* Bumped Up *
I’ve learned some things from friends who are still active that dramatically alter the picture the White House is desperately trying to paint. Here is what really happened. The U.S. Government learned of Bin Laden’s whereabouts last August when a person walked into a U.S. Embassy and claimed that Pakistan’s intelligence service (ISI) had Bin Laden under control in Abottabad, Pakistan. Naturally the CIA personnel who received this information were skeptical. That’s why the CIA set up a safehouse in Abottabad in September 2010 as reported yesterday in the Washington Post.
The claim that we found Bin Laden because of a courier and the use of enhanced interrogation is simply a cover story. It appears to be an effective cover story because it has many Bush supporters pressing the case that enhanced interrogation worked. The Obama operatives in the White House are quite content to let the Bushies share in this part of the “credit.” Why? It keeps most folks from looking at the claims that don’t add up.
Anyway, the intel collection at the safe house escalated and the CIA began pressing Pakistan’s ISI to come clean on Osama. And their response? They outed the CIA Chief of Station in December. This was not in retaliation per se for the civil suit filed in November accusing some ISI officers of playing a key role in the December 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack, but that was seen as part of the broader pressure the CIA was applying to Pakistan.
And who was behind this?
Leon Panetta. I have been critical of Panetta of late and must eat some crow. Once it was clear that the information from the walk-in was accurate, Panetta set up a reporting chain from the Pakistan station direct to him. This information did not go through normal DO channels. It went straight to the Director. By January 2011 there was a high degree of confidence that Bin Laden was in the house (which was in essence a ISI “jail” for keeping tabs on UBL). We had also learned that key people in Saudi Arabia were sending Pakistan money to keep Osama out of sight and out of trouble. That’s why you haven’t seen any UBL spectaculars during the last five years. They had him in terrorist time-out.
Anyway, back to Panetta. The CIA chief wanted to pull the trigger in February. Don’t know if you have seen the blog featuring comments by a person claiming to be an Obama insider (i.e., Ulsterman. I was skeptical of this person before but, based on what he/she has written on this subject and given the independent sources I have, I would peg Ulsterman’s accuracy at more than 80%. Valerie Jarrett led the charge resisting the push from Panetta to go after UBL. Obama initially sided with Jarrett. The White House spin that Obama had to persuade senior advisors to go after Osama is pure unadulterated bullshit. He was the one dragging ass.
In fact, according to someone who was privy to the decision making process, Hillary played a major role in backing up Leon Panetta and finally convincing Obama to act.
Here’s some very interesting questions that need to be answered? Why are the SEALs who went on this mission being pressured after the fact to sign non-disclosure agreements regarding this particular incident? What happens when members of the House and Senate Intel Committees learn that Osama was not buried at sea?
Lots of unanswered questions. The only thing we know for sure per the SEALs who carried out the op is that Bin Laden is dead. And, if not for the perseverance of Panetta, the mission would never have happened. Leon, I am sorry I ever thought ill of you. You were unafraid to do what needed to be done and didn’t care what happened to your self. That, my friends, is true courage.