Osama bin Laden Was Weighed Down by Chains, Says Panetta

Osama bin Laden's lifeless body was weighed down by 300 pounds of chains when he was buried at sea, says Leon Panetta in his new book "Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace" recounting his time as CIA director and defense secretary.

Panetta describes the sea burial of the al-Qaida leader after he was killed by U.S. special forces in 2011, according to the India Times. Bin Laden's body was flown to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson for the burial.

"Bin Laden's body was prepared for burial according to Muslim traditions, draped in a white shroud, given final prayers in Arabic, and then placed inside a heavy black bag," Panetta writes in the book.

"Three hundred pounds of iron chains were put inside as well, to ensure that the body would sink. The bagged body was placed on a white table at the rail of the ship; the table was tipped over to drop the body into the sea. It was so heavy that it dragged the table in with it. As the body sank quickly out of sight, the table bobbed on the surface," Panetta writes.

Panetta's book has generated embarrassment for the White House since its release. The Christian Science Monitor pointed to one passage in which Panetta complained to his CIA colleagues about the possibility of the bin Laden raid conflicting with the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner.

"It would be hard to explain the absence of the president and other key officials from the event," Panetta wrote. "(The warning) rankled some of the military leaders, who groused about having to accommodate the 'Washington social schedule' in a matter of national security."

While promoting his book on CNN this week, Panetta questioned President Barack Obama's leadership style, saying that while he was impressed with Obama's decisiveness to go after bin Laden, he struggled to reconcile that with his hesitation for airstrikes in Syria.

"He knew that this had to be done," Panetta said of bin Laden. "And I really respected that decision. I just could not have imagined him – not making the same decision with it came to the credibility of the United States on drawing that red line in Syria."


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