INSIDE EDITION EXCLUSIVE: 

NAVY SEAL CREDITED WITH KILLING BIN LADEN REACTS TO AFGHANISTAN NEWS

The Taliban always said, ‘You have the clocks and we have the time.’ They knew they were going to win, and they did.”

AIRING ON MONDAY, AUGUST 16^th 

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New York, NY – August 16, 2021 – In an exclusive airing on Monday, INSIDE EDITION’s Megan Alexander speaks with Robert O’Neill, the Navy Seal credited with killing Osama bin Laden, who reacts to Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban.

He tells INSIDE EDITION that he wasn’t surprised to see the front-page headlines today. “The Taliban always told us, and I knew this when I first got to Afghanistan, they said, ‘You have the clocks, and we have the time,’” he says. “They knew they were going to win, and they did.”

O’Neill goes on to say he feels America’s role in Afghanistan should have ended years ago with a quick strike, in and out. “This is not President Biden’s fault, this is not President Trump’s fault, this is not President Obama’s fault, [or] President Bush. It doesn’t matter how we got here. We’re just here. We should’ve left a long time ago,” he states.

“We should go in, hit them hard, then break stuff, point them in the face, say, ‘Don’t do it again, then leave,” he tells INSIDE EDITION.

He continues, “It’s not complex. When the bad guy shows up, you kill them and when they have had enough, you stop. And if they start again, you kill them and then you stop. We make it a lot more complex than it needs to.”

O’Neill goes on to say he thinks the way the United States handled the situation is a major historic blunder. “This will go down in history as a lot worse than the fall of Saigon,” he tells INSIDE EDITION.

As far as the Afghan government goes, O’Neill says he’s not surprised that they gave up without a fight. He says, “Part of me doesn’t blame them because when the Taliban shows up, you are not going to be lucky enough for them just to kill you, they are going to torture your whole family in front of you. They’re going to kill everyone you know.”

For INSIDE EDITION’s full report, tune in on Monday, August 16th. Check local listings for times and stations in your area.  

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