Barack Obama

=====Death of Osama bin Laden=====
{{Main|Killing of Osama bin Laden}}
[[File:Obama and Biden await updates on bin Laden.jpg|left|thumb|Obama and members of the national security team receive an update on [[Operation Neptune's Spear]] in the [[White House Situation Room]], May 1, 2011. See also: [[Situation Room (photograph)|''Situation Room'']].|alt=Photo of Obama, Biden, and national security staffers in the Situation Room, somberly listening to updates on the bin Laden raid]]

Starting with information received from Central Intelligence Agency operatives in July 2010, the CIA developed intelligence over the next several months that determined what they believed to be the hideout of [[Osama bin Laden]]. He was living in seclusion in [[Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad|a large compound]] in [[Abbottabad]], Pakistan, a suburban area {{convert|35|mi|km}} from [[Islamabad]].<ref name="NYT-clues">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/world/asia/03intel.html |title = Clues Gradually Led to the Location of Osama bin Laden |last1 = Mazzetti |first1 = Mark |first2 = Helene |last2 = Cooper |first3 = Peter |last3 = Baker |date = May 3, 2011 |work = The New York Times |access-date = May 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503190900/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/world/asia/03intel.html |archive-date = May 3, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> CIA head [[Leon Panetta]] reported this intelligence to President Obama in March 2011.<ref name="NYT-clues" /> Meeting with his national security advisers over the course of the next six weeks, Obama rejected a plan to bomb the compound, and authorized a "surgical raid" to be conducted by [[United States Navy SEALs]].<ref name="NYT-clues" /> The operation took place on May 1, 2011, and resulted in the shooting death of bin Laden and the seizure of papers, computer drives and disks from the compound.<ref name="WP-binLaden">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/osama-bin-laden-is-killed-by-us-forces-in-pakistan/2011/05/01/AFXMZyVF_story.html |title = Osama bin Laden is killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan |newspaper = The Washington Post |access-date = September 13, 2014 |date = May 2, 2011 |first1 = Philip |last1 = Rucker |first2 = Scott |last2 = Wilson |first3 = Anne E. |last3 = Kornblut }}</ref><ref name="ND-binLaden">{{cite web |url=http://www.newsday.com/news/breaking/official-offers-details-of-bin-laden-raid-1.2853079 |title = Official offers details of bin Laden raid |website = Newsday |access-date = September 13, 2014 |date = May 2, 2011 }}</ref> DNA testing was one of five methods used to positively identify bin Laden's corpse,<ref name="ABC-binLaden">{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-killed/story?id=13505703 |title = Osama bin Laden Killed by U.S. Forces in Pakistan |last1 = Schabner |first1 = Dean |first2 = Karen |last2 = Travers |date = May 1, 2011 |work = ABC News |access-date = May 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504021523/http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-killed/story?id=13505703 |archive-date = May 4, 2011 }}</ref> which was buried at sea several hours later.<ref name="NYT-ObamaAnnounce">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/asia/osama-bin-laden-is-killed.html |title=Bin Laden Is Dead, Obama Says |last1=Baker |first1=Peter |first2=Helene |last2=Cooper |first3=Mark |last3=Mazzetti |date=May 2, 2011 |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505195308/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/asia/osama-bin-laden-is-killed.html |archive-date=May 5, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Within minutes of the President's announcement from Washington, DC, late in the evening on May 1, there were spontaneous celebrations around the country as crowds gathered outside the White House, and at New York City's [[World Trade Center site|Ground Zero]] and [[Times Square]].<ref name="WP-binLaden" /><ref name="Guard-ObamaAnnounce">{{cite news |last1 = Walsh |first1 = Declan |first2 = Richard |last2 = Adams |first3 = Ewen |last3 = MacAskill |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/02/osama-bin-laden-dead-obama |title = Osama bin Laden is dead, Obama announces |date = May 2, 2011 |work = The Guardian |place = London |access-date = May 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503154000/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/02/osama-bin-laden-dead-obama |archive-date = May 3, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Reactions to the death of Osama bin Laden|Reaction to the announcement]] was positive across party lines, including from former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.<ref name="Bloom-binLaden">{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-02/death-of-bin-laden-may-strengthen-obama-s-hand-in-domestic-foreign-policy.html |title = Death of Bin Laden May Strengthen Obama's Hand in Domestic, Foreign Policy |last = Dorning |first = Mike |date = May 2, 2011 |agency = [[Bloomberg News]] |access-date = May 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503203539/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-02/death-of-bin-laden-may-strengthen-obama-s-hand-in-domestic-foreign-policy.html |archive-date = May 3, 2011 }}</ref>
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