Iraq war slowed hunt for bin Laden: Armitage
Updated 45 minutes ago
Mr Armitage says he is pleased that ultimately the Al Qaeda leader could not outrun his pursuers. (AFP Photo: Shah Marai)
A key member of former US president George W Bush's administration says Osama bin Laden's capture should not have taken 10 years, and it was delayed because the US became preoccupied with Iraq.
Richard Armitage was deputy secretary of state in the Bush administration when the mission to bring bin Laden to justice was launched.
He told ABC1's 7.30 he is pleased that ultimately the Al Qaeda leader could not outrun his pursuers.
But he believes bin Laden's killing in a Pakistan compound would have happened far sooner if the US had not become preoccupied with the war in Iraq.
"Had we not been involved as we are in Iraq so soon we could have concentrated more efforts on the whole situation in Afghanistan, including Osama bin Laden," he said.
"Don't forget bin Laden got away from Tora Bora by the skin of his teeth so we almost had him then."
Mr Armitage says Pakistan was not as cooperative as it should have been.
"Particularly in the wake of the discovery of the compound in Pakistan, there's no way you can call them close allies," he said.
"They have been helpful when it serves their interests and less so when it doesn't."
The Pakistani government has rejected CIA claims it could not be trusted with information about the raid ahead of time.
CIA chief Leon Panetta said the Pakistanis were not told about the mission because of fears someone may tip off bin Laden.
But Pakistani foreign secretary Salman Bashir dismissed suggestions the government could not be trusted and added his country had done everything possible to combat terrorism.
'Gruesome' photo
Meanwhile, United States officials are considering releasing photos of bin Laden's' body to prove he was killed by US commandos.
American officials are divided over whether to release the photo, while some in Pakistan doubt he is dead.
The White House says the photo is "gruesome" and there are concerns it would be inflammatory to make it public.
But Mr Panetta says the photos should be made public to dispel any conspiracy theories about his death.
"I don't think there was any question that ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public," he said.
"I've seen those photographs, we've analysed them, and there's no question it's bin Laden."
Deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough says the picture proves beyond doubt that bin Laden is dead.
"I'm not going to get into the description of pictures," he said.
"I think it's pretty straightforward which is that he obviously met justice in a firefight on Sunday evening and I think the pictures will reflect that."
The US special envoy for Pakistan, Marc Grossman, has dismissed conspiracy theories that claim America faked bin Laden's death.
"I can't do any more than that. You can have as many conspiracies as you wish. He's dead. It's good," he said.
"We still have to fight extremism. The end of Osama bin Laden was a shared achievement of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the United States."
Tags: world-politics, law-crime-and-justice, unrest-conflict-and-war, terrorism, september-11-attacks, pakistan, united-states
First posted 57 minutes ago
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
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