Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Were they protecting him? Were they complicit? Congress will absolutely look into Pakistani complicity.
Aggressive interrogations during the Bush administration including water-boarding forced the tactical mastermind of the 9/11 attacks to give up the name of an al Qaeda courier who helped lead U.S. intelligence operatives to the compound in Pakistan where terrorist Osama bin Laden was found hiding out.
Michael McCaul Texas Congressman & Austin Republican on the U.S. Houses Homeland Security Committee.
Congressman McCaul an Austin Republican told the Houston Chronicle that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed provided U.S. interrogators the name of a courier trusted by bin Laden enabling U.S. officials to eventually track the courier to the compound where bin Laden was found and killed on Sunday by a helicopter-borne team of Navy SEALs. McCaul a former federal prosecutor who handled counterterrorism duties in Texas for the Justice Department said Mohammed had surrendered the crucial information while being subjected to the aggressive interrogation techniques for which the Bush administration was criticized" including the simulated drowning technique known as water boarding. The Washington D.C. newspaper Politico quoted senior administration officials saying that interrogators were able to identify the courier by name in 2007 and tracked him back to the compound in Pakistan by August 2010 setting the stage for the commando raid that took place on Sunday. Unfortunately it took nearly a decade to get bid Laden. Im glad we finally did" McCaul said. Bin Ladens whereabouts came from KSM and were derived from him during the Bush years McCaul continued.The information came out of interrogations that have been harshly criticized. That was a very valuable to lead that led us to bin Laden. Critics of the interrogations did not realize the value the intelligence gave us in being able to finally kill bin Laden."McCaul said it was not yet clear whether Pakistani authorities had cooperated with the manhunt for bin Laden.
Its hard to believe they didnt know bin Ladens whereabouts" McCaul said noting that bin Laden was tracked down to a fortified million dollar compound in well-to-do suburb of Abbottabad some 35 miles north of Pakistans capital of Islamabad. Pakistan notoriously plays both sides" McCaul said.
We have always thought bin Laden was in the remote tribal areas in a primitive state. But where he was found was the town that serves as the headquarters for military intelligence."
McCaul a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said the GOP-led House would launch an inquiry into what Pakistani authorities knew about bin Ladens location — and when.
Congress has approved billions of dollars in military and economic assistance for Pakistan since 9/11 to help enlist the Muslim nation in the war on 6terrorism in neighboring Afghanistan.
Congressman Michael McCaul represents Texas 10th Congressional District. He is a Member of the House Border Security & Immigration Reform Committee. McCaul authored the 2006 report A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border exposing the rise of the drug cartels and the potential exploitation of our borders by terrorist groups.
