The White House backed away Monday evening from key details in its narrative about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, including claims by senior U.S. officials that the Al Qaeda leader had a weapon and may have fired it during a gun battle with U.S. forces.As Lew Rockwell has pointed out, it is standard operating procedure for the government to spin any capture/killing of a prized enemy in a manner that paints the enemy in the most unfavorable light. Thus, the story that bin Laden used a female shield in an attempt to protect himself during the raid. It turns out this story was completely fabricated.
Officials also retreated from claims that one of bin Laden’s wives was killed in the raid and that bin Laden was using her as a human shield before she was shot by U.S. forces...
At a televised White House briefing Monday afternoon, Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan said bin Laden joined in the fight that several residents of the Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound put up against the Navy SEALs during the 40-minute operation.
“He [bin Laden] was engaged in a firefight with those that entered the area of the house he was in. And whether or not he got off any rounds, I quite frankly don’t know,” Brennan said.
At a Pentagon briefing earlier in the day, a senior defense official said bin Laden used a woman as a human shield so he could fire shots. “He was firing behind her,” the official said.
In another background briefing early Monday morning, a senior administration official also said bin Laden put up a fight. “He did resist the assault force. And he was killed in a firefight,” the official said.
However, during a background, off-camera briefing for television reporters later Monday, a senior White House official said bin Laden was not armed when he was killed, apparently by the U.S. raid team.
Another White House official familiar with the TV briefing confirmed the change to POLITICO, adding, “I’m not aware of him having a weapon.”
It's being re-spun because in this day of video cameras on every cell phone, the public knows that U.S. military personnel did not attack without cameras on their helmets. The failure to release the raid video, along with the dumping of bin Laden's body at sea, is leaving a highly suspicious public and Obama has a presidential race to run with the killing of bin Laden as the centerpiece. In order to counter the highly suspicious public, the White House is contemplating releasing the kill video. But first they have to spin out the original story of bin Laden using one of his wives to shield him, since the video would contradict that version of events.
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