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Panetta Believes Pakistan Knew of bin Laden Hideout
[An Nahar]  U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... still believes someone in authority in Pakistain knew where the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now neither a strong horse nor a weak horse, but a dead horse... was hiding before U.S. forces went in to find him, he said in a TV interview to air Sunday. Intelligence reports found Pak military helicopters had passed over the compound in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... , Pakistain where U.S. Navy SEALs discovered and killed bin Laden last year, according to excerpts of an interview Panetta gave to CBS News. "I personally have always felt that somebody must have had some sense of what was happening at this compound. Don't forget, this compound had 18-foot walls... It was the largest compound in the area. "So you would have thought that somebody would have asked the question, 'What the hell's going on there?'" Panetta told CBS. The Pentagon chief said that concern played a significant factor in Washington not warning Pakistain officials of the impending raid: "it concerned us that, if we, in fact, brought (Pakistain) into it, that-- they might...give bin Laden a heads up," he said. Panetta acknowledged he did not have "hard evidence" Pakistain knew of the Al-Qaeda leader's whereabouts. U.S. Navy SEALs killed Bin Laden on May 2 in a raid on a compound in the Pak garrison town of Abbottabad, north of the capital Islamabad, and later buried the 9/11 criminal mastermind at sea. Posted by: Fred 2012-01-29 |
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