Former US President Barack Obama has also made shocking revelations about Pakistan's political and military leadership in his new book, The Promised Land. Regarding the killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Barack Obama wrote that in 2010 I began to receive information that Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan. I thought he was hiding somewhere in Pakistan's tribal areas near the Afghan border, but when the final report came several months later that he was living in a huge house outside the city of Abbottabad, 35 km from Islamabad. So I was very surprised.
Barack Obama writes that while planning an operation against Osama bin Laden, we feared that relations with Pakistan would deteriorate. Some people, including Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, were against it. They believed that action should not be taken until the presence of Osama bin Laden was confirmed. When we decided to take action, we started thinking about how to take action. There were many suggestions on how to take action, including missile strikes, drone strikes and warplane bombings, but there were fears of more casualties. And then it would have been difficult for us to prove the death of Osama bin Laden, so it was decided to send commandos there by helicopter and operate.
Barack Obama writes that I had in mind that after the Abbottabad operation there would be a strong reaction and a difficult situation would arise for the Pakistani government itself, so after the operation I spoke to President Asif Ali Zardari. When I told Asif Zardari about the Abbottabad operation and the death of Osama bin Laden, he immediately congratulated me. He assured me of his full cooperation and said that everything that has happened is very good. Asif Zardari told me that the terrorists who martyred Benazir Bhutto also had links with Al Qaeda. In his book, Barack Obama also said that Mike Mullen spoke to General Kayani after the Abbottabad operation. General Kayani spoke to him very gently and did not react harshly. General Kayani asked Mike Mullen to take full responsibility for the incident himself, so that we can easily face the backlash from the Pakistani people.
