tv Q A CSPAN May 2, 2011 6:00am-7:00am EDT
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that is the same school with a little girl crushed at her desk that i was talking about before. these were haitian survivors that were going in and trying to reach a teacher who was trapped in the rubble alive. our driver gave him the the jack to the car and that is how they were able to save the teacher later in the day. that is the heartbreaking picture that generated a lot of response from readers. some felt it was too harsh, perhaps. i am not sure the words that were used. i think there is a danger in censoring reality sometimes, especially when a tragedy is so devastating like this earthquake was. 300,000 people died. this is pretty representative of the disaster. >> when someone goes into a country like this, where do you stay, and how do you get food
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when the people there cannot get it? >> i had been to haiti so many times, we knew where to head. we went to the dominican republic and drove overland to port-au-prince and were not sure the hotel still standing. we had heard from a haitian photographer who lived there who said the hotel was still standing. journalists. back? >> it was technical hell, on top of just bearing witness to this tragedy and the physically demanding work.
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all my equipment crashed. the cell phones, the blackberry, nothing worked for me. i had a colleague and we traveled around together, and without him, there would not paper. it was pretty amazing that nothing worked. he really saved me in that way. >> it seems like that would be a tense moment if a colleague would not give up one of the cameras. >> my cameras worked. that was the only thing that worked, but he helped me transmit and get the pictures back to the paper. thing. >> have you ever been in a situation where nothing worked at all and you could not get a picture out? >> i have had cameras crash. we are so dependent on technical pieces of equipment.
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>> moving beyond haiti to some of your other photographs, we have some video here, shots of the berlin wall in czechoslovakia in 1989. you put the music on this? >> yes, it is just music in my collection. i used to do presentations to photo students, and i think it adds another dimension and makes it more powerful when you watch pictures with music or audio. >> let's watch. ♪ ♪
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i came back to d.c., and then we immediately went right back as soon as we could get there for this monumentally historic event. it was one of those times when you put the camera down and you realize for a second that you are witnessing such amazing history. here on the screen. was it taken by rich lipski? >> yes. the first chunk of the wall was being taken out that day. i was trying to take pictures. i think they found me to be a little humorous. before or after that, i had been in this amazingly crushing crowd of everyone trying to see the wall, the first piece of the wall officially being lifted up. i am pretty short, and everyone was taller. i looked around and saw a really tall man with a sturdy tripod with a kind face looking
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>> do people notice you taking pictures of them in those moments? >> it depends on the story. kosovo, when it is such a dramatic and tense situation we are going through, i think they don't notice you as much. again, this situation, there were people actually begging us to document and record it because the ethnic cleansing, one of those situations that you wish never again was reality. they really wanted it documented. >> what were the circumstances that took you to that area of the world in 1999? >> "the post" sent us to cover it. i was in albania where the refugees were coming across the border to the camps. one of the pictures of the little baby going through the barbed wire generated more reaction from readers than just
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about any picture i have taken. >> why that picture? >> for some reason it resonates with people, maybe it is war and innocence in the same picture, the juxtaposition. it affects people on an emotional level. >> what did you think when you took the picture? >> it was a positive thing. the family had just come through the border. for some reason we have to follow our instincts, and i had a gut instinct. my friend and i were just standing, waiting. this family was standing there looking for the rest of their family members. when they came, it was a scene of joy. it was just a tearful, wonderful reunion amidst all this.
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>> were was it? >> it was in albania and they had camps set up right there. >> what is the country on the other side of that? >> kosovo. >> have you ever had a situation where someone has seen you take their picture and they come up and say they do not want that? >> all the time. we respect people's wishes. they have the right not to be photographed. we try to be sensitive. it depends on what the situation is, but we try to be sensitive and get names if we can. if someone does not want their picture used, we don't use it. what kind of bothers me sometimes are people that come up who have nothing to do with the story and you already have the trust of your subject, and
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they want to be photographed, and someone else decides you should not be taking their picture. it is their right to be photographed, so it should be their decision. >> 1986 was your first pulitzer at the "miami herald" for the mudslide in colombia. 1995, "the washington post," u.s. intervention in haiti. 2000, "the washington post," photographs of kosovo refugees, and 2011, photography in haiti. here are some photos about katrina and animals. explain this. >> i was sent to cover the hurricane initially, and a few weeks after the fact i started a story on the animals.
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in miami, during hurricane andrew, i had done a story about shelters who would not allow people to bring their pets. it was basically losing a child for people who love their animals so much. the same thing happened in katrina, only on a much grander scale. we did a small story in "the post" and i took a leave of absence to do a larger project on this issue. i was hoping to do a book, although that did not come about. it was about six months where people from all over the country donated their time to try to come down and find people's pets. it was quite emotional, like most of our stories. if i show a slide show to photographers, this is the one they cry about, inevitably, always. i guess because they are so innocent and so lost.
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>> how many pets do you have? >> i have three dogs, three cats, and a cockatoo. >> what is that picture? >> those are paw prints left in the muck after the hurricane. >> a lot of your shots are from above, looking down on things. >> we try to look for different angles, no matter what it is. we provide visual variety in a package. the animals, it was not a story just on the animals. a lot of these people have lost not only their homes and loved ones and their community and their jobs, the last thing they had left to hold onto was their pet. it was really important for the residents to be reunited with their animals. >> how often do these folks come to you and want a copy? >> a lot of times. these pictures i took on my own, but mostly i work for "the
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post," and they have copyright, so they have to go through "the washington post" to get the pictures. >> did you have a favorite among all of these? >> it is hard to say what a favorite picture is, because you are so close to the images. i have memories of taking all these. this is a picture that generated a lot of feedback from people that seem so touched by this dog who is sitting there with so much dignity, stopped, just waiting for someone to come and save him. i went back afterwards, trying to find out if someone did eventually get this dog, because there were rescue people, and all around where we were in the boat. i had to continue on with the group i was with, but they had radioed for someone to come get him, so i hope he was rescued. it is hard to look at something
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you photograph and leave and not be able to jump in the water and just be able to grab them. >> how much training did you get? >> i went to the art institute of fort lauderdale. it was a two-year photography program, not photojournalism. i did an internship with the "miami herald," and that is how i got the job. >> when did you give up the idea of being a nurse? >> as soon as i entered nursing school, it was almost too hands- on for me. i was afraid i would make mistakes and hurt someone. i just did not feel it was the right niche. i think nursing school teaches you a certain level of compassion that carries over into this kind of work. >> when i went though some of
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your photographs before, i noticed in one copy somewhere, you said you had a meltdown in 2002. is that something you can tell us more about? does it have something to do with seeing all this tragedy? >> absolutely. it was triggered by a bad romantic break up. that was probably the catalyst, and i had just been covering kosovo at the same time, but once the floodgates opened, it was posttraumatic stress, no question. a lot of the wailing women and dead children, it is like everything came back to me so vividly. i think it is because i was so frenetically going from one story to another and working, working, working for so many years, just bouncing to all these hot spots, that i never processed the emotional toll.
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i am pretty sensitive in general, but like i said, the camera can be a shield and it can hold back your emotions for a while. but you cannot see all these horrible things without feeling it on some level. i had a pretty good meltdown. >> so what do you do now, if you are going from story to story, you know that you are sensitive, do you build in any down time or some way to be away from it? >> i am trying. i learned a little more about coping mechanisms and did some therapy, and i don't cover the same stories that i used to. there are a lot of international disasters and conflicts situations and i have not covered that much except haiti recently. there are conflicts at home that can be emotional, too. i am obviously coping better than i was at that moment and
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time years ago. i've learned i have to deal with that at the moment and not let it build up. >> your editor comes to you and says i want to go to the 1996 democratic convention, or i want you to go down to haiti and to the aftermath of the earthquake. what happens to you when you hear either one of those? >> the great thing about being a journalist is the variety that we get to experience, so many different parts of the human condition on so many different levels. haiti had been part of my heart for so long. i have not been traveling for a long time because my mother has alzheimer's.
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>> what would you rather shoot? >> probably black and white. now i am so used to doing digital and color, that is just how we do it. when you convert the picture, i think it has a different kind of power. i think it affects people on a more visceral level when there is no distraction from the harmony of the story in the photo. >> when do you look at a photo and say "that is just what i wanted?" >> probably never. i miss more than i get. i feel like it is such a responsibility to tell the story that i take it pretty hard missing it. once in a while there are "wow" moments. >> when you look at a
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photograph, the composition includes what? >> the artistic expression of photography almost becomes second nature when you are working this long as a journalist. what i do is try to tell stories with visuals instead of words. i am basically writing paragraphs with images. it is hard to get it in one photograph. i try to get a lot of different pieces, whether it is little details, whatever the emotion is. i try to do a complete package almost with everything. >> before we look at the sierra leone photos, set it up. what year was this? >> i am so bad with years. it was right after katrina. 2006, it must have been.
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i had just been to sierra leone and done a story on war amputees who came to d.c. for prosthetic limbs. i had followed this group of mostly children. i had been there on a personal trip with one girl. mortality is an important issue that is under-reported. in sierra leone, one in eight women die in childbirth for avoidable reasons. >> what is that? >> she arrived in a taxi at the hospital, a maternity hospital in freetown.
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i think that was her aunt who brought her in, and she was just screaming in pain. she eventually died following an emergency c-section at the hospital. she bled to death right in front of me. >> this photo? >> again, is the same hospital. we spent some time in their rural hospitals. we decided it was better to go to the hospitals where the women were coming in seeking help. that was her first and final look at her baby that was born before she died. >> why did they let you in the room? >> we had talked to the director of the hospital about going to
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do the story, and they definitely wanted attention to be brought on this issue that is kind of hidden in the shadows of other global health issues. >> what is that contraption? >> they had nothing. in order to elevate the bed because she was hemorrhaging, they could not just do it like we would, and crank it up. they had to pile up chairs and stools and whatever they could find to elevate it. >> and this is one of the best hospitals in sierra leone? >> absolutely. it is the maternity hospital. >> what about conditions of cleanliness and all that? >> it was horrible. this lady also died. i am still in contact with her family, actually. the nurses were so grateful for the mosquito spray i bought.
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even the nurses had to sleep under tents because the mosquitoes were so bad. the toilets did not flush and there were bodies and babies that had died piled up right next to the women who were screaming in labor. >> those are dead babies. >> the childhood mortality there is just horrendous. >> all this was published? the vultures up top? did you see that right away? >> no. >> how often does the audience that sees your work get the subtleties that you have in some of the photographs? >> i get a lot of readers, especially now that email is so easy. people used to take time to write letters to us about pictures that affected them. i get messages from readers saying up how touched and how they were so affected by an
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image. >> we have video of more victims in sierra leone. explain what we are going to see. >> this is probably what i was talking about with the group that came for prosthetics. they were supposed to just come when the war was raging in sierra leone. one of the forms of intimidation that the rebels used was amputation. one girl was four. it ended up that her grandmother was carrying her and they shot through her. it was a horrific war. they were going to bring them here, a new york doctor was going to donate the limbs.
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they realized they could not send them back because they had been given so much media attention, for one thing. they had these brand new limbs that would bring attention to them in the camps. they became almost an extended family that lived in staten island for years. >> the war was over what in sierra leone? >> diamonds, basically. there is a lot of control of the diamond mines, and the rebels were seeking to gain power. >> what was the point of cutting off limbs of little kids? >> as far as i can tell, just to intimidate the civilian population. i think people go crazy in war situations sometimes.
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>> what happens to these young kids when they come to the united states and are adopted? how do they get along in our society? >> they obviously have to assimilate. they are so grateful. they lived in refugee camps in sierra leone, so they were thrilled just to be able to eat. they would eat really fast because they could not believe they would have this whole meal to themselves. a lot of them did not speak english when they first came. they could not remember my name so they called me an african name. i try to keep in touch with some. one girl is now a beautiful dancer. she lived in michigan with her mother. ultimately, their lives became
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much better. they are little americans now. >> a high school in washington has had a rough history. you did a feature on a young man named john thomas. who was he and where is he? >> he was a student there who was trying to better himself. his friend had been shot at the school and it was a big news story. it happened just after we had started following john because he was trying to pull himself up out of the situation that a lot of his friends had found themselves in, drugs and the street issues, violence.
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i had just gotten an e-mail a couple of weeks ago from one of his mentor saying how wonderful he is doing and he is trying to give back to the kids and teach him that there are different avenues to take. >> where is he now? >> i cannot remember which school he ended up going to. he was the first in his family to go to college. he was a great basketball player. i think we do not do enough follow-up stories. we present a lot of issues that people get to know someone and then we never follow-up and say what happened to them. >> what year did you do this? >> there you go with the years again. [laughter] i can hardly remember what year i was born. >> let's watch the video with john thomas.
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>> my name is john thomas. i grew up in southeast washington. i was like a burden to society. i saw a lot of my friends get killed and a lot of them are locked up. i felt like i did not have any choice. i stole cars. i went to jail twice. i was not focused on going to school every day. i saw a lot of friends dropping out and not graduating, and i was walking the same road they were walking when i was young. i started playing basketball every day and it became part of life. every day i woke up, i wanted to play. i did not want to get killed out on the streets. i knew i had to work hard to get what i wanted.
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i wanted to start my own business when i got out of college. i did extra work to get the grades to play basketball because i wanted to play ball. when i got on the team, i was still messing up, making bad decisions. the coach stayed on my back, making me go to study hall and making sure i did my homework. he said the only way to make my dreams was to finish high school and go on with my education. >> how did you find john thomas? >> a reporter actually did. i was not supposed to be as involved as i became, but i would literally go to school every day and he amazingly accepted me into his life and allowed me to document it.
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they had just had a shooting at the school, and a lot of issues going on, so i think he recognized what an important message this story would tell. he thought it would offer some hope and inspiration to the other kids who were on the edge. >> have you ever tried to adopt any of these kids? >> i kind of have an extended family in haiti, it is they used to hang out with us all the time. haiti was so heartbreaking because the need was so great. it got to a point where i thought i could take as many pictures as i possibly can, but is it really going to change anything? i still believe you can make a difference with photos, but the only way i could stay sane was to pick one family. i cannot make a difference to the whole country, but i can make a difference to one family. there are a couple of kids who are now grown that i have helped
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through their whole lives. at one point i thought about adopting them, but i was single and running all over the place. they have a grandmother who is shockingly still alive. people do not live to be old in haiti often, but she has taken great care of them. >> you were married for 10 years. did you have children? >> seven years, never had kids, except for the furry ones. >> what impact did your father dying at a young age, and what age were you, did it have on you? >> tremendous impact. i think it colored my whole world. i was 6 when he died. the only thing i remember is my mom telling me he was gone. i just kind of shut down after that. for years and years i would not even talk about him. i first visited his grave when
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i was in my 20's. just being a fragile, vulnerable young child to have that kind of intense loss, it just ripped my heart out. i would probably be a different person, whether better or worse, if he had lived. he worked in the textile factory. he died at a young age, i think he was 51. >> brothers and sisters? >> i have a half-sister. she was 14 years older than me and had a different father. she was kind of grown and out of the house by the time i was able to remember. we got closer as i got older and stopped traveling a little bit. my mom got sick with alzheimer's and i spent a lot more time with them and we are much closer now.
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>> your mom did what in her life? >> she worked in a sewing machine factory. she had a really hard life. my dad died, and she did not remarry until i was 18. all that time she was pretty much my mother and father. she used to of trudge up the hill with all her groceries and she did the best she could. >> what year did she get alzheimer's? >> it has been 10 years. it is a horrible, cruel disease. she is 94. i went in the bathroom and called the nursing home and ask
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if they could just yell in her ear. i wanted them to tell her i won a pulitzer today, because she would have been proud. won,e four pulitzer's you and did they all have the same impact on you? >> i cannot deal with loss now, either. the pulitzers are amazing because it is such an honor to be recognized by your peers. even more importantly, it shines a light on the stories. after the headlines are gone, the world move somewhere else, and these people were living that reality after the headlines are over. this award happens, and people say haiti, there is still great need there. there is still suffering there.
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>> in 1986, the mudslide in colombia. can you give us the background on that? >> that is when i was very young, working at the miami herald, just starting out. they wanted a second photographer because it was such a massive, tragic event. that had asked a different photographer but it was hunting season so he turned it down, and they asked me to go. i was surprised that even ask me, but michael and i flew down on a learjet because we did not know how we were going to get in, who would go in over land and who would take the plane. that was the days where you had to actually build a darkroom. it was a hard story emotionally and physically to cover.
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>> how many people died? >> 25,000. i said i would allow myself one moment of joy because life and changed so fast and be forever altered. out of nowhere, your life is over, your loved ones or lost. as hard as it is to look at those, i think it makes us all realize how fleeting in these moments are. where were you on 9/11? >> i was at my home in arlington. my friend is a photographer as well. she called me and said turn on the television.
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i saw what happened in new york and about a minute afterwards, the post call me and said pack, we are sending multiple photographers. we all knew the magnitude of it immediately, but as i was packing i heard the plane hit the pentagon. i called and asked them if they wanted me to go to the pentagon instead and they still sent me to new york. ♪ ♪
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in the arms of the angels we shall meet sunday again >> i can just hear some of our viewers saying all right, why did you do that to me? all of this in one hour. what do you say to yourself, why do you do this? there is not much joy in the last hour. >> but i think we all have to remember that there are other people suffering and there are those in need that we cannot forget. images and stories put an
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exclamation point on their existence and the reality. some of us are much more fortunate than others and we cannot possibly forget that because a social conscience is imperative. not only our society but our world community needs to remember that we are all interconnected, and what affects one affects us all. >> in the last 30 years of your professional career, what has happened to the photographer? are there more or less of them? what kind of resources are being put into photography? >> the post still has resources, but it has been a hard time for journalism in general. there are a lot of images being thrown at people but that are not vetted. one way it is good, because
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there are more eyes out there viewing what is taking place in the world, but it is a great loss, to, to have professional photojournalist losing their jobs to tell the stories in a different way, perhaps from a different perspective. >> winner of the most recent photography pulitzer, and we have to get your two colleagues in this again. >> it is nikki kahn and ricky carioti. i wish they were here, because this is a team effort. not only them, but the editors and everyone who works at the organization pulls together to create this work. >> but somehow, someway, you won four of those pulitzers over the last so many years. what is the name guzy? >> it has probably been shortened from some long russian name way back when.
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pakistani forces involved in the death of osama bin laden. it was about 40 miles north of oslo but. three other people were killed including the adult son of osama bin laden. >> guest:"is live in a few minutes. we will look at the president's statement. terrorist who's responsible forit was nearly 10 years ago
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that a bright september day was darkened by the worst attack on the american people in our history. the images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory -- hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless september sky; the twin towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the pentagon; the wreckage of 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 empty seat at the dinner table. children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. parents who 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 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the american
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people came together. we offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. we reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. on that day, no matter where we came from, what god we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one american family. we were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. we 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
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to the tireless and heroic work of our 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 of al qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot. yet osama bin laden avoided capture and escaped across the afghan border into pakistan. meanwhile, al qaeda continued to 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
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network. then, last august, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, i was briefed on a possible lead to bin laden. it was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. i met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin laden hiding within a compound deep inside of 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 abbottabad, pakistan. a small team of americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. no americans were harmed. they took care to avoid civilian casualties.
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after a firefight, they killed osama bin laden and took custody of his body. for over two decades, bin laden has been al qaeda's leader and symbol, and 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. yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. 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, that our war is not against islam. bin laden was not a muslim leader, he was a mass murderer of muslims. indeed, al qaeda has slaughtered scores of muslims in many countries, including our
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own. so his 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 was. that is what we've done. but it's important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with pakistan helped lead us to bin laden 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 has also spoken with their pakistani counterparts. they agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. and going forward, it is essential that pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al qaeda and its affiliates. the american people did not choose this fight. it came to our shores, and started with the senseless
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slaughter of our citizens. after nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. these efforts weigh on me every time i, as commander-in-chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who's been gravely wounded. so americans understand the costs of war. 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 and allies. 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 to al qaeda's terror-- justice has been done. tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals
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who've worked 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 of their pursuit of justice. we give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. and they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that september day. finally, let me say to the families who 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 that prevailed on 9/11. i know that it has, at times, frayed. yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of
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our country and the determination of the american people. the cause of 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 of wealth or power, but because of who we are -- one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you. may god bless you. and may god bless the united states of america.
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