Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sy Hersh has a knack for bringing out facts that US administrations don’t want brought out, and his weekend release on the assassination of Osama bin Laden, and the littany of lies the administration told in the wake of the operation, has put the White House again on the defensive.
The White House is insisting that the whole Hersh report is simply false, and that every single claim it makes is “baseless.” They seemed particularly irked at the report that bin Laden’s discovery was made possible by a tip by a former Pakistani official, insisting it was a “US operation through and through.”
Typical of such denials, the White House is offering no evidence for their claims, and is simply referring people back to their initial narrative from 2011, claiming it is all the truth, including the parts that don’t make sense.
Hersh is defending his report, saying that he wasn’t surprised to hear the US denials because “I’ve been around a long time,” and saying he didn’t feel like he was going out on much of a limb with the report.
Former CIA Acting Director Michael Morell was the most vehement in the denials, saying that every single sentence in the story was wrong, and that the Pakistani sources obviously weren’t trustworthy because “the Pakistanis did not know.”
The persistent administration claims that Pakistan was totally in the dark about the operation, both in the lead-up and during the raid, had been one of the least reasonable parts of the official story, as it is unthinkable that US troops would be able to invade a city deep inside Pakistan, just outside the nation’s capital city, and carry out an assassination raid without Pakistan haven’t any knowledge until the US told them after the troops had already left.
And, if CIAmore Hersh keeps digging, we might even find out who the patsy was that pretended to be bin Laden, so the SEALs would come home and write books. There is no such thing as a stealth helicopter, so the Pakis had to be in on it. Somebody had to make sure the radar was turned off.
"Somebody had to make sure the radar was turned off. "
Yeah, Pakistan did. That's what Hersh details in his report.
Basically, Pakistan had bin Laden prisoner, and agreed to leave the cell unattended while the US came in and executed him. Straight out of a mafia movie.
"There is no such thing as a stealth helicopter"
Of course there is – I see 'em in movie trailers all the time…
We are that good. Our troops, especially the navy seals, can make themselves invisible when needed. That's how we magically made it in and out without anybody noticing. I mean how can anyone believe Hersh's story compared to that.
USA, USA, USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
/sarcasm
“US operation through and through.”
Yeah, lies and damn lies.
Now WHY would our president lie to us, huh?
But he did admit he cut down that cherry tree.
Not a word on PBS tonight concerning the Bin Laden phony capture. This is typical of U.S. media. Ignore the lies.
"This is typical of U.S. media. Ignore the lies."
They have their orders…
Hersh is wrong. Certain trusty informants told me that Obama was kidnapped by the CIA and the Saudis and they put Bin Laden in his place. The President of the USA today was not born in Kenya but in Arabia.
Wait…wait…I've a feeling that the more the USG doth protest, the hole will get deeper, the retelling more detached from reality, and the accusations more intense. Expect them to redirect their attacks on Hersh's character in short order when it gets more difficult to defend their own stories.
Well Hersh does seem a little slippery somehow, but I can never quite put my finger on it. How come nobody else in the entire world has been able to put this stuff together?
He's clearly a mouthpiece for somebody. The question is, who are they and what is their agenda?
Perhaps because he's not like the other so-called "investigative reporters." IMO, Hersh isn't anyone's mouthpiece but instead has this thing for actually doing what should be done. When a government has gone rogue, as this one surely has, it's important that the history the government is attempting to write is validated and exposed when it's a lie. Refreshing, to say the least.
Accusations by the government operatives against Hersh about his use of "unidentified sources" and not providing these sources for x-examination are never backed up with proof Hersh is wrong – just accusations.
Personally, I would trust Hersh over some government toad, especially the Highly-placed toads – every time. The PTB have co-opted the press so having at least one beacon is better than none.