From security analysts Raelynn Hillhouse and her blog The Spy Who Billed Me:
Sources in the intelligence community tell me that after years of trying and one bureaucratically insane near-miss in Yemen,the US government killed OBL because a Pakistani intelligence officer came forward to collect the approximately $25 million reward from the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program.
The informant was a walk-in.
The ISI officer came forward to claim the substantial reward and to broker US citizenship for his family. My sources tell me that the informant claimed that the Saudis were paying off the Pakistani military and intelligence (ISI) to essentially shelter and keep bin Laden under house arrest in Abbottabad, a city with such a high concentration of military that I’m told there’s no equivalent in the US.
The CIA and friends then set about proving that OBL was indeed there. And they did.
Next they approached the chiefs of the Pakistani military and the ISI. The US was going to come in with or without them. The CIA offered them a deal they couldn’t refuse: they would double what the Saudis were paying them to keep bin Laden if they cooperated with the US. Or they could refuse the deal and live with the consequences: the Saudis would stop paying and there would be the international embarassment…
The ISI and Pakistani military were cooperating with the US on the raid.
This is turning into a Tom Clancy novel
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August 12, 2011 at 6:00 pm
John
This version makes no sense. According to this story the Pakistanis had to inform/move/modify SOP for quite a lot of soldiers in Abbottabad.If this had been the case *some* of the probably hundreds of officers (think radar officers, civilian policemen, military policemen, patrol routes) that had to have been informed would have been saying something. This tale requires a very large conspiracy and is therefore incorrect.
The version which has the Pakistanis oblivious makes more sense since it allows for the probability of risk as opposed to the need to ensure no friendly fire incident.
While it is possible that the information was provided by a Pakistani officer it is impossible that the Pakistani military was involved (think of the tipoffs to Al Qaeda bombmakers which have been widely reported in the media).
August 14, 2011 at 9:20 am
Sandeep Baliga
John: Totally agree – your reaction was my first reaction. They may have gotten a lead from someone who why would they ever risk the operation by sharing the information with the Pakistani government or military?
Sandeep
August 24, 2011 at 11:51 pm
kerokan
It’s been 2 weeks since the last post. You are being missed.
August 26, 2011 at 7:54 am
Sandeep Baliga
I’ve been teaching 15 hors/week and jeff was attacked by a wild animal and is recuperating. But we are going to be back in full swing next week!
Thanks for your interest.
August 26, 2011 at 4:56 pm
kerokan
Sorry to hear about Jeff’s illness and your workload. Take care.
August 31, 2011 at 8:03 am
solomon o
WELDONE