NEW : Defense official : ` ` We did not know whether these were human remains to begin with '' The Pentagon has been criticized for its handling of the bin Laden raid. The material was from the September 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon . The material was `` not your normal set of medical waste , '' a colonel says .
NEW : Defense official : `` We did not know whether these were human remains to begin with '' Defense officials debated how to dispose of more than 1,000 fragments of material . The material was from the September 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon . The material was `` not your normal set of medical waste , '' a colonel says .