What Pakistan knew about Bin Laden and What the US should do about it

Behold! The miracles of Photoshop

Those of you reading this have heard me say this already -- It is literally incredible that Pakistani intelligence officials were unaware that Osama Bin Laden built a massive bunker in their backyard and lived there for years.

Naturally, they deny any knowledge. They didn't even suspect it. Quelle surprise! It's a tough sell. Especially if you're willing to buy into their line in defense of Pakistan's record on terrorism -- Pakistan has been an integral part in the "global war on terror," since 9/11. They've been able to gather good intelligence that has put the brakes on lots of terrorist attacks before they even got rolling. But they were supposedly clueless about Bin Laden's hideout. I don't think so.

But how can I disprove the assertion that Pakistan didn't know? I don't pretend that really matters, because if they knew, then they were uncooperative in our interests at best, and complicit in the interests of terrorists at  worst. And if they didn't know, then they're not as good as they claim to be at best, and totally incompetent at worst. Whether they knew or not, the fact that Bin Laden was hiding right under their noses, is reason enough to reconsider U.S. foreign policy towards Pakistan.

So if you're not convinced that Pakistan knew something about Bin Laden's whereabouts, and you think that makes some kind of difference, I only ask that you suspend your disbelief and assume that Congressman Brad Sherman, the ranking Democrat on the House terrorism sub-committee, knows a thing or two.

"Bin Laden spent a million dollars building a compound in this very ISI/Pakistan military-flavored town," Sherman told the BBC. "I don't think he would have chosen to do that if he didn't have acquiescence. Ya know, someone hiding from the CIA doesn't build a giant compound in Langley, Va."

Apparently there was no available real estate between Quantico and Langley

So the Congressman suspects Pakistan knew something about Bin Laden. And I would add, the CIA suspected the same going into the operation. Leon Panetta says the U.S. didn't share any intelligence with Pakistani officials before the raid because they were worried it would compromise the mission. In other words, the CIA didn't want ISI tipping off Bin Laden before the helicopters were already overhead.

The question of what exactly Pakistan knew and what the U.S. should do about it is a subject open to debate. A subject I will address in a later piece. But by way of setting up that debate -- let's agree it's a foregone conclusion that Pakistan knew something substantive about the world's most wanted terrorist living 35 miles outside its Capital.

And as I write this, Reuters is reporting that Pakistani intelligence officials say Bin Laden may have been living within their borders for seven years before he was killed. That's intel they ostensibly got after the fact, from one of his widows.