Death of Osama Bin Laden: Operation Neptune Spear
Before sunrise on May 2nd, a pair of Blackhawk helicopters that carried 12 Navy seals departed Jalalabad, Afghanistan, and traveled through Pakistani airspace using stealth technology in order to evade Pakistan’s radar.
After 40 minutes of arriving at their destination in Abbottabad, Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the U.S., was already dead.
When the team re-entered Afghanistan’s airspace with bin Laden’s body, the sun had not yet come up, and the Pakistani government was unaware of the operation.
Why? In reference to Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, he said that it was decided that any attempt to collaborate with the Pakistanis would jeopardize the mission. They may instigate the targets to alert.
As a result, the U.S. doesn’t have faith in Pakistan, and believed that if it learned of the planned operation, Pakistan would facilitate the escape of Bin Laden.
The U.S.’s decision to raid Bin Laden without first consulting Pakistan demonstrates the deep distrust between the U.S. and Pakistan, as well as the nature of the raid, it is further exacerbating the tensions.
