Smith came back quickly to Obama’s media availability after the bin Laden “kill raid,” saying the intelligence information collected in Abbottabad most likely went to waste.”
“If al-Qaida doesn’t know he [bin Laden] is gone, their hackles don’t go up,” he explained.
“We had a great opportunity but the administration put all that information out there. The chance of destroying al-Qaida completely was given up within a couple of hours after the raid was over.”
Smith’s voice grew louder and cracked.
“All the work that special operators have suffered for, and given their lives for, was rendered pointless,” he said, nearly shouting over a lunchtime din at the Tampa Convention Center. “I take it as a personal insult. These kinds of leaks kill people.”
“Sorry,” he said, lowering his voice. “I will get emotional about this. It happens.”
