auto_transcript: good evening tonight I can report to the
American people and to the world the United States is
conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden leader Ball Kai to and a
terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands innocent men women and children it was
nearly ten years ago bright September day was darkened by the
worst attack on the american people in our history
images 911 are seared into our national memory hijacked planes cutting through a
cloudless September sky 20 hours collapsing to the
ground black smoke billowing up from the
pentagon the wreckage flight 93 in Shanksville Pennsylvania where the actions of heroic citizens
saved even more heartbreak and destruction and yet we know that the
worst images are those that were unseen to the world the NTC at the dinner table children
were forced to grow up without their mother or their father parents would never know the feeling of their
child's embrace nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us leaving a gaping hole in our hearts on September 11th 2001 in our time of grief the american people
came together we offered our neighbors a hand and we
offer the wounded our blood we reaffirmed our
ties to each other and I love community and country on that
day no matter where we came from what God we
prayed to race or ethnicity we were we were united as one American family we were also
united in our resolve to protect our nation and birding to bring those who committed this
vicious attack to justice week look quickly learned that the 9/11
attacks were carried out by al Qaeda an organization headed by Osama bin
Laden which had openly declared war on the United
States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe and so we went to war
against al Qaeda to protect our citizens our friends and our allies over the last 10 years thanks to the tireless and Iraq work for
military and our counterterrorism professionals
we've made great strides in that effort we've disrupted terrorist attacks and
strengthened our homeland defense in Afghanistan we
removed the Taliban government which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven
and support and around the globe we worked with our
friends and allies to capture or kill scores a Valkyrie terrorists including several who were part the 9/11
clock yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border
into Pakistan meanwhile all kinda continued operate from along that border
and operate through its affiliates across
the world and so shortly after taking office I
directed Leon Panetta the director of the CIA to make the
killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda even as we continued our broader efforts
to disrupt dismantle and defeat his network then last August after years of painstaking
work by our intelligence community I was briefed on a possible lead to bin
Laden was far from Cirque and took many months to run this thread
to ground I met repeatedly with my national security team as we develop more information about the
possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside
Pakistan and finally last week I determined that
we had enough intelligence to take action and
authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice today at my direction the United States
launched a targeted operation against that compound in a bot about Pakistan small team of
Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability no Americans were harmed they took care to avoid civilian
casualties after a firefight they killed Osama bin
Laden up and took custody up his body for over
two decades bin Laden has been al Qaeda's leader and
symbol has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and
allies the death of bin Laden marks the most
significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al
Qaeda it is death does not mark the end of our for there's no doubt that al Qaeda will
continue to pursue attacks against us we must and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad as we
do we must also reaffirm that the United
States is not and never will be at war with islam. I've made clear just as president bush did shortly after 9/11 up but our war is not against Islam biz bin
Laden was not a Muslim leader he was a mass murderer muslims indeed al
Qaeda slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries including our own so its demise should
be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human
dignity over the years I've repeatedly made
clear that we would take action within
Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden what's that is what we've done but it's
important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with
Pakistan helped lead us to bin lock and the
compound where he was hiding indeed bin Laden had declared war
against Pakistan as well and ordered attacks against the
Pakistani people tonight I called President Zardari and my team
is also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts they agree that this is a good and historic day for
both of our nations going forward it is a central the
Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda
and its affiliates the american people did not choose the
spike it came to our shores and started with
the senseless slaughter arsonists after nearly 10
years of service struggle and sacrifice we know well the cost support these efforts weigh on
me every time I as commander in chief have to sign a
letter to a family that has lost a lot more or look in the eyes
of a service member who's been gravely wounded so Americans understand the cost support yet as a country we will never tolerate our
security being threatened nor stand idly by when our people have
been killed we will be relentless in defense of our
citizens and our friends in Dallas we will be
true to the values that make us who we are
and on nights like this one we can say to those families who have
lost loved ones al Qaeda's terror: justice has been done tonight we give thanks to the countless
intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who work tirelessly to achieve this outcome the american
people do not see their work nor know their
names but tonight they feel the satisfaction of their work
and the result their pursuit of justice we give thanks for the man who carried out this
operation for they exemplify the professionalism patriotism and unparalleled courage
those who serve our country and they're part of the generation that
has borne the heaviest share the burden since that September day finally let me say to the families lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have
never forgotten your loss nor wavered in our commitment to see
that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores
and tonight let us think back to the sense of unity the prevailed on 9/11 I know that it as time sprayed yet today's
achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the
determination above the american people because
securing our country is not complete but tonight we are once
again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to that is the
story of our history whether it's the pursuit of prosperity
for our people or the struggle for equality for all our
citizens our commitment to stand up for our
values abroad and our sacrifices to make the world a
safer place let us remember that we can do these
things not just because a well for power
because of who we are one nation under got in the visible but Liberty and justice for all thank you may God bless you may God bless the United States of
America
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