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May 1, 2012

How 'Risky' Was the bin Laden Raid?

Micah Zenko, Council on Foreign Relations

AP Photo

Obama’s authorization of the bin Laden raid was indeed risky: based on incomplete information (such as the lack of definitive proof that the Al Qaeda leader was in the Abbotabad compound) and objections from a split cabinet. Even if the operation had failed or cost American lives, many analysts and commentators—including Clinton—exaggerate the likely political costs to the president.

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TAGGED: Barack Obama, Osama Bin Laden, 2012

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