US spy agency the CIA has "live tweeted" the
military raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan five
years ago, drawing derision and satire from many people on Twitter.
Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seal commandos on May 2,
2011, when they raided his compound in Abbottabad.
Several of the tweets included diagrams and maps of the
compound, providing a rundown of the operation from the moment US President
Barack Obama and intelligence officials approved it until the president
received confirmation that bin Laden had been killed.
To mark the 5th anniversary of the Usama bin Ladin operation
in Abbottabad we will tweet the raid as if it were happening today. #UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
The CIA's Twitter account has more than 1.3 million
followers.
According to the timeline of events, two helicopters
descended on the compound at 3:30pm and one crashed.
3:30 pm EDT - 2 helicopters descend on compound in
Abbottabad, Pakistan. 1 crashes, but assault continues without delay or injury
#UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
The operation continued, however, and commandos killed the
54-year-old inside nine minutes.
3:39 pm EDT - Usama Bin Ladin found on third floor and killed
#UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
One of the tweets showed an aerial photograph of the compound
and a map of the region where it was located in Pakistan.
Daring #UBLRaid was an IC team effort & in close
collaboration with our military partners. https://t.co/rklCIRLlgF pic.twitter.com/xZObdGeqPR
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
Another showed a layout of the premises.
Features
High walls/barbed wire
Double entry gates
No internet/phone connection
Trash burned not collected #UBLRaid
pic.twitter.com/KyPIFPxA4d
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
Several social media users criticised the CIA's posts, while
others satirised them.
Writing on its Twitter account, The Daily Show, a popular US
news satire programme, mocked the agency.
If you live tweet the Bay of Pigs invasion, call us.
Otherwise, stop it. #UBLRaid https://t.co/RJ7gwLbh1P
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) May 2, 2016
Others lambasted the exercise as an attempt to justify CIA
actions.
CIA tweeting #UBLraid is a more direct approach to pushing
"torture works" lie than its usual route of using Hollywood
https://t.co/yOQTkKSOhw
— Sarah Dougherty (@sm_doug) May 1, 2016
And several argued
that the US should have brought bin Laden to trial rather than kill him.
.@CIA is bragging about an extrajudicial murder. There's no
other way to frame this; Bin Laden should've been brought to trial. #UBLRaid
— Zack Struver (@zstruver) May 1, 2016
Speaking to ABC News, CIA spokesperson Ryan Trapani defended
the operation, arguing that the "takedown of bin Laden stands as one of
the great intelligence successes of all time".
He said: "On the fifth anniversary, it is appropriate to
remember the day and honour all those who had a hand in this achievement."
Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seal commandos on May 2,
2011, when they raided his compound in Abbottabad.
Several of the tweets included diagrams and maps of the
compound, providing a rundown of the operation from the moment US President
Barack Obama and intelligence officials approved it until the president
received confirmation that bin Laden had been killed.
To mark the 5th anniversary of the Usama bin Ladin operation
in Abbottabad we will tweet the raid as if it were happening today. #UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
The CIA's Twitter account has more than 1.3 million
followers.
According to the timeline of events, two helicopters
descended on the compound at 3:30pm and one crashed.
3:30 pm EDT - 2 helicopters descend on compound in
Abbottabad, Pakistan. 1 crashes, but assault continues without delay or injury
#UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
The operation continued, however, and commandos killed the
54-year-old inside nine minutes.
3:39 pm EDT - Usama Bin Ladin found on third floor and killed
#UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
One of the tweets showed an aerial photograph of the compound
and a map of the region where it was located in Pakistan.
Daring #UBLRaid was an IC team effort & in close
collaboration with our military partners. https://t.co/rklCIRLlgF pic.twitter.com/xZObdGeqPR
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
Another showed a layout of the premises.
Features
High walls/barbed wire
Double entry gates
No internet/phone connection
Trash burned not collected #UBLRaid
pic.twitter.com/KyPIFPxA4d
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
Several social media users criticised the CIA's posts, while
others satirised them.
Writing on its Twitter account, The Daily Show, a popular US
news satire programme, mocked the agency.
If you live tweet the Bay of Pigs invasion, call us.
Otherwise, stop it. #UBLRaid https://t.co/RJ7gwLbh1P
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) May 2, 2016
Others lambasted the exercise as an attempt to justify CIA
actions.
CIA tweeting #UBLraid is a more direct approach to pushing
"torture works" lie than its usual route of using Hollywood
https://t.co/yOQTkKSOhw
— Sarah Dougherty (@sm_doug) May 1, 2016
And several argued
that the US should have brought bin Laden to trial rather than kill him.
.@CIA is bragging about an extrajudicial murder. There's no
other way to frame this; Bin Laden should've been brought to trial. #UBLRaid
— Zack Struver (@zstruver) May 1, 2016
Speaking to ABC News, CIA spokesperson Ryan Trapani defended
the operation, arguing that the "takedown of bin Laden stands as one of
the great intelligence successes of all time".
He said: "On the fifth anniversary, it is appropriate to
remember the day and honour all those who had a hand in this achievement."
Bibliography
"CIA Mocked for 'live Tweeting' Bin Laden Killing." Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera and Agencies, 2 May 2016. Web. 2 May 2016.
Response
This article is talking about how the CIA is twitting the events that happened during the assassination of former terrorist Bin Laden on May 2, 2011 and the public's response to them,
Honestly, I think that this shouldn't have been part of the news. The CIA comments on twitter are simply controversial because some people supported Barack's Obama extrajudicial execution and others didn't. It has now been 6 years, and I don't think its an act of heroism that needs to be celebrated, its basically just a decision that had to be done. The author presented the article well, and seemed to show no bias
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