A week after the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden (Sunday May 1, 2011), the tenant of the White House talks about the background of the operation
President Barack Obama talks about what happened behind the scenes during “the longest 40 minutes” of his life. Sunday May 1, 2011: The day Osama bin Laden, number one enemy of the United States, was killed. We are in the heart of the White House, in the Situation Room. The American president and most of the senior administration officials are monitoring the American raid on the Pakistani residence of al-Qaida’s leader.
The photo of this meeting has been seen around the world. “We were able to monitor the situation in real time,” Obama said in an interview he gave to “60 Minutes,” recorded last Wednesday May 4, 2011, and aired Sunday May 8, 2011, in the evening. “We knew as events unfolded what was happening in and around the compound, but we could not get information clearly about what was happening inside the compound,” Obama added. “We had a sense of when gunfire and explosions took place,” he said, recounting that he and his team found out live about the crash of one of two helicopters used in the assault. It was not a part of the plan, he conceded, adding that there was a rescue plan, an option about which he didn’t get into details.
“We Could Not Say Definitively That bin Laden Was Inside”
After the success of the operation, Obama acknowledges that the decision to intervene was very hard to make. “There was no direct evidence of his presence,” Obama admitted. Obama even conceded that he had no photograph of him in this building before the raid. These doubts, despite months of observation by U.S. intelligence, lasted until the final assault. As Obama said, “… at the end of the day (Saturday April 30, 2011), this was still a 55/45 situation. … We could not say definitively that bin Laden was inside.”
The potential absence of the al-Qaida leader also frightened Obama: “Had he not been there, then there would have been significant consequences. Obviously, we’re going into the sovereign territory of another country and landing helicopters and conducting a military operation,” he recalls. “And so if it turns out that it’s a wealthy, you know, prince from Dubai who’s in this compound, and, you know, we’ve spent Special Forces in — we’ve got problems,” acknowledges Obama. But operationally, the U.S. president has supplied no details. “We will hunt down other terrorists in the future.”
Michelle Obama Was Not Aware
A secret carefully kept by Barack Obama. “And so very few people in the White House knew,” Obama continued. “The vast majority of my most senior aides did not know that we were doing this. And you know, there were times where you wanted to go around and talk this through with some more folks. And that just wasn’t an option.” He didn’t even speek about it to his wife Michelle. Nor to Pakistani intelligence. On Monday May 2, 2011, Pakistani authorities claimed to have been informed of the raid when it was taking place.
Obama’s biggest concern, even before the death of bin Laden, was the safety of the Special Forces. “These guys are going in, in, you know, the darkest of night. And they don’t know what they’re going to find there. They don’t know if the building is rigged. They don’t know if, you know, there are explosives that are triggered by a particular door opening,” said Obama, who has not forgotten the fiasco of the attempted rescue of American hostages in Iran in 1980. “And so my number one concern was, if I send them in, can I get them out?” said the Nobel Peace Prize winner, more than ever commander-in-chief.
Editor’s note: Click this link for the full transcript of Obama’s “60 Minutes” interview: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20060530-10391709.html
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