Rumsfeld: We Woulda Hit bin Laden Same Way

(Newser) – Add Donald Rumsfeld to the list of Republicans heaping praise for Osama bin Laden's killing on anyone but the Obama administration: "The capabilities to do it were developed over time by previous administrations, and they benefit the country, and the intelligence had been gathered over a long period of time," Rumsfeld tells the AP in an interview yesterday. "And it came to fruition in the Obama administration, to the credit of the intelligence community."

Furthermore, the former defense secretary doesn't "have a doubt in my mind but that President Bush, if he had information as to the location of bin Laden, would have done exactly the same thing, and I thought the forces executed it brilliantly." He also commented on Pakistan, saying that he doubted they knew bin Laden's location, but that the brouhaha over the secret strike was hot air: "They are aware we might do it if we have a high-value target, and they invariably have to say something about it politically. (In the past) we've gone in and we don't tell (Pakistan) specifically because they don't need to know, and when people's lives are at risk, need-to-know is the critical element."