Facebook Transcript: Live Chat on Bin Laden Death

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

On Monday afternoon, Michael D. Shear, the chief correspondent for The Caucus, participated in a live chat on The Times’s Facebook page, responding to comments and questions about Osama bin Laden’s death and its political ramifications. The following is a transcript of the questions Mr. Shear addressed and the answers he posted on Facebook. Thanks to everyone who participated; we hope to bring you more Facebook chats like this in the future.

Q.

Osama Bin Laden: Was he truly killed? Why bury him in the sea instead of showing his body as prove of identity, but instead they have his DNA that they may have gotten from one of his U.S.A.-friendly relatives? Or did they bury the biggest propaganda lie ever told to humanity?
Rose Marie Arroyo Mendez

A.

The burial-at-sea question is among the most fascinating. John O. Brennan, the White House counterterrorism official, said in a briefing on Monday afternoon that they had determined that if they killed Bin Laden, they would dispose of his body according to Islamic law and ritual, which calls, Mr. Brennan said, for burial within 24 hours. He said they had determined that burying him in another country would have been too complicated — they would not have gotten the permission, etc., within that 24-hour period. And so they determined that a sea burial could be done most efficiently.

Q.

Was the U.S.’s exclusion of the Pakistani government from this plan due in part to suspicion that they had failed to share intelligence about Bin Laden’s whereabouts?
Lateefah Brown

A.

Yes, administration officials said they kept the Pakistanis in the dark in an effort to make sure that details about the operation did not leak out, and out of a frustration that prior efforts to locate high-value terrorism targets had seemed to slip away. Having said that, White House officials said Monday that they continue to work with the Pakistanis in the fight against terrorism, and praised the Pakistanis for the work they have done in other raids, etc. The question going forward will be whether they find actual evidence that elements of the Pakistani government actively helped to hide Bin Laden, and if so, how President Obama deals with that.

Q.

What does it say about the U.S.A. that the only real events where people have celebrated in the streets as one true nation were the end of WW2 following Pearl Harbor attack, and also the death of Osama following the attacks of 9/11? Are there any other times [that] this type of celebrating has occurred?
Jonathan Langdale

A.

I was just talking about this with a colleague of mine here in the Washington bureau. I’m very interested in finding out how the United States is being viewed from abroad, especially how people in the Arab and Muslim worlds view the celebrations that broke out in Washington and New York last Sunday night and early Monday morning.

Q.

Why was the team instructed to kill, and not to try to capture [Bin Laden] if possible?
Pannill Camp

A.

It is not true that the team was instructed to kill, and not capture, Bin Laden, according to White House officials. Mr. Brennan, the counterterrorism chief, said in a briefing Monday that the commandos were instructed to take Bin Laden alive if they had the opportunity but were prepared to kill him if necessary. A White House official e-mailed the following to me this Monday morning: “U.S. forces are never in a position to kill if there is a way to accept surrender consistent with the ROE. That said, I think there was broad recognition that it was likely to end in a kill.”  “ROE” means “rules of engagement.”

Q.

Who gets the reward??
Rebecca Griffin

A.

Good question about who gets the bounty that has long been on Bin Laden’s head. (I seem to recall it was $25 million for information leading to his arrest.) I haven’t seen any good reporting on that, and given the kind of operation this was, I suppose we may never know.

Q.

What impact will this development have on President Obama’s chances of being re-elected to a second term of office. Thank you in advance.
John J. Kelly

A.

Regarding the impact on the re-election campaign for Mr. Obama: Iwrote Monday morning that it seems very clear that the Republican efforts to cast Mr. Obama as “indecisive and weak” — which had been growing in recent weeks — is likely to be sidelined after this development. At the very least, it will be harder for the Republicans to paint him that way, especially since the raid and its aftermath are quickly being burned into the public consciousness as a Jack Bauer-like moment. Here’s the link to my story.

Q.

As a student journalist I’m curious: What is it like when you get a breaking story thrown your way so late in the day?
Mike Donohue

A.

I can certainly say we are all a bit tired this morning. But it’s also exhilarating. I’ve been a reporter for more than 20 years, and whenever these big stories come up — even if it’s the middle of the night — there’s nothing quite like it. And somehow the idea of going to sleep just never occurs to you.

Q.

How do you address the conspiracy theories surrounding the date of Osama Bin Laden’s death?
Chistopher Marchand

A.

On conspiracy theories: One of the things that became clear last week, when we were all consumed with questions about President Obama’s birth certificate, is that there are some people who will never be convinced, even with evidence staring them in the face. With that in mind, Mr. Obama’s top counterterrorism official, John Brennan, said just a few minutes ago that they are evaluating how much information — including photos — they can release in an effort to counter the kinds of conspiracy theories that are already beginning out there.

Q.

Why didn’t anyone yell “STOP THE PRESSES!” last night? LOL! I was trying to find a paper copy of The New York Times for a keepsake and here in the Kansas City area, there aren’t any with the Bin Laden headlines.Laurie Hayes

A.

It’s all about the Web now! Just kidding. As one of the people Sunday night racing against time to get articles in the paper, I can tell you that we tried as hard as we could. But the president didn’t come on until late and the briefings at the White House were close to midnight. I suppose the papers that were printed in time to get to the Kansas City area must have been printed too early for the news.

Q.

Michael, I have heard mixed stories concerning the number of casualties resulting from the “firefight.” Do you have knowledge of a real number? Were women used as human shields?Gardner Mounce

A.

As to the number of people killed, Mr. Brennan told reporters Monday that there were four people killed, including Bin Laden, the courier who led them to the compound, the courier’s brother, and a woman. Mr. Brennan identified her as, presumably, one of Bin Laden’s wives, and said she was used to try to shield Bin Laden from the gunfire.

Q.

Since the information necessary to locate Bin Laden was gained via waterboarding, how will Mr. Obama and the Leftists react to waterboarding terrorists in the future? Will they change their opinions, or continue to condemn it publicly?
Dennis Glenn Smith

A.

Administration officials did indicate that some of the information about the people who eventually led to Bin Laden did in fact come from some of those detained by the United States. But I do not believe they have said the information was “gained via waterboarding.” I think there will be plenty of questions in the coming weeks about how the intelligence agencies got the information.

Q.

Michael, I agree, not a game changer. But when you’re losing a game, one huge “win” can change the tide – momentum is key. I’m sure the Republicans will focus on the economy, jobs, health care, debt, etc. – but Mr. Obama’s retort to that can simply be that he was focusing on getting Bin Laden, and now that he’s dead, he can start keeping some of the promises that were made four years ago.
Lucas Marius Ostrowski

A.

Is this a game changer? You make the point that one huge win can change the tide and the momentum. That’s often true in politics. One interesting thing to watch will be the poll numbers, but be careful — as my colleagues in our polling unit have noted, the first polls that will be fully accurate will be those taken entirely after the announcement on Sunday, and we won’t get those until Thursday at the earliest. Here’s their story. Also see this video segment from my colleague Jeff Zeleny.

Q.

Will our gas prices go down due to Osama’s death?
Sandra Morales Roca

A.

Great question about the potential link between Bin Laden’s death and gas prices. I noted early Monday morning that oil futures were lower, suggesting that the market was unfazed by the news. Honestly, I haven’t looked since then to see what oil prices have done. But I would think that if there is retaliation or other activity that suggests unrest of instability in the region, that could certainly affect the price of a tank of gas — and not for the better.

Q.

Michael – are you 100 percent sure we don’t see a “Wag the Dog”here?
Robert Schultes

A.

Regarding my faith in the information I get from the administration: I maintain a healthy skepticism in a situation like this. I’ve already had several conversations with colleagues of mine in which we are trying to probe their answers to see if they add up, and if we can get independent confirmation of what they are saying. Please do keep coming back to the Times Web site or get a copy of our paper in the coming days, because we will all be trying to check their stories. Having said that, I also try to stick with what I know, or what is being said by official sources in these early moments, because there’s lot of rumor and innuendo out there and I don’t want to be part of spreading it.

Posted in: