http://www.examiner.com/law-enforcement-in-national/bin-laden-raid-obama-pla gued-by-more-exposure
Bin Laden raid: Obama plagued by more exposure . May 5th, 2011 7:13 am ET By Jim Kouri <http://www.examiner.com/law-enforcement-in-national/jim-kouri> Law Enforcement Examiner Share: In his interview with PBS, Mr Panetta said, "Once those teams went into the compound I can tell you that there was a time period of almost 20 or 25 minutes where we really didn't know just exactly what was going on. And there were some very tense moments as we were waiting for information." Panetta also told PBS that the U.S. Navy Seals made the final decision to kill bin Laden rather than the president. A dramatic photograph showing Obama and his team watching special forces soldiers attack Osama bin Laden's Pakistani hideout on a TV monitor may be just another political photo op to prop up a failing president, according to White House critics. The TV screen was blank during the entire operation, according to Panetta. With Leon Panetta almost certain to become the next Secretary of Defense in the Obama cabinet, yesterday some wondered if he'll continue to be the real Maverick in the current Administration and speak his mind, or will he adhere to the administration's agenda. While President Barack Obama's national security team are fully equipped each day with their White House "talking points," Panetta appears to value clarity and accuracy in his statements. For example, Panetta admitted yesterday that there was no live video footage of the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound as further doubts emerged about the U.S. version of events. Panetta, currently Director of Central Intelligence, told a PBS radio news reporter that there was a 25 minute blackout during which the live feed from cameras mounted on the helmets of the attacking U.S. Navy SEALs had been cut off. This statement by Panetta cast doubts on information emanating from the White House. A photograph released by the White House showed the President and his aides in the situation room watching the action as it unfolded on a television monitor. However, since the feed from the SEALs' cameras had been interrupted during the actual attack, Obama and his team would lack eyewitness knowledge of what was happening in bin Laden's compound. In his interview with PBS, Mr Panetta said, "Once those teams went into the compound I can tell you that there was a time period of almost 20 or 25 minutes where we really didn't know just exactly what was going on. And there were some very tense moments as we were waiting for information." "We had some observation of the approach there, but we did not have direct flow of information as to the actual conduct of the operation itself as they were going through the compound," said Panetta. Panetta also told PBS that the U.S. Navy Seals made the final decision to kill bin Laden rather than the president. "Whereas Bush or even Clinton would be exposed by the media as being misleading in such photograph -- as reporters did with a photo of George W. Bush speaking on a telephone on Air Force One right after 9-11 -- the media are probably Obama's best protectors. Better than his own staff even," said former intelligence officer and police detective Sid Franes. In other conversations with Panetta, reporters had been told that the controversial interrogation techniques by intelligence officers and the so-called Rendition Program -- whereby prisoners are transported to foreign countries that are known to torture suspected terrorists -- may have helped in locating the whereabouts of the world's most wanted terrorists. Others in the administration and the Democrat Party -- and some in the GOP -- denied Panetta's statement. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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