Monday, May 09, 2011

Obama: Bin Laden raid was 'a 55/45 situation' - CNN

Posted by The Meck

excerpt ..

Washington (CNN) -- Sending U.S. troops on a dangerous mission to get Osama bin Laden was worth the risks, even though it was not certain the al Qaeda leader was in the Pakistani compound, U.S. President Barack Obama said in a "60 Minutes" interview Sunday on CBS.

"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."

"Obviously, we're going into the sovereign territory of another country and landing helicopters and conducting a military operation," he said. "And so, if it turns out that it's a wealthy, you know, prince from Dubai who's in this compound and, you know, we've sent special forces in, we've got problems."

It's been a whirlwind week since bin Laden's death

But the president says he did not lose sleep over "the possibility of taking bin Laden out."

"Justice was done," Obama said. "And I think that anyone who would question that the perpetrator of mass murder on American soil didn't deserve what he got needs to have their head examined."

The president's biggest worry was that "Murphy's Law applies and something happens," he said. "Can we still get our guys out?"
One of the helicopters crashed early in the raid, but Obama said there was "a backup plan."
 -
Obama and his closest advisers gathered in the White House Situation Room to monitor the mission in real time, he said.

"And it was the longest 40 minutes of my life, with the possible exception of when Sasha got meningitis when she was three months old, and I was waiting for the doctor to tell me that she was all right," he said. "It was a very tense situation."
-
Read more:
Obama: Bin Laden raid Was 'a 55/45 situation' - CNN
-
The Meck Report / Blog - May 9, 2011 - 2:43p
-
Subscribe To The Meck Report/Blog - Rt column
www.TheMeck.com

No comments: