ASSOCIATED PRESS
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency normally deals in stealth and secrecy, but to many Twitter users, there was little discreet about their use of social media on Sunday.
May 1 marked the five-year anniversary of the U.S. Special Forces operation that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a firefight at his hideout in Pakistan. (If you need a refresher on how those events unfolded, here's The Globe's report from the night of the 2011 killing, and the full text of U.S. President Barack Obama's speech in which he announced it to the world.) The CIA commemmorated the event by tweeting the operation in real time, using the hashtag #UBLRaid (they spelled his name "Usama Bin Ladin," hence the acronym).
The tweet-up provoked some mockery of the U.S. intelligence agency:
Erm... What? Why?! Demonstrating some seriously poor taste & judgement there, @CIA. #UBLraid https://t.co/R027WcAzZh
— Samantha Gouldson (@SamGouldson) May 1, 2016
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
CIA tweeting #UBLraid is 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
Others used the occasion to recirculate some 2011 tweets from Sohaib Athar, an IT consultant in Abbottabad, Pakistan, who had unwittingly livetweeted the raid:
Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).
— Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual) May 1, 2011
Here, for the record, are some of the CIA's tweets from Sunday:
1:25 pm EDT-@POTUS, DCIA Panetta, & JSOC commander Admiral McRaven approve execution of op in Abbottabad.#UBLRaid pic.twitter.com/YhvuJVrMVc
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
1:51 pm EDT - Helicopters depart from Afghanistan for compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan#UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
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
3:30 pm EDT - @POTUS watches situation on ground in Abbottabad live in Situation Room#UBLRaid pic.twitter.com/59KPF7eUTr
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
3:39 pm EDT - Usama Bin Ladin found on third floor and killed#UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
3:39 pm – 4:10 pm EDT – Team retrieves large quantity of materials from compound for intel analysis#UBLRaidhttps://t.co/yl1FjRA0qk
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
3:53 pm EDT - @POTUS receives tentative confirmation of positive identification of Usama Bin Ladin#UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
4:05 pm EDT - First helicopter leaves the area to go back to Afghanistan#UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
4:08 pm EDT - Assault Team destroys crashed helicopter#UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
4:10 pm EDT — Backup helicopter picks up remaining team members & materials & leaves Abbottabad#UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
5:53 pm EDT - Helicopters return to Afghanistan where Admiral McRaven greets team#UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
7:01 pm EDT - @POTUS receives confirmation of high probability of positive identification of Usama Bin Ladin#UBLRaid
— CIA (@CIA) May 1, 2016
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