Intel: Bin Laden Was Prepared to Flee

Politico reports:

Osama bin Laden had cash totaling 500 Euros and two telephone numbers sewn into his clothing when he was killed — sure signs that he was prepared to flee his compound at a moment’s notice — top U.S. intelligence officials told members of Congress at a classified briefing in the Capitol Tuesday.

Three sources who attended the briefing confirmed the details for POLITICO, and a fourth source said he had been told the same thing outside Tuesday’s meeting. A White House spokesman said he would not comment on the matter.

CIA Director Leon Panetta told lawmakers about the items found in bin Laden’s clothing in response to a question about why he wasn’t guarded by more security personnel at his relatively luxurious home in a military town north of Islamabad. The answer, according to one source: Bin Laden believed “his network was strong enough he’d get a heads-up” before any U.S. strike against him.

The evidence of cash — which amounts to about $740 in U.S. dollars — and phone numbers was divulged to support the administration’s belief that bin Laden was prepared to escape the compound if alerted to an impending attack, the source said.

That view may also be buttressed by the White House’s revelation that bin Laden was not armed when he was killed in a Sunday raid by a Navy SEAL team. That team was able to capture intelligence — including computers and thumb drives, and, apparently, the phone numbers bin Laden was carrying.

If American officials believe bin Laden thought he’d get tipped off before an invasion, that may help explain reluctance on the part of the United States to tell Pakistan of the invasion before it was completed.