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Inconceivable Osama had no support in Pakistan: White House

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Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan speaks to the press after President Barack Obama made a statement in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington October 29, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Reed

Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan speaks to the press after President Barack Obama made a statement in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington October 29, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed

WASHINGTON | Mon May 2, 2011 2:17pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top White House official said it was "inconceivable" Osama bin Laden had not had a support system to help him inside Pakistan, but he declined to speculate if there had been any official Pakistani aid.

John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top counter terrorism adviser, also told reporters that the U.S. commandos on the raid had been ready to take the al Qaeda leader alive if that had been possible.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Alister Bull, editing by Sandra Maler)
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Comments (12)
MuslimTeaParty wrote:
…But are we safer? I can’t imagine that OBL had much latitude in planning or communication since 9/11. All the analysts are saying that he had a hand in most of Al-Qaeda’s operations through the middle of the 2000’s. I take that with a grain of salt considering that this is the same group that led everyone to believe that OBL was hiding in caves somewhere in Afghanistan (click here for a video tour of the mansion that he was hiding in). For the last 5-6 years of his life, OBL’s value was that of a spokesman. By providing occasional videos while in hiding, OBL worked to undermine America’s ‘marketing’ and ‘branding’ strategy in the Middle East. He taunted American military might by evading capture and proving to his followers that America is not necessarily all-powerful. But in the end, OBL knew his death was most probably going to come at the hands of the US. By doing so, America’s Most Wanted man died as a Martyr…

Join the Tea Party www.muslimteaparty.com

May 02, 2011 2:34pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
mkutu911 wrote:
Why are we still sending money to these people? They were hiding Osama for 9 years now. They are clearly no friends of ours.

May 02, 2011 2:49pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
cornelius wrote:
“Here is the question:” Mr. President, “We know where bin Laden is; can we send a special force to capture him?” But far more elegantly in his speech Obama put his role this way: “At my direction . . .” It was a not so subtle grab for glory; more likely, the plan was laid out before Obama was asked the question.

But the pragmatic politician must pursue pacifism with an almost imperceptible progression. Obama has been both pacifist yet default pragmatist in this War on Terror, to which he has been no friend. Half of his cuts in his budget are from the military.

He has tried to disguise the cause of terrorist violence by patronizing terrorist supporter nations that in the end, snubbed and lost respect for him. He stopped capturing and interrogating the enemy, choosing to kill with Predator – including collaterally, grandchildren.

The President lost my support when he was asked to provide reinforcements in 2009. It took half a year; even then, he sent substantially less than what he was asked for. He tried to change the name to Overseas Contingency Whatever, and attempted to bring terrorists into this country to be tried with citizen rights.

May 02, 2011 3:04pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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