It’s been almost a decade since the CIA had “precise information” on the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden. Appearing on ABC’s This Week Sunday, CIA director Leon Panetta revealed that the last time the organization had good intelligence on where Bin Laden was located was in the early aughts.
“He is, as is obvious, in very deep hiding,” said Panetta. “He’s in an area of the tribal areas of Pakistan that is very difficult … All I can tell you is it’s in the tribal areas. We know that he’s located in that vicinity.”
In some less discouraging news, Panetta said he believes the Taliban presence in Afghanistan is “probably at its weakest point since 9/11,” and he believes the number of Al Qaeda members in Afghanistan is actually pretty small — “50 to 100, maybe less,” he said. And as for finding Bin Laden, who really cares what the CIA’s thinking when we’ve got Gary Brooks Faulkner on it?
CIA director Leon Panetta: last ‘precise’ intel on Osama bin Laden’s location was in ‘early 2000s’ [NYDN]
