Fox News host Bret Baier and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan sparred over the U.S. decision to unilaterally launch the operation into Pakistani territory that killed Osama bin Laden.
The line of questioning began with discussing the possibility of Dr. Shakil Afridi being freed, who helped the U.S. locate bin Laden. Afridi is considered a spy for the U.S. in Pakistan. Khan said he felt the U.S. should have notified Pakistan before the raid that resulted in the terror mastermind’s death.
“We in Pakistan always felt that we were an ally of the U.S. and, if we had been given the information about Osama bin Laden, we should have taken him out,” Khan said in the Monday interview.
Baier mentioned U.S. concerns about leaks within the Pakistani government and the importance of capturing or killing bin Laden successfully.
“The U.S. was acting after being attacked on 9/11 to try to get the mastermind,” Baier explained in reference to the 2011 operation.
“At the time, it hugely embarrassed Pakistan,” Khan said of the raid. “We were an ally of the U.S. and the U.S. did not trust us and they actually came and bombed and killed a man in our territory.”
“Not just a man,” Baier interjected. “The terrorist who killed 3,000-plus Americans.”
“Well, let’s not forget that Pakistan lost 70,000 people in this fight,” Khan responded. “We were fighting this war for the U.S. And we lost all these people fighting this war, so there was obviously a lot of anger about the way this whole thing was done.”
Khan is in Washington, D.C., and met with President Trump during his visit.
