“I can’t tell you that it was a Pakistani individual or ISI [the Pakistani intelligence service] or anybody else that would provide that warning, but I am convinced that somebody was targeted to provide that warning in the event that something like that would happen,” Panetta, now secretary of defense, said in an interview with Charlie Rose that aired on PBS Tuesday night.
During planning sessions for the early morning raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, U.S. officials discussed how bin Laden could escape once an attack took place, Panetta said.
“Our suspicions were always, ‘Well, they’ve got to have a tunnel for an escape. They’ve got to have, you know, a hole in the wall that they can hide in. They’ve got to have a way to get out the back door if there’s any kind of raid. Surely they’ve planned for all of that.’”
