'No Pakistani official had knowledge of Osama': Grenier

[T-Faz]

WASHINGTON: Former station chief of the CIA in Islamabad, Robert Grenier has said that the US must realise immediate threats being faced by Pakistan and try to be on the same page with Islamabad. He also said that he did not believe any one in the Pakistani leadership knew bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad.

Speaking to Express 24/7 correspondent, Huma Imtiaz, Grenier said that he believed no one in Pakistan knew about Osama bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad, except his close confidants.

Gernier, who had headed the CIA Station in Islamabad in 2001, said that though national interests of Pakistan and the United States were divergent, Washington must put itself in Islamabad’s shoes.

Garnier said Pakistan faced some immediate threats it considers far more important to tackle first.

Referring to Osama bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad, Grenier says what US intelligence was thinking at the most was that the al Qaeda leader might be hiding in some small apartment in Karachi.

He says he does not believe that any Pakistani official knew about Osama’s presence there.
Grenier added that tonnes of information secured from Bin Laden’s Abbottabad residence provided no such hint.

‘No Pakistani official had knowledge of Osama’: Grenier – The Express Tribune

 

[Ignited Mind]

So if it comes from the former CIA station chief, it must be true?

Americans are known to pamper Pakistan Army as and when it suits them.

So the world's most wanted terrorist was found chilling in Pakistan's West Point/Sandhurst for years along-with his wives and children; in a garrison town heavily guarded and where entry and exit are strictly monitored...

...and the Pakistanis didn't know?

These guys really think that the world is made up of all fools, right?

I mean they will throw any rubbish at us and we will jump on it like a dog jumps on a piece of bone?

I say, the Americans are just giving the PA another safe exit from global derision, much like they have done in the past.

 

[lem34]

We really dont care what americans say. They talk a load of CXXX I wish our corrupt bribed leaders would be strung up on a pole. Evetone know most of our public hate americans because they are murdering evil basxxx

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

So if it comes from the former CIA station chief, it must be true?

More so the fact that there is absolutely no evidence contradicting his argument.

Americans are known to pamper Pakistan Army as and when it suits them.

Of late 'Pampering Pakistan' has certainly not been US policy.

So the world's most wanted terrorist was found chilling in Pakistan's West Point/Sandhurst for years along-with his wives and children; in a garrison town heavily guarded and where entry and exit are strictly monitored...

It is not a 'garrison town', it houses a military academy, and the town has expanded significantly to where 'entry and exit' is nowwhere close to 'strictly monitored' as you claim.

I would like to see some credible sources supporting the level of 'entry and exit monitoring' you claim existed.

...and the Pakistanis didn't know?

These guys really think that the world is made up of all fools, right?

Without any evidence to support your position, it is certainly not us who is the 'fool'.

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

According to the article Grenadier said that nobody in the Pakistani leadership knew about Osama's presence in Pakistan but that was as it is never really much in doubt was it ? I mean most people were not blaming the Pakistani leadership for harbouring him anyways .

We should first find out what his exact words were because this is contradicting . If he said that nobody in the Pak leadership knew about it then it means that he has given no clean chit to Pak military and ISI but only to the govt.

If he said that nobody in Pakistan knew then that would be significant otherwise it wouldn't be because as it is ,it wasn't Pak leadership that was under suspicion but the Pak military and ISI .

What were his exact words ?

 

[lem34]

According to the article Grenadier said that nobody in the Pakistani leadership knew about Osama's presence in Pakistan but that was as it is never really much in doubt was it ? I mean most people were not blaming the Pakistani leadership for harbouring him anyways .

We should first find out what his exact words were because this is contradicting . If he said that nobody in the Pak leadership knew about it then it means that he has given no clean chit to Pak military and ISI but only to the govt.



If he said that nobody in Pakistan knew then that would be significant otherwise it wouldn't be because as it is ,it was Pak leadership that was under suspicion but the Pak military and ISI .

What were his exact words ?[/QUOTE

Listen mate if ISI were hiding him the americans would never have found him period. Its just american lies and propaganda because pakistan will only bend so much to them and will not become a complete tool

 

[Jango]

So if it comes from the former CIA station chief, it must be true?

Americans are known to pamper Pakistan Army as and when it suits them.

So the world's most wanted terrorist was found chilling in Pakistan's West Point/Sandhurst for years along-with his wives and children; in a garrison town heavily guarded and where entry and exit are strictly monitored...

...and the Pakistanis didn't know?

These guys really think that the world is made up of all fools, right?

I mean they will throw any rubbish at us and we will jump on it like a dog jumps on a piece of bone?

I say, the Americans are just giving the PA another safe exit from global derision, much like they have done in the past.

I take it you know Pakistan better than me.??

Abbotabad is not a Garrison town.
There are no fighting forces there. Only PMA and the security assiciated with it.
It does not have half as much nakas as you visualize!!!

 

[Abingdonboy]

I and many others have said this incident either clearly shows the Pakistani intelligence community were deeply involved in habouring OBL OR are extremely incompetent for not knowing the THE MOST WANTED MAN ON EARTH was just a few miles from their capital city and a few hundred meters from their military academy. This guy is clearly choosing the later.



+ guys before you start criticising me, these are the only two possibilities if you actually think about it.

 

[FaujHistorian]

Dear OP,

If you read it again, it looks really really really (you need more emphasis than this? ) from Pakistani POV.

Here is why?

Our army and our intelligence agencies should have been hunting this Ben fing ladeen all over the place, with no stone unturned.

This is for simple reason.

Ben Fing ladeen and his Qaida had declared war on Pak army. Get it? War on Pak army!


When Indians declare war on Pakistan, how would you feel if someone says the biggest spy of RAW was living next to GHQ?

How would you feel? huh?


So let the Americans say few nice things about us.

But we should not use that as a lullaby and dance on the false tunes.


Qaida members are serious threats to Pak's sovereignty. It is time we drag these dogs and pigs out of the holes and hang them high in our major cities. If we have to burn down the houses/mosques where they hide, if we have to hang some of our own Qaida-sympathizers. So be it.

Keeping nations going and surviving as a nation is no joke. So let's not joke by giving statements like "We did not know". It sounds pathetic at best.

Peace.

 

[FaujHistorian]

I and many others have said this incident either clearly shows the Pakistani intelligence community were deeply involved in habouring OBL OR are extremely incompetent for not knowing the THE MOST WANTED MAN ON EARTH was just a few miles from their capital city and a few hundred meters from their military academy. This guy is clearly choosing the later.



+ guys before you start criticising me, these are the only two possibilities if you actually think about it.

Damn incompetency for sure.

We have this Islamist la la land implemented in our poor country. Anyone with big beard and black mark on forehead gets automatic "get out of jail card". if you look like a Mullah with long white beard, you are considered pious of the pious and no one will report you to the authorities.

Our society has been torn apart due to our false Islamism and we are paying the price. Al the terrorist have to do is put on Arabic looking garb and police will hesitate 1000 times before asking you for your ID.

That's why terrorist strike us at will, all over the country.

The situation is not too different than the one during USA's civil war. Slavery just like Islamic-Slavery has made so many Pakistanis sympathetic to the cause of Ben fing ladeen.

So sad to see that our army and our troops and our men and women and children are paying the ultimate price while the Islamists among us keeping on their robotic Arabic Allah o Akbar chant.


peace.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

I and many others have said this incident either clearly shows the Pakistani intelligence community were deeply involved in habouring OBL OR are extremely incompetent for not knowing the THE MOST WANTED MAN ON EARTH was just a few miles from their capital city and a few hundred meters from their military academy. This guy is clearly choosing the later.

+ guys before you start criticising me, these are the only two possibilities if you actually think about it.

What level of resources had Pakistan devoted to hunting down a man that they strongly believed was either dead or irrelevant, and what level of resources did the US devote to the same man?

And will you also deny that Pakistan's arrest of people like KSM and hundreds of other mid to low level AQ members, along with the intelligence on the courier that eventually led to OBL, did not play a part in the US finding OBL?

How could you call Pakistan incompetent when Pakistan's role in tracking down OBL was significant - the only reason Pakistan looks incompetent is because the US chose to betray Pakistan, hide intelligence from it and unilaterally conduct an illegal raid inside Pakistani territory.

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

The question hasn't been answered what were his exact words ? 'Pak leadership' or 'no official' in Pakistan knew about his presence ?

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

The question hasn't been answered what were his exact words ? 'Pak leadership' or 'no official' in Pakistan knew about his presence ?

Is there any evidence to support the position that either of the two entities you mention above had any knowledge of OBL's presence?

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

Is there any evidence to support the position that either of the two entities you mention above had any knowledge of OBL's presence?

Direct evidence ? No.

Circumstantial evidence ? Yes .

The fact that he was there for 6 years in military town without any sort of support system from some elements of the army or ISI is highly unlikely . He had some support system for sure , what ? We don't know but the circumstances in which he was caught turn the needle of suspicion on the ISI and army ( or atleast the rogue elements) .

Let us not discuss the entire case itself as that would be a matter of long debate, we should discuss this man's comments and confirm who exactly he in his opinion is giving a clean chit to .

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Direct evidence ? No.
Circumstantial evidence ? Yes .

What 'circumstantial evidence'? SO far it is outright speculation.

The fact that he was there for 6 years in military town without any sort of support system from some elements of the army or ISI is highly unlikely .

Again, a town with a military academy in it, not a 'garrison town', and it had no where near the kinds of 'entry/exit' checks the media and some commentators keep harping about.

And if OBL had a 'support system', why was he raising goats and chickens in the compound and growing vegetables to feed the residents, and, given the conditions of the compound and lack of facilities, living a rather poor life?

If not one single neighbor suspected terrorist activity in the compound, let alone suspect OBL lived there, then how on earth was the military supposed to know about it?

He had some support system for sure , what ? We don't know but the circumstances in which he was caught turn the needle of suspicion on the ISI and army ( or atleast the rogue elements) .

Why would he have anything outside of an AQ 'support system for sure'? You have to explain with evidence why you claim 'for sure'.

Let us not discuss the entire case itself as that would be a matter of long debate, we should discuss this man's comments and confirm who exactly he in his opnion he is giving a clean chit to .

Sure, please dig up more of his exact comments and quotes.