Brian Beutler May 2, 2011, 12:35 PM

The Democrats’ top armed services expert on Capitol Hill says Pakistan’s military and intelligence have grave questions to answer after Osama Bin Laden was killed in an elaborate compound, deep inside Pakistan, near a top Pakistani military facility.

“I think that the Pakistani army and intelligence have a lot of questions to answer, given the location, the length of time, and the apparent fact that this facility was built for bin Laden, and its closeness to the central location to the Pakistani army,” said Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), who chairs the Senate Armed Services committee, in a Capitol briefing with reporters Monday morning.

“I think the Pakistani president’s statement today was a very reassuring statement — when he very specifically said that he thinks that it’s a great victory and a success, and to congratulate us on the success of the operation,” Levin added. “So reassured by his statement, not necessarily suspicious that he knew, or the civilian leadership knew. But I must tell you I hope that he will follow through — that the President of Pakistan Hardari will follow through and ask some very tough questions with his own military and his own intelligence. They’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

A number of reports — including from President Obama himself — indicate that Pakistan facilitated the intelligence that ultimately led U.S. forces to bin Laden’s compound.

“[I]t’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding,” Obama said in a statement from the White House late Sunday night.

There’s a balancing act under way, but it sounds like officials both in the United States and in Pakistan believe that Pakistan’s defense and intelligence establishments helped bin Laden survive in almost plain sight for many years.

Afghanistan, Carl Levin, Osama Bin Laden, Pakistan, Terrorism