And basically said, "Look, you know, you're going to have to make a judgment here. I remember calling the White House, and they were aware how tough a decision this is. LEON PANETTA: If there were woman and children in the shot, we normally would not take the shot. And so one of the tough questions was, you know, "what should we do?" RADIO COMMANDS: Standby. Unfortunately, this individual had family and wife and children around him. They thought they had pretty good information about where this individual was. Had been involved, not only in going after our officers, but in killing members of our own forces in Afghanistan.Īnd it was on the day of Elizabeth Hanson's funeral that I got a call from our operations center. This was a bad guy and he was clearly a leader. And so we immediately asked the question: "Who the hell was involved in this tragic suicide bombing?" We were able to get pretty good intelligence.Īnd so, we knew who the individual was. LEON PANETTA: We have a lot of sources that we rely on, spies. LEON PANETTA: We spent a lot of time trying to figure out who were the ones who pushed that button. What went through my mind was the families out there, who within a few hours, were going to be informed that someone who, who they loved, had been killed. LEON PANETTA : It's hard to find the words when suddenly you're told that seven of your officers have been killed and others seriously wounded. LEON PANETTA: This person obviously turned out to be a double agent and had blown himself up, as well as our officers. NEWS REPORTER: This was the worst, single loss of life for the CIA since 1983 when a truck bomber blew up the American embassy. NEWS REPORTER: Initial reports indicate the bomber was being recruited by the CIA as a source. I had to bear some of the responsibility for having taken this risk. I knew that the CIA officers were there because I ordered them to be there. They put their lives on the line to serve this country and that's what Elizabeth Hanson did. LEON PANETTA | CIA DIRECTOR: That memory of going to Arlington to bury one of my officers from the CIA, Elizabeth Hanson, is one that will be with me for a long time.
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