Last Sunday, CIA Director Leon Panetta called me to say the decade-long search for Osama bin Laden was over. The man responsible for terrorist attacks against the United States in 1998, 2000 and 2001 had been killed.
This was a signature achievement, a brilliantly executed Special Operations mission that capped eight years of intelligence collection and analysis. The announcement of this success brought cheering crowds to the streets in Washington and New York and celebrations around the country.
It was a moment that brought our nation together. The night after the mission, President Obama hosted members of Congress from both parties at the White House. He spoke movingly about setting aside our differences to unite in the way we did after the September 11 attacks.
But pride over the joint intelligence and military operation -- which demonstrated the progress we've made since the intelligence failures of 9/11 and the run-up to the war in Iraq -- was fleeting.
In short order, this unqualified success was examined, parsed, dissected and second-guessed to a point where Americans might believe what happened in Abbottabad, Pakistan was not a successful operation. It was.
This rapid shift in conversation meant we were no longer talking about the strategic shift in our efforts to defeat global terrorism or the opportunity to push Pakistan to be a better counterterrorism partner.
Instead, the discussion lurched to whether post-mortem pictures of bin Laden should be released (they should not), whether harsh interrogation techniques led the CIA to him (they did not) or whether bin Laden presented a threat to the strike team (he most certainly did).
The administration made every attempt to quickly and responsibly provide as much information as possible on the intelligence and the strike.
But instead, any small discrepancy in information (provided from halfway across the world, at night, in a complicated raid) was attributed not to the fog of war, but rather as an effort to mislead.
Let's remember these facts:
Now is not the time to co-opt this counterterrorism success for partisan politics or to reflexively question every operational detail. Many of the details that have been held secret must remain so -- not because the government has something to hide -- but because we need to preserve our capabilities to collect intelligence and employ force to strike targets in the future.
The more we publish our playbook, the harder our next mission becomes.
In time, the Senate Intelligence Committee will fully examine the details surrounding this operation.
For example, it isn't clear if the Pakistani Government was aware that bin Laden was in its midst. We need to know if Pakistan officials were complicit, or the intelligence and security forces were merely incompetent. Was this benign indifference or calibrated neglect?
We must also learn what intelligence can be gleaned from the materials taken from the Abbottabad compound, what it tells us about al Qaeda's plans and whether it can be used to further destabilize the organization.
These are important questions.
But equally important is the need to recognize that neutralizing bin Laden was a historic achievement--a victory around which the entire nation should unite in support and shared relief that the leader of al Qaeda is no more. Now is the time to celebrate the hard work and dedication of our military and intelligence professionals and express our deep gratitude.
It was among bin Laden's lifelong goals to divide and weaken our country's resolve. Let's not allow him to triumph now that he's gone.
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
davewiner
New Details in the bin Laden Docs: Portrait of a Fugitive Micro-Manager. http://r2.ly/b8pe
31 minutes ago from Blork
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BradKCTV5
Navy Seal helmet cameras record entire bin laden takedown. http://tinyurl.com/6aybv...
31 minutes ago from web
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davidsirota
CBS reports the Pentagon admits it has video of entire Bin Laden raid: http://bit.ly/lijIAb Time to release the tapes: http://bit.ly/kAaYnc
35 minutes ago from web
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netoviisk
RT @TeamListBack: #teamfollowback #list #monday Bin Laden's location on Google Maps. #Look #deals #promote http://... http://is.gd/mLD50I
1 hour ago from Tweethopper
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Lizardoid
SEAL helmet cams recorded entire bin Laden raid http://lgf.bz/iPMJAH #LGF #lgfpages #tcot #tlot #p2
1 hour ago from web
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TheNewsChick Accounts piece together bin Laden's fugitive trail http://on.msnbc.com/iVZV... via @msnbc | ||
CBSRadioNews
Evidence seized from Osama Bin Laden's compound reveals information on previously unknown terror operatives. 8pm http://bit.ly/cbsnewscast
2 hours ago from web
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Drudge_Report
SEAL HELMET CAMS RECORDED ENTIRE BIN LADEN RAID http://drudge.tw/kQZHv9
3 hours ago from Drudge
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MarlonLuan
Desde a morte de Osama bin Laden, também cresce o medo de retaliação por parte dos radicais. Até avó de Obama, q... http://bit.ly/jHNQm
3 hours ago from twitterfeed
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myfoxphoenix
Ron Paul Addresses bin Laden Raid http://bit.ly/jesokm
3 hours ago from twitterfeed
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Drudge_Report
Despite no Internet, bin Laden 'prolific' emailer... http://drudge.tw/lTtWN5
4 hours ago from Drudge
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Valleywag
Osama Bin Laden Sent Email Like a Weirdo http://gawker.com/580140...
4 hours ago from gawker
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jackshafer
Osama Bin Laden's Thumbnet: http://on.msnbc.com/m0WX...
4 hours ago from TweetDeck
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CBSNews
Navy SEAL helmet cameras recorded every minute of bin Laden raid http://bit.ly/mLAs88
4 hours ago from TweetDeck
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carenbohan
PDF version of our story on the hunt for Osama bin Laden http://link.reuters.com/...
4 hours ago from web
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Slate
RT @propublica: Bin Laden wanted to carry out attacks to prevent Obama from being reelected http://propub.ca/lyyldW
4 hours ago from HootSuite
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latimesmuskal
Former Attorney General: McCain 'simply incorrect' on interrogations that led to key Bin Laden intel http://lat.ms/iDxcjD
4 hours ago from dlvr.it
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CBSRadioNews
New data from bin Laden compound docs reveals previously unknown names of terror operatives around the world 6pET http://bit.ly/cbsnewscast
4 hours ago from web
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MarlonLuan
Feita duas semanas após a morte de Bin Laden, solicitação do presidente foi recebida com surpresa nos EUA. http://glo.bo/mduDEo
5 hours ago from twitterfeed
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WVUEFOX8
McCain: Torture did not lead to bin Laden http://tinyurl.com/4xjgo... #usa #news
5 hours ago from twitterfeed
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"Many of the details that have been held secret must remain so -- not because the government has something to hide -- but because we need to preserve our capabiliti
So even if Ms. Feinstein has personal knowledge of what intelligen
PS - please learn to spell. decent, you're
The Fact that you have to point that out is beyond me,but if you feel the need to write about says more about you than about me.
WE are very proud of the job done by our military.
I'm glad to see the President finally taking on the cynicism and obstructio
We had a military presence in 140 countries before 9/11...now up to 150.
Of course, most of these are to try to gain resources.
All we have done is give the al Qaeda terrorists a heads up that we have intel which will have them scurry around, leave their normal routine, change phones and computers and their location. Just inane.
Obama's creating political divisions? HA!!!
Nice try though.
This is not a mature, cooperativ