Posted on 05/23/2012 10:30:29 AM PDT by Hunton Peck
A Pakistani doctor who helped the U.S. track down Usama 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 Qaeda 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.
GOP Rep. Peter King, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said Wednesday he is focused on why the Obama administration didn't do more to protect the doctor.
"This has been handled very poorly right from the time of the raid," King told Fox News.
King, R-N.Y., said administration officials talking about the doctor and his DNA samples from the start.
"They put him out there," said King, who made clear he didn't know the exactly details about what if anything did the administration do to get the doctor out of Pakistan.
"I'm focused on that they disclosed his identity," he said.
Afridi's conviction comes at a sensitive time because the U.S. is already frustrated by Pakistan's refusal to reopen NATO supply routes to Afghanistan. The supply routes were closed six months ago in retaliation for...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
It wouldn’t surprise me to find that the someone in the Odumbo administration leaked the doctor’s identity and role in the OBL raid to the Pakistanis.
Barry and his team are just pure evil.
*sigh*
The CIA ruse was about Hepatitis B vaccinations. A Pakistan Polio vaccination campaign is real and ongoing. The Pak government is rightfully angry as the ruse endangered and created anger against real health care workers in legit vaccination campaigns.
It is an unfortunate price of war. That is the basis for the treason charge as vaccination campaigns have suffered and legit health workers have been denied visas and have been harassed by ISI agents.
Secretary of State Clinton called Pakistan President Zardari back on September 1, 2011 to ask for Afridis release from his arrest by the ISI.
There were 7 health care workers in the CIA op, only Afridi was recruited. BTW, a nurse did get into the compound but didnt succeed in getting any DNA.
His family is out of Pakistan and he will likely get out too after things cool down. This is why Zardari was shunned at the NATO conference.
We are both at war and allied with Pakistan, Afridi got caught in the middle but his family will be well funded by the UBL reward money and enjoying life in the US.
Obama wouldn’t hesitate for a second to spill state secrets for political gain. He does it whenever it is convenient.
“I’m focused on that they disclosed his identity,” he said.
King is wrong, Afridi was outed by the Abbottabad Commission that was set up by the Pak’s to investigate the UBL raid. He was the only one named on a travel hold, a clever way to name him unofficially.
I know your question is probably rhetorical but we can thank Leon Panetta for fingering this doctor.
When Panetta was running his mouth, I thought WTF.
I mean Scooter Libby went to jail for even knowing someone who might have outed that well known CIA operative Valerie Plame. Oops, wrong party - never mind.
Yup... The first question that popped into my mind was HOW they found out who it was.. was there a leak?!
At the very least, the local police and local military leaders had to have been bribed - or threatened.
From memory.....
(1) The raid lasted more than 30 minutes.
(2) The raid was slightly more than 1 mile away from Pakistan's top military university.
(3) Numerous retired and active military officers live in the surrounding area.
(4) Military cadets would be standing guard duty.
(5) Pakistan has a tense relationship with India, and there are frequent acts of terrorism by internal Pakistani factions, thus, there would be heightened security awareness in this area.
(4) 1 helicopter landed and a second helicopter crash landed - yet, no one comes to investigate.
(5) Explosives are used to enter bin Laden’s residence, followed by automatic weapons fire - yet, no one comes to investigate.
(6) A command-and-control helicopter hovers above the raid for more than 30 minutes - yet, no one comes to investigate.
(7) The crashed helicopter is destroyed by explosives and a third helicopter lands - yet, no one comes to investigate.
If this whole raid had lasted less than 10 minutes, I would believe the accepted story line.
But I will never believe that USA military leaders signed off on a raid that was SCHEDULED to last 30 minutes unless they KNEW the Pakistanis were bought and paid for.
Afridi alive or Zardari dead.
When Panetta was running his mouth, I thought WTF.
Why, no - I neither heard nor read that Panetta ran his mouth.
He named the poor fellow? Sheeesh - I will research.
At least the Paki guvmint is open about their treachery.
Isn’t it wonderful that they have nukes?
/s, for those too dense to see it
-- snip --
Afridi ran a vaccination program for the CIA to collect DNA and verify bin Laden's presence in the compound. He has since been charged by Pakistan with treason. Panetta said he is "very concerned" for the doctor.
-- snip --
I don't get it why Pakistan charged Afridi with treason, other then they knew exactly where Bin Ladin was all the time. After all OBL was not a Pakistani
Hmm... "acknowledged" indicates someone else put it out there and some scum-sucking reporter, either too stupid to realize he was endangering a man's life or too arrogant to care, had to put the question.
So someone besides Panetta leaked it, and he acknowledged it (when he should have just said "We don't comment on intelligence operations").
They're all bastards of the first order, from Obama on down, and not worth the powder it would take to blow them to hell!
Ridht. I didn’t mean that Panetta’s mention of Afridi was the first one. As I recall, there was a bit of buzz in the media about the guy (whether by name or not, I don’t recall) before he was charged and before Panetta’s statement. It’s just that Panetta seems to have been the first to make it publicly official that Afridi gave the help he did. What effect if any that announcement had on the case against Afridi, of course, I don’t know.
As for the charge of treason, I suppose the Pakis may consider aiding in a foreign attack on their soil to be treasonous, whether or not the target is a citizen and whether or not the attacking country is an official enemy.
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