Only one bin Laden ally was armed, says defence official
Only one of the five people killed in the raid that got Osama bin Laden was armed and fired a shot, a senior defence official said today.
He acknowledged the new account differs greatly from original administration portrayals of a chaotic, intense and prolonged firefight.
The sole shooter in the al-Qaida leader’s Pakistani compound was quickly killed in the early minutes of the commando operation, details that have become clearer now that the Navy SEAL assault team has been debriefed, the official said.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the record.
He said the raid should be described as a precision, floor-by-floor operation to hunt and find the al Qaida leader and his protectors, rather than as it has been portrayed by a succession of Obama administration briefers since bin Laden’s death was announced on Sunday night.
White House and Defence Department and CIA officials through the week have offered varying and foggy versions of the operation, though the dominant focus was on a firefight that officials said consumed most of the 40-minute assault.
“There were many other people who were armed ... in the compound,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Tuesday when asked if bin Laden was armed. “There was a firefight.”
“We expected a great deal of resistance and were met with a great deal of resistance,” he said.
“For most of the period there, there was a firefight,” a senior defence official told Pentagon reporters in a briefing on Monday.
And though officials later revised these words, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan originally said even bin Laden, too, took part in the shootout. Later the administration said bin Laden was unarmed.
