror-ist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and toissue a fresh call to the nation forunity.

“Let us think back to the senseof unity that prevailed on 9/11. Iknow that it has, at times,frayed,” Mr. Obama said. “We areonce again reminded that Amer-ica can do whatever we set ourmind to.”

The development is almost cer-tainly one of the most significant

President’s Vow Fulfilled

NEWS ANALYSIS

Continued on Page A12

$2.00

Today, mostly cloudy, a passing af-ternoon shower, cooler, high 63. To-night, cloudy, low 53. Tomorrow,mostly cloudy, a couple of showers,high 69. Weather map, Page D8.

Late Edition

C M Y K Nxxx,2011-05-02,A,001,Bs-BK,E2_+