WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama gave the go-ahead for US forces to raid a northern Pakistan housing compound based on “what was probably a 50-50 chance that Osama bin Laden was there,” his national security adviser said.
“It was a circumstantial case . . . . But what he had 100 per cent confidence in was the ability of our special forces to execute the mission,” Tom Donilon said on Saturday, part of an interview that aired today on State of the Union.
On April 28, Obama attended the last of several National Security Council meetings focused on finding and going after the al Qaeda leader. During that meeting, some advocated for the commando raid while others advised against it, Donilon said, given there had been no clear-cut sightings of bin Laden by that point.
“He had gotten divided counsel, and that happens a lot in these things, as you would imagine,” Donilon said.
After a night’s sleep, Obama told Donilon at 8:20 a.m. the next day to draft the order for the raid. By Sunday evening — which was early Monday morning in Pakistan – the 38-minute mission was over, the 25-strong US team having flown out of the country along with bin Laden’s dead body. (CNN)
