Intelligence Key To Osama Bin Laden’s Assassination Came From Guantanamo Detainees
During his campaign for his current office, President Barack Obama spent a good deal of time railing against the terrorist detention facility at the US military installation at Guantanamo Bay. His promise to close that facility was one of the most high profile pledges he made to voters during that campaign.
Since, we’ve watched as the President has repeatedly backed away from fulfilling that promise. Now we learn that the key to the biggest foreign policy victory to come on President Obama’s watch originated with intelligence gathered at Guantanamo Bay:
Some time after Sept. 11, detainees held by the U.S. told interrogators about a man believed to work as a courier for bin Laden, senior administration officials said. The man was described by detainees as a protégé of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and “one of the few Al Qaeda couriers trusted by bin laden.”
Initially, intelligence officials only had the man’s nickname, but they discovered his real name four years ago.
Two years ago, intelligence officials began to identify areas of Pakistan where the courier and his brother operated, and the great security precautions the two men took aroused U.S. suspicions.
Last August, intelligence officials tracked the men to their residence in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a relatively wealthy town 35 miles north of Islamabad where many retired military officers live.
Given this, and previously-released news of other intelligence victories gained from interrogations done at Gitmo, you have to wonder if Obama’s effective 180 on closing Guantanamo Bay hasn’t stemmed from what he’s learned as President about Gitmo’s importance to our anti-terror efforts.
Making something like Guantanamo Bay a campaign trail talking point is very easy to do. Being the person in charge of making decisions about something like Guantanamo Bay is a much different matter.
In other words, it’s easier to campaign to be President than to actually be the President.
Tags: Barack Obama, Guantanamo Bay, Osama Bin Laden, War On Terror
