Opinion: You’re not alone: Most Americans believe Pakistan was double-dealing on Osama bin Laden refuge
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Some Pakistani officials have been expressing shock all week that the world’s most wanted murderer was living in relative comfort right under their beards in a huge compound (see photo above) near a military academy just outside the country’s capital.
An overwhelming majority of Americans just don’t buy that line.
A new Rassmussen Reports poll out today finds that fully 84% of Americans believe it is at least somewhat likely that high-ranking Pakistani officials knew about the $1 million residence of the Al Qaeda founder where the Obama administration says a Navy SEAL team dropped in, captured and killed Osama bin Laden early Monday morning local time.
On his continuing victory lap, President Obama met secretly with the entire assault team today at Fort Campbell, Ky. to thank them and award the special ops group the Presidential Unit Citation.
“We have cut off their head,” declared a buoyant Obama, who says he is not releasing the terrorist leader’s death photo because he doesn’t want to appear to the world to be celebrating the man’s death.
Obama spoke to an exuberant rally of some 2,300 other American troops.
Only 9% of the 1,000 adults surveyed say it’s unlikely Pakistani leaders knew nothing. Even fewer (5%) view Pakistan as an ally in the war on terror, one-third of last summer’s total.
More than one-in-four (26%) view Pakistan as an enemy while 61% see the nuclear-armed country as a frenemy, somewhere in between .
Seventyu-two percent thinks it’s fine we attacked an alleged ally without consultation and only 8% think Obama should have sought Islamabad’s permission.
-- Andrew Malcolm
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