New Photos: White House Scene on Day of Bin Laden Raid
![President Obama and members of his national security team receiving live updates on May 1, 2011, during a raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.](https://d.medicaldaily.com/en/full/222538/president-obama-members-his-national-security-team-receiving-live-updates-may-1-2011-during.jpg?w=670&f=706585d17951d2f192aa5a4c0e1b413e)
In May, White House photographer Pete Souza captured an image packed with tension as President Obama and his national security team watched a raid on Osama Bin Laden’s Pakistani compound unfold in real time.
Now Souza is offering a more in-depth look at the events that led to his iconic photo, releasing a composite of several images that show a series of meetings in the Situation Room of the White House that led up to the raid.
“We put this together so in addition to the previous, now iconic image of this day, people might have a better sense of what it's like in presidential meetings of historic significance,” said Souza.
Souza noted that the Situation Room actually contains several different conference rooms, and Obama selected one of the smaller spaces to watch the raid live.
“I was jammed into a corner of the room with no room to move,” said Souza. “During the mission itself, I made approximately 100 photographs, almost all from this cramped spot in the corner.”
The following photos were taken by Souza in meetings held throughout the day leading up to the raid.