OBL: Mission to kill al-Qaeda leader was so secret I didn't even tell Michelle, reveals Obama

OBL: Mission to kill al-Qaeda leader was so secret I didn't even tell Michelle, reveals Obama
The Edinburgh Daily Record ^ | May 10, 2011 | Andrew Gregory

Posted on Tuesday, May 10, 2011 3:50:56 AM by 2ndDivisionVet

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 White House correspondents' dinner. 

Obama added: "I made the decision Thursday night and then we flew off to look at the tornado damage, to go to Cape Canaveral to make a speech. And then we had the White House correspondents' dinner on Saturday night.
"This was in the back of my mind all weekend."

Obama spoke for the first time about how he watched the "tense" 40-minute raid live from the White House situation room, after earlier easing the tension with a game of golf.
He said: "It was the longest 40 minutes of my life."
Yesterday, a Washington Post poll found Obama's approval rating had jumped eight per cent to 57 per cent since the killing of Bin Laden.

CIA data experts are probing information found in Bin Laden's bolthole for leads on tracking down other al-Qaeda members. The data has already revealed details about a planned attack on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Last night, a US intelligence source said the data suggested that al-Qaeda were interested in hitting Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Pakistan have launched a probe into how Bin Laden was able to live in the country undetected for at least six years. 

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani branded allegations of Pakistani complicity and incompetence as "absurd".

Gilani said: "We are determined to get to the bottom of the how, when and why regarding his presence in Abbottabad. We did not invite al-Qaeda to Pakistan."