Barack Obama reveals US raid was the 'longest 40 minutes' of his life

Published on Monday 9 May 2011 19:41

BARACK Obama has described the elite commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden as "the longest 40 minutes of my life", with the possible exception of when his youngest daughter was gravely ill with meningitis.

The US president said the risks of the covert operation to take out the al-Qaeda leader were outweighed by the chance of "finally getting our man".

In an interview that revealed the White House's uncertainty and confusion as to how the night-time helicopter raid was unfolding thousands of miles away in Pakistan, Mr Obama said anyone questioning bin Laden's fate needed psychiatric help. He told CBS's 60 Minutes programme that while he experienced nerves in the lead up to the operation and was mindful of the "significant consequences" of getting it wrong, he was now confident that "justice was done". He continued: "It was the longest 40 minutes of my life, with the possible exception of when Sasha got meningitis when she was three months old and I was waiting for the doctor to tell me that she was all right.

"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. And I think that anyone who would question that the perpetrator of mass murder on American soil didn't deserve what he got needs to have their head examined."

Mr Obama said that while he knew the decision to send in special forces to get bin Laden at his Pakistan compound was risky, he felt it was the best way to ensure they had their man.

He said: "In some ways, sending in choppers and actually putting our guys on the ground entailed greater risks than some other options. I thought it was important, though, for us to be able to say that we'd definitely got the guy."

The president said that even with months of intelligence work, the odds that bin Laden was in the compound were only about 55-45. Such was the confidence he had in Navy Seals unit, however, he decided the benefits outweighed the risks.

Mr Obama disclosed that, contrary to reports, he and his closest aides were not fully aware of the operation's progress in live time. As he and senior White House officials monitored the Abbottabad raid, Mr Obama said they "had a sense of when gunfire and explosions took place" and knew when one of the helicopters carrying the commandoes made an unplanned hard landing. He added, however, that they "could not get information clearly about what was happening inside the compound".

Meanwhile, the Obama administration said last night it wants to have a co-operative relationship with Pakistan, despite strains over bin Laden's death.

White House spokesman Jay Carney confirmed the US was looking to speak to bin Laden's wives who were taken into custody by Pakistani officials.