Pakistan convicts doctor who helped find bin Laden - Obama does nothing

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani doctor who helped the U.S. track down Osama bin Laden was sentenced to 33 years in prison on Wednesday for conspiring against the state, officials said, a verdict that is likely to further strain the country's relationship with Washington.

Shakil Afridi ran a vaccination program for the CIA to collect DNA and verify bin Laden's presence at the compound in the town of Abbottabad where U.S. commandos killed the al-Qaida chief last May in a unilateral raid. The operation outraged Pakistani officials, who portrayed it as an act of treachery by a supposed ally.

Senior U.S. officials have called for Afridi to be released, saying his work served Pakistani and American interests. But many Pakistani officials, especially those working for the country's powerful spy agency, do not see it that way.

"He was working for a foreign spy agency. We are looking after our national interests," said a Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the agency's policy.  (continue reading AP)

No one should be surprised.  Could the United States have protected this man?  Could they have prevented this? According to Breitbart, Obama did nothing. (image via Breitbart)

The US was probably too busy giving inside access for the Osama bin Laden movie

White House said to give inside access for bin Laden film

The Obama administration arranged for two Hollywood filmmakers to get special access to government officials involved in the commando operation that killed Osama bin Laden, according to a conservative legal group that posted internal government documents on its website Tuesday.

Judicial Watch posted what it said were 153 pages of Pentagon documents and 113 pages of CIA documents about the film project. The group said it had obtained the documents through a lawsuit it filed under the Freedom of Information Act, which can be used to force government agencies to release some undisclosed information.

Among the disclosures were that the filmmakers had access to top White House officials, were given the identity of a SEAL team member involved in the raid and taken to the top-secret "vault" where the raid was planned.

The group said the documents lay out contacts between White House, CIA and Pentagon officials and Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, the director and screenwriter of "The Hurt Locker," a 2008 film about the Iraq war that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.  [big snip]

SEAL TEAM MEMBER REVEALED

In a statement posted on its website, Judicial Watch said the documents indicate that the Pentagon granted Bigelow and Boal access to a "planner, Operator and Commander of SEAL Team Six," the Navy commando unit that carried out the raid during which bin Laden was killed in Abbotabad, Pakistan, where he apparently had lived for years.   (continue reading Reuters/Yahoo)

 

 

Comments

[bernie from Planck's]

So while Obama is telling Air Force grads that America is safer than ever, guys like Afridi who helped make America safer are left dangling in the wind. Maybe the next time when we need help someone will remember how we treat our friends.

Btw, I tried to ping you from my article "Pakistan Bestows Mohamed Medal of Martyrdom upon Doctor Shakil Afridi" http://plancksconstant.org/blog1/2012/05/pakistan_bestows_mohamed_medal_of_martyrdom_upon_d.html but the trackback failed.

[Debbie]

Thanks for the mention Bernie. Don't worry about the trackback, something screwy going on with TypePad.