Report claims Obama administration reason bin Laden doctor imprisoned

Shakil Afrid cropped

In its desire to triumphantly disclose detailed elements of the raid that lead to Osama bin Laden’s death, the Obama administration condemned to prison the Pakistani physician who provided or confirmed those details, according to a confidential Pakistani informant.

Shortly after the May 2, 2011 raid, then-CIA Director Leon Panetta recognized Dr. Shakil Afrid’s assistance in pinpointing the location of bin Laden’s compound, and in so doing,“any chance that Pakistani authorities could help him get out of the country vanished,” according to Fox News.

This information was disclosed in a 357-page report prepared by an independent Pakistani commission, which, although is as yet unpublished, Fox News has viewed.

“The statement by the U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who was the CIA Director when May 2 happened, confirming the role of Dr. Afridi in making the U.S. assassination mission a success, rendered much of what Afridi told the Commission very questionable if not outright lies,” the report stated.

Sometime after Dr. Afridi testified to the independent Pakistani commission, Panetta and others in the Obama administration disclosed that the physician had used a ruse to obtain DNA from bin Laden and confirm his presence.

According to Fox News:

Nearly five months before Afridi’s sentencing, while the doctor was being held and interrogated by Pakistan’s shadowy intelligence agency, Panetta spoke on record in an interview to CBS “60 Minutes” confirming Afridi’s role in late January 2012. The statements came after Afridi had testified to the commission, and sharply contradicted his story.

“[Afridi] was an individual, in fact that helped provide intelligence, that was very helpful in regards to this operation and he was not in any way treasonous towards Pakistan,” Panetta disclosed in the January, 2012, “60 Minutes” interview.

As a result of this report, the Pakistani commission concluded that the doctor was acting as an American agent.

“Dr. Afridi had been cultivated by the CIA and ultimately used in its project to assassinate Usama Bin Laden,” the commission’s report concluded.

Although Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., is both Afridi’s biggest supporter as well as long-critical of the administration, he nonetheless doesn’t necessarily take the report at face value.

“It doesn’t take genius to figure out that the Pakistanis have been betraying us all along and Dr. Afridi is being used as a pawn in their game with the United States,” Rohrabacher said.

Others aren’t so ready to dismiss the commission’s report. Thomas Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, is another one who has been long-critical of the Obama administration.

“The lesson from the Afridi episode is, if it suits the political purpose of the Obama administration, you’ll be exposed and placed in jeopardy,” said Fitton.

Whether the Pakistani report can be believed or not, one thing has been made clear in recent weeks: If a leak makes the administration look good, it’s news. If the leak in any way embarrasses the administration, it’s a crime.

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