Tierney doubts Pakistan’s claims about bin Laden

U.S. Rep. John Tierney, D-Salem, said he finds it “highly suspect” that Pakistan government officials did not know terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden was living in a fortified compound located just a half-mile from the Kakul Military Academy.”We’ve been conscious of the cooperation level or lack thereof with Pakistan for some time,” Tierney said during a telephone interview Tuesday shortly before he and other congressmen attended a briefing by Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta.President Barack Obama announced late Sunday night that U.S. Navy seals had penetrated the compound and killed bin Laden in a firefight.Since then, many U.S. representatives have said Pakistan officials – either in the military or the intelligence service – must have known where bin Laden was and have called for cutting foreign aid to the country.Prior to the raid on the compound, U.S. officials say, they didn’t inform Pakistan of its plans. Pakistanis scrambled their aircraft in the wake of the U.S. military intervention.Tierney said Tuesday he thinks it’s important for the United States to continue giving civilian foreign aid to Pakistan, but believes military officials must demonstrate they are no longer harboring terrorists within their borders or face losing the billions in foreign aid they’ve received from the U.S.But Tierney thinks it’s important to continue the civilian aid to Pakistan in order to keep the government of the nuclear power stable.”We need to keep the government strong so it doesn’t fall into the hands of the wrong people,” he said.Asked if he thought the administration would be so patient with Pakistan if it wasn’t a nuclear power, Tierney said, “I doubt it very much.””I think the concern is the government may dissolve and whoever replaces it may be more disposed to the terrorists and won’t do a good job protecting their nuclear facilities,” Tierney said.The congressman also said he continues to be opposed to the presence of 100,000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan and believes the military should adopt a counter terrorism approach there, rather than a counterinsurgency approach.Tierney also called on countries like Russia and Iran to provide aid to both Afghanistan and Pakistan.”There’s no reason for us to think that we have to do it all,” he said.Tierney restated his call for Obama to appear before Congress to explain the country’s military role in Libya, even though it has clearly diminished.”There’s mixed conversations about that. The administration tells us we’re no longer in the lead,” he said. “We’re not doing as much as some would like and we’re doing more than others would like.”Tierney told The Daily Item previously there is no strategic reason for the country to be involved in military operations in Libya and that being in military conflicts on three different fronts has the military spread too thin.