White House Recants Some Details on Bin Laden Raid

Osama bin Laden did resist a team of US special forces during Sunday’s raid of his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, but he was not armed as White House officials originally reported. Initial statements that bin Laden used his wife as a shield also were incorrect, said White House spokesman Jay Carney. Five people were killed in the raid, including bin Laden, his son, two couriers and a woman who was caught in the crossfire on the first floor of the compound. However, that woman was not the wife of the al Qaeda leader. Bin Laden’s wife rushed a special operator and was shot in the leg, but she was not killed, Carney said. “Bin Laden was then shot and killed. He was not armed,” he said. (Carney transcript) (AFPS report by Jim Garamone) (Osama bin Laden is Dead is updated to reflect the White House’s corrected account.)