Pull the other one, its got bells on....

Gates: 'No evidence' Pakistani leaders knew bin Laden was there

U.S. officials have “no evidence” that current Pakistani leaders knew Osama bin Laden had been holed up near their capital city for half a decade, but they suspect someone — perhaps a retired official — did know about the al Qaeda leader’s whereabouts....Amid passionate calls from Capitol Hill for the Obama administration to get tough with Pakistan after the revelation bin Laden had been hiding there for up to five years, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday he has seen “no evidence at all that the senior leadership knew.”

Gates told reporters during a Pentagon briefing that “I’ve seen some evidence to the contrary.”

In fact, Gates said, U.S. officials “have no evidence yet with respect to anybody else” knowing bin Laden was hiding in a compound about 30 miles from Islamabad.

Still, the former CIA director added, “My supposition is somebody knew.”

No kidding. Its rather unlikely that "senior leadership" had no idea Osama was operating from and hiding beside a major military base. His presence was a little bit too explosive so to speak for this to be the work of some low-level functionary. More than likely someone high up in the government leadership knew, and the ISI certainly knew and supported his living there.

Gates kind of covering for the Pakistanis is what happens when you rely upon unreliable "allies" like the Pakistanis and Saudis, both of whom are at least playing double games to undermine the US. However, as the US has put itself in a position of having to rely on these unreliable regimes expect more of this soft-shoe approach where a far sterner approach would bear better results.