Bin Laden: How The Navy SEALs Took Him Down, Intelligence and Operational Details

Here's what I have gathered:

* Intelligence from Bush-era detainees revealed a specific courier that was trusted by Bin Laden. (Insert waterboarding debate here.  What if it came from such tactic?)

* U.S. intelligence officials have been hunting for this man for four years and finally found him in 2009.

* August 2010: The courier led them to a two-storey house 30-35 miles outside of Islamabad (some say 50+ miles) in a town called Abbottabad.  The mansion had 18 foot walls and roughly 3,000 sq feet.  It was constructed in 2005.  Some locals said a man by the name of Arshad Khan, believed to a resident of Charsadda in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa tribal region, built the house.

* Two guarded security gates were the only entrances.

* A third floor terrace was shielded by a 7 foot privacy wall.

* No phone lines or Internet cables ran into the home.  But there was a satellite dish.  The cost of the property was valued around $1 million.

* Locals observed the residents inside the compound did not throw their garbage but burned it.

* February 2011: Obama wanted to pry the home open to see who's inside.  There's a high likelihood it was Bin Laden.  Also a high likelihood that members of Pakistani intelligence protected him; hence, they could not risk sharing this information.  (So yes, we thank Pakistani civilian authorities for their cooperation -- but they had no clue at all until it was done.)

* Obama authorized two B2 stealth bombers to drop 2,000 pound JDAMs but changed his mind when he was told the mansion would be reduced into rubble.  He wanted proof that Osama was killed.

* April 29, 2011: Obama approved an operation to kill Bin Laden.  They tapped an elite U.S. Navy SEALS squadron (about 40+) and put it under the command directly under CIA Director Panetta.  Panetta and his analysts have been monitoring this home for a couple of months already.

* May 2, 2011: The raid occurred roughly 1:15 AM according to a local Abbottabad resident, Mohammad Haroon Rasheed.  Due to "low loom" occuring that night (little to no moon light), helicopters were able to come in undetected.

* It was originally planned for Saturday night but was moved to Sunday due to weather conditions.

* Four helicopters came in, the operation took less than 40 minutes.  One helicopter actually was lost due to a mechanical problem and the crew safely evacuated.  They dropped 24 men inside the compound.

* Bin Laden resisted and was killed, shot in the head.  Three adult males were also killed, believed to be his son and two couriers.

* A woman used as a human shield was also killed.  Two other women were injured.

* Bin Laden had a sea burial within 48 hours of his death and his body was handled in the Islamic tradition. Officials did not elaborate.