Saturday, June 1, 2013

Report claims Obama administration reason bin Laden doctor imprisoned

Shakil Afrid cropped

June 1, 2013 by 
BIZPAC


In its desire to triumphantly disclose detailed elements of the raid that lead to Osama bin Laden’s death, the Obama administration condemned to prison the Pakistani physician who provided or confirmed those details, according to a confidential Pakistani informant.
Shortly after the May 2, 2011 raid, then-CIA Director Leon Panetta recognized Dr. Shakil Afrid’s assistance in pinpointing the location of bin Laden’s compound, and in so doing,“any chance that Pakistani authorities could help him get out of the country vanished,” according toFox News.
This information was disclosed in a 357-page report prepared by an independent Pakistani commission, which, although is as yet unpublished, Fox News has viewed.
“The statement by the U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who was the CIA Director when May 2 happened, confirming the role of Dr. Afridi in making the U.S. assassination mission a success, rendered much of what Afridi told the Commission very questionable if not outright lies,” the report stated.
Sometime after Dr. Afridi testified to the independent Pakistani commission, Panetta and others in the Obama administration disclosed that the physician had used a ruse to obtain DNA from bin Laden and confirm his presence.
According to Fox News:
Nearly five months before Afridi’s sentencing, while the doctor was being held and interrogated by Pakistan’s shadowy intelligence agency, Panetta spoke on record in an interview to CBS “60 Minutes” confirming Afridi’s role in late January 2012. The statements came after Afridi had testified to the commission, and sharply contradicted his story.
“[Afridi] was an individual, in fact that helped provide intelligence, that was very helpful in regards to this operation and he was not in any way treasonous towards Pakistan,” Panetta disclosed in the January, 2012, “60 Minutes” interview.
As a result of this report, the Pakistani commission concluded that the doctor was acting as an American agent.
“Dr. Afridi had been cultivated by the CIA and ultimately used in its project to assassinate Usama Bin Laden,” the commission’s report concluded.
Although Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., is both Afridi’s biggest supporter as well as long-critical of the administration, he nonetheless doesn’t necessarily take the report at face value.
“It doesn’t take genius to figure out that the Pakistanis have been betraying us all along and Dr. Afridi is being used as a pawn in their game with the United States,” Rohrabacher said.
Others aren’t so ready to dismiss the commission’s report. Thomas Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, is another one who has been long-critical of the Obama administration.
“The lesson from the Afridi episode is, if it suits the political purpose of the Obama administration, you’ll be exposed and placed in jeopardy,” said Fitton.
Whether the Pakistani report can be believed or not, one thing has been made clear in recent weeks: If a leak makes the administration look good, it’s news. If the leak in any way embarrasses the administration, it’s a crime.
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Bee's note:  This administration does not have "clean' hands when it comes to leaks, as the article above demonstrates.  Nor, does it in relation to numerous "leaks" to the NYT, from the WH - but like every other scandal committed, "no one knows how those leaks just happened to appear in the local newspapers"!  One of those leaks placed our ally Israel in a bad position, as reports were "Leaked" about Israel's plans for Iran.  Outrageous! Double standards?
Mar 29, 2012 1:23pm  abc news
 Israelis Suspect Obama Media Leaks to Prevent Strike on Iran
JERUSALEM – Two reports today about Iran’s nuclear program and the possibility of an Israeli military strike have analysts in Israel accusing the Obama administration leaking information to pressure Israel not to bomb Iran and for Iran to reach a compromise in upcoming nuclear talks.
The first report in Foreign Policy quotes anonymous American officials saying that Israel has been given access to airbases by Iran’s northern neighbor Azerbaijan from which Israel could launch air strikes or at least drones and search and rescue aircraft.The second report from Bloomberg, based on a leaked congressional report, said that Iran’s nuclear facilities are so dispersed that it is “unclear what the ultimate effect of a strike would be…” A strike could delay Iran as little as six months, a former official told the researchers.“It seems like a big campaign to prevent Israel from attacking,” analyst Yoel Guzansky at the Institute for National Security Studies told ABC News. “I think the [Obama] administration is really worried Jerusalem will attack and attack soon. They’re trying hard to prevent it in so many ways.”
However, the same administration that leaks like a sieve, has no conscience when it comes to accusing a video for the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi and sending an innocent man to prison (and he's still sitting in prison) for a YouTube video that supposedly set the Islamic terrorists across the Middle East on fire!  It was a deliberate lie, promoted by Obama and Hilliary during the first months after Benghazi.  Obama continued lying when facing the United Nations the following month, still blaming a video no one had seen, and spending over $70,000 on his own "apology" video that he quickly released to our enemies in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  This placed our troops lives in jeopardy and I blame the assassin-style shootings to the back of the heads of our troops to Obama's "Apology" video.  Covering up the intentions of Islamic terrorism hinders the livilihoods of USA troops in the battlefields.  
There is a Private First Class, Manning, in a Federal prison for "leaking" information to "Wikileaks", exposing war crimes and will probably receive a "life" sentence for his actions.  And yet, officials in much higher positions have "leaked" information causing great damage to our allies and our own troops and not a peep is heard from our leaders in D.C.; no thorough investigations; no heads rolled, or removed from office; and the security of both America and our allies are left in jeopardy.
Can anyone say, "Double Standards"?