- Polio's Surprising Comeback
He Led the CIA to bin Laden—and Unwittingly Fueled a Vaccine Backlash
Pakistani doctor's role in health campaign sparked local suspicions that efforts to fight polio were part of a Western plot.
PESHAWAR, PakistanIn his native Pakistan, Dr. Shakil Afridi is considered a traitor by many people for helping the Central Intelligence Agency track down and kill Osama bin Laden. In the United States, he is hailed as a hero.
In global health circles, his story is a cautionary tale about the consequences that can spiral out of control when health professionals get too close to intelligence operations.
More than three years after U.S. Navy SEALs raided bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, it remains unclear whether Afridi knew he was working for the CIA when he led a hepatitis B vaccination campaign that helped U.S. agents learn where bin Laden was hiding.
Afridi's wife and his current lawyer, Qamar Nadeem Afridi, who is the doctor's
