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PRESIDENT Barack Obama was so keen to ensure the mission to nab Osama bin Laden was successful he even kept it secret from his wife. The al-Qaeda chief was shot dead in his bedroom at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, last week. Obama, 49, said: "I didn't tell most people here in the White House. I didn't tell my own family. "It was that important for us to maintain operational security." The president kept the plan secret from wife Michelle, 47, and spent the weekend before the raid visiting tornado victims, speaking at a space shuttle launch and attending the...

President Barack Obama gave the go-ahead for U.S. forces to raid a northern Pakistan housing compound based on "what was probably a 50-50 chance that Osama bin Laden was there," his national security adviser said. "At the end of last year, we assessed that al Qaeda had been diminished ... to its weakest since 2001," said the security adviser... On April 28, Obama attended the last of several National Security Council meetings focused on finding and going after the al Qaeda leader. During that meeting, some advocated for the commando raid while others advised against it, Donilon said, given there...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama ordered the commando raid that killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after deciding the risks were outweighed by the possibility "of us finally getting our man" following a decade of frustration, he said in a Sunday broadcast interview. The helicopter raid "was the longest 40 minutes of my life," Obama told CBS' "60 Minutes," with the possible exception of when his daughter Malia became sick with meningitis as an infant.

60 Minutes aired the interview Steve Kroft conducted with President Obama on Wednesday at the White House in which the Commander-in-Chief discussed the successful mission to kill Osama bin Laden. "I felt very strongly there was a strategic imperative to go after him," the President said even though he admitted they had no photograph and no direct evidence of bin Laden's presence. The President also said he was "about as active as any project that I've been involved with since I've been President... I was not involved with designing the initial plan but each iteration they'd bring to me, make...

Obama: No sleep lost over bin Laden killing By Michael O'Brien - 05/08/11 07:15 PM ET President Obama said he didn't lose any sleep over Osama bin Laden's killing. The president said he had no hesitation over ordering bin Laden's death, though he admitted to nervousness about sending U.S. special forces troops into Pakistan or the dangerous -- but ultimately successful -- mission. "As nervous as I was about this whole process, the one thing I didn't lose sleep over was the possibility of taking bin Laden out. Justice was done," Obama said Sunday on "60 Minutes" on CBS. "And...

There’s been a fair amount of – how shall I put it? – sucking up to President Barack Obama over the past week for his decision to send in the US Navy SEALs to kill Osama bin Laden. Certainly, it was a bold gamble that paid off richly and if it hadn’t it could have crippled his presidency. But rather than let Obama’s actions speak for themselves, his aides and allies have gone into overdrive and “gutsy” has become the word of the week. As in: When President Obama was faced with the opportunity to act upon this, the president...