CNN is reporting that in an interview with 60 Minutes, President Barack Obama said that sending U.S. troops on a dangerous mission to get Osama bin Laden was worth the risks, even though it was not certain that the al-Qaida leader was in the Pakistani compound. "This was still a 55-45 situation," Obama told CBS. "I mean, we could not say definitively that bin Laden was there. Had he not been there, then there would have been some significant consequences."
The mission was a closely guarded secret, and the president's greatest concern was Murphy's Law: If they didn't get bin Laden, would they still be able to get their "guys" out? President Obama also defended his decision not to inform anyone in the Pakistani government that U.S. forces were raiding the compound north of Islamabad. "If I'm not revealing to some of my closest aides what we're doing, then I sure as heck am not going to be revealing it to folks who I don't know," he said. Although Pakistan is still considered an ally in the fight against terrorism, U.S. officials are calling for answers to suggestions that Osama bin Laden lived there for the past six years. Congress is even considering cutting off aid to Pakistan.
President Obama has scored a major victory, and inquiring minds want to know just how this so-called grass-roots organizer was able to pull off such a successful mission. Dare we say it? He's the president, and not as weak as some people perceive him to be because he has a different leadership style than his predecessors.
Read more at CNN.
Watch video of the interview on CBS.com below:
In other news: Congress Mulls Cutting Off Aid to Pakistan.
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