U.S. Defense Official: We Had No Choice But To Kill Bin Laden
The United States had no choice but to kill al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden during the raid on his hideout in Pakistan, President Barack Obama’s top counter terrorism adviser said Monday.
“We certainly were preparing to the possibility to capture him. If we had an opportunity to take him alive we would have done it,” John Brennan said. The minutes passed like days and the president was very concerned about the security of our personnel. It was very intense. And finally we were informed about the results there was a sigh of relief.”
Bin Laden was killed in a U.S. helicopter raid on a mansion compound near the Pakistani capital Islamabad, ending a long worldwide hunt for the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Brennan also said that the White House believes the woman killed when U.S. forces shot dead bin Laden was one of his wives. Brennan told reporters her body was positioned in a way that “she was being used as a shield.” But he said it was not clear if she had placed herself in the line of fire, or had been held there as a shield by bin Laden or his son.
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