The al-Libi raid was carried out as Special Forces were possibly just hours away from capturing Khattalah after tracking his whereabouts, U.S. officials told CNN.
CNN reported U.S. forces may have been ready to act to capture Khattalah as soon as the day after al-Libi’s arrest, according to some officials.
CNN revealed a top-level White House meeting was scheduled for around Oct. 7 to get Obama’s final approval to capture Khattalah.
However, al-Libi’s capture and its subsequent announcement to news media sent Khattalah deep underground and further caused a major rift with the Libyan government, which demanded an end to any further U.S. raids.
CNN reported the Khattalah raid never materialized “partly because there was so much publicity inside Libya and in the Western press about the al-Libi capture.”
The news network reported the aborted Khattalah capture is leading “to sensitive questions inside the administration about the tradeoff between getting al-Libi and going after the perpetrators of the politically charged Benghazi attack.”
Is Obama Prepping To Bypass Congress?
A senior progressive strategist and former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton who specializes in the use of executive authority to bypass Congress is reportedly joining the White House.
The New York Times is reporting John Podesta, founder of the Center for American Progress, has agreed to serve as counselor to President Obama for a year.
The Times reported Podesta will help the White House on “matters related to the health care law, administration organization and executive actions,” with particular focus on so-called climate change issues, according to a person familiar with the plans.
Podesta is a long-time champion of the use of executive powers, including bypassing the legislative branch to enact progressive change.
In November 2010, he co-authored a 48-page Center for American Progress paper titled, “The Power of the President: Recommendations to Advance Progressive Change.”
“The U.S. Constitution and the laws of our nation grant the president significant authority to make and implement policy,” wrote Podesta in the paper’s introduction.
Podesta stressed: “The ability of President Obama to accomplish important change through these powers should not be underestimated.”
The paper states the president can use his executive authority to:
• Conserve federal lands for future generations.
• Create a web portal to empower housing counselors, reduce burdens on lenders and speed up home mortgage modifications.
• Promote practices that support working families.
• Partner with the private sector in health care payment reform.
• Focus on health care prevention in implementing the Affordable Care Act.
• Create a virtual U.S. statistical agency.
• Redouble support for Palestinian state- and institution-building efforts.