Brennan: U.S. Was Ready to Take Bin Laden Alive

Politico reports:

White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said Monday that U.S. forces were prepared to take Osama bin Laden alive from the suburban compound in Pakistan, but the opportunity to do so was considered “remote.”

The Al Qaeda leader took his wife as a human shield during the firefight in Abbottabad, Brennan told reporters at a White House briefing.

“Here is bin Laden, who has been calling for attacks, living in a million-dollar-plus compound, hiding behind women put in front of him for a shield,” Brennan said. “It just proves how false the narrative has been for years.”

He said that “speaks to, I think, the nature of the individual he was.”

Brennan spoke to reporters for almost an hour, providing additional details about the mission Sunday that resulted in the capture and death of bin Laden almost 10 years after the Sept. 11 attacks. Brennan, who said he has been following bin Laden for 15 years, struck a tone that was at times triumphant.

He called Obama’s decision to approve the mission one of the “gutsiest calls” in recent history at the White House, given the risky nature of the operation.