Colin Powell: This guy is dead. He’s off the face of earth…
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer sat down with former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Secretary of State Colin Powell during the 5 p.m. hour of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. A highlight and video links from the full interview are after the jump. Please visit the CNN.com/ThisJustIn blog for the latest news on Osama bin Laden’s death. A full transcript is posted at CNN.com.
EMBEDDABLE VIDEO: Part One: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell reacts to bin Laden’s death and talks about the raid that brought him down.
Please credit all usage of the interview to CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
Highlight from Full Interview
THIS IS A RUSH FDCH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: How disappointing was it for you, for former President Bush, that on your watch, you didn’t capture or kill Bin Laden?
COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: As disappointing as it was for President Clinton that he wasn’t able too. I wish we could have gotten this guy on 9/12, the day after 9/11.
BLITZER: You were close in Tora Bora.
POWELL: We were close, perhaps, in Tora Bora, but we missed the opportunity if the opportunity existed it’s controversial, but we didn’t try to make the —
BLITZER: Why is that?
POWELL: I don’t know, but there was evidence and intelligence that suggested he was in the area, but it never got translated into sending forces in there to find him. But, of course, we were disappointed. And I’m sure that everybody was disappointed, but these things take time. It is not that simple to chase somebody around in that kind of terrain and find them with reliable information, but he was found. It took ten years, but he was found, and he was killed.
BLITZER: You know, they gave him a proper Muslim burial at sea. I suppose they didn’t want any location where his supporters could come and make him a martyr and celebrate him and be inspired by him. So, they thought the best thing to do is just dump the body at sea. A smart decision?
POWELL: I think it’s a very smart decision, and as they said, it’s a proper Muslim burial. That’s more than he ever gave to the 3,000 people who —
BLITZER: Did he deserve a proper Muslim burial given —
POWELL: That’s who we are. That’s who we are. We’re Americans. And we try to respect beliefs of others, and it would have been not in our interest to have essentially discarded the body if we had the opportunity to give him both a proper Muslim burial.
BLITZER: Should they release the photo of Bin Laden with the bullet in his eye and the dead body?
POWELL: I’ll leave that up to the administration to decide. I don’t need to see it. He’s dead. We all know that. His body has been buried at sea, and I’ll leave it up to the administration as to whether it serves any purpose or not.
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