Manhunt
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40 “I need to watch this”: Schmidle, “Getting bin Laden.”
41 Dozens of other officials: James Cartwright interview.
42 “The only thing I can compare it to”: Michael Leiter interview.
43 “Why is that helo there?”: Ibid.
44 weight … and the higher-than-expected temperatures: Author interview with former JSOC officer, Washington, DC.
45 “settling with power”: Former Black Hawk pilot Chris Marvin in The Last Days of Osama bin Laden.
46 outer walls had been represented by chain-link fencing: Author interview with U.S. intelligence official.
47 he avoided a potentially catastrophic crash: Ibid.
48 hope was that any curious locals would assume: “Sources: Raiders Knew Mission a One-Shot Deal,” Associated Press, May 17, 2011, www.navytimes.com/news/2011/05/ap-raiders-knew-mission-a-one-shot-deal-051711/.
49 “We could see that there were problems”: Barack Obama in Targeting bin Laden.
50 “And when our helicopter tail didn’t get over the wall”: Hillary Clinton, interview by author, Washington, DC, January 23, 2012.
51 Gates, who was ashen: Author interview with senior administration official.
52 “I know his heart was in his throat then”: James Clapper interview.
53 nervously piped up, “Is that good?”: Author interview with U.S. intelligence official.
54 “Director, as you can see, we have a helicopter down”: Ibid.
55 “I’m pushing the QRF to the objective”: Ibid.
56 deadliest battle in the history of the SEALs: Laura Blumenfeld, “The Sole Survivor,” Washington Post, June 11, 2007, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/10/AR2007061001492_pf.html.
57 three SEALs from the downed chopper: Christina Lamb and Nicola Smith, “Geronimo! EKIA 38 Minutes to Mission Success,” The Australian, May 9, 2011, www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/geronimoekia-38-minutes-to-mission-success/story-e6frg6so-1226052094513; Philip Sherwell, “Osama bin Laden Killed: Behind the Scenes of the Deadly Raid,” www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8500431/Osama-bin-Laden-killed-Behind-the-scenes-of-the-deadly-raid.html.
58 settling the bird down just outside the compound walls: Schmidle, “Getting bin Laden”; author interview with Pakistani official by author.
59 secure the outside perimeter: Author interview with NSC officials; author interviews with U.S. intelligence officials.
60 track any “squirters” … hunt for any hidden chambers: Gardiner Harris, “A bin Laden Hunter on Four Legs,” New York Times, May 4, 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/science/05dog.html.
61 The remaining eight SEALs: Author interview with Pakistani official.
62 for about fifteen minutes: Author interviews with senior Department of Defense officials.
63 Sewn into his clothing: Author interview with U.S. intelligence official.
64 shot Abrar, the Kuwaiti’s brother, and his wife, Bushra: Author interview with Pakistani officials.
65 “We were really in a blackout”: Barack Obama in Targeting bin Laden.
66 no idea what the layout of the floors: Author interview with U.S. intelligence officials.
67 “I kept waiting for some big explosion”: Michael Leiter interview.
68 “Might there be a quick reaction force”: John Brennan in Targeting bin Laden.
69 Knots of children: Dozier, “Bin Laden Trove of Documents Sharpen US Aim.”
70 the AK-47 and Makarov machine pistol: The AK-47 and the Russian-made Makarov pistol will be installed at the CIA Museum, in Langley, VA.
71 unless bin Laden walked out of his bedroom: Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.
72 screamed something in Arabic: Schmidle, “Getting bin Laden.”
73 shoved her aside: Ibid.
74 brains spattered: Author observations at bin Laden compound in Abbottabad.
75 expected some kind of warning: Interview with Leon Panetta, Charlie Rose, PBS, September 6, 2011, www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4872.
76 Gmeant that bin Laden was “secured”: Author interview with Pentagon official, February 10, 2012.
77 There were gasps in the Situation Room: Ben Rhodes in Targeting bin Laden.
78 no whoops: Michael Leiter interview.
79 blow up the downed helicopter crammed with secret avionics: Author interview with Pentagon official.
80 “We were just amazed”: Michael Leiter interview.
81 blood oozing from their noses, ears, and mouths: Reuters released photographs of three of the corpses.
82 interpreter waved off curious neighbors: CNN, May 12, 2011, Local Young Man: “We tried to go there and they pointed the laser guns on us, and said, ‘No you can’t go.’ They were speaking Pashto so we thought they were from Afghanistan, not America.”
83 placed them in vials for DNA analysis: Schmidle, “Getting bin Laden.”
84 the material seized from the compound: Robert Windrem and Alex Johnson, “Bin Laden Aides Were Using Cell Phones, Officials Tell NBC,” NBC News, www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42881728/ns/world_news-death_of_bin_laden/t/bin-laden-aides-were-using-cell-phones-officials-tell-nbc/#.TyBX1l1AIj8.
85 high fives all around and fist bumping: Author interview with counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden.
86 Chinook and the Black Hawk separated … more direct routes: Author interview with U.S. National Security official.
87 Black Hawk still needed to take on fuel: Author interview with senior administration official.
88 At about 2:00 a.m. local time … the Chinook landed: Ibid.
89 all quickly inspected bin Laden’s corpse: U.S. intelligence official interview.
90 “Well, sir, I guess I owe you sixty million dollars”: Author interview with senior intelligence official.
91 Obama remembers, “It wasn’t really until”: Barack Obama in Targeting bin Laden.
92 “I have the results of the eight-point facial analysis on bin Laden”: Author interview with U.S. intelligence officials.
93 Cheers … champagne bottles: Ibid.
94 “The pictures were kind of gruesome”: James Clapper interview.
95 “There was a hole right around one of his eyes”: Author interview with senior administration official.
96 “I don’t need facial recognition”: Michael Leiter interview.
CHAPTER 14: AFTERMATH
1 Pakistani security officials began arriving: Author interview with Pakistani official.
2 “I am from Swat”: Asad Munir, former ISI official, interview by author, Pakistan, July 15, 2011.
3 “They have killed and taken away Abu Hamza”: Ibid.
4 daughter, Safia, also spoke: Robert Booth, Saeed Shah, and Jason Burke, “Osama bin Laden Death: How Family Scene in Compound Turned to Carnage,” Guardian, May 5, 2011, www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/05/bin-laden-death-family-compound.
5 awoken by a quite unusual sound: Ihsan Mohammad Khan interview.
6 “A helicopter crashed down”: Ihsan Khan e-mail to Voice of America in Washington, DC, May 2, 2011.
7 not remain secret for long: Author interview with U.S. intelligence officials.
8 see people on the rooftops: Ibid.
9 picking up conversations by local officials: Author interview with U.S. military official involved in the hunt for bin Laden.
10 reports that Pakistani media were at the compound filming: Ben Rhodes interview.
11 “Some of us were eager for the president to go out”: Ibid.
12 saying, “We gotta call!”: Michael Leiter interview.
13 developed a real friendship: Michael Mullen interview.
14 “It was not ours”: Najam Sethi, “Operation Get OBL,” May 6, 2011, Friday Times, www.thefridaytimes.com/06052011/page1.shtml.
15 Kayani took a call … F-16s were scrambled: Zahid Hussain, Matthew Rosenberg, and Jeremy Page, “Slow Dawn After Midnight Raid,” Wall Street Jou
rnal, May 9, 2011.
16 first person Obama called was his predecessor: Author interview with senior administration official.
17 “I didn’t feel any great sense of happiness”: George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview, National Geographic Channel, August 28, 2011.
18 Munter had known of the impending raid: Author interview with National Security Council official.
19 It was a senior Pakistani official: Author interview with U.S. official.
20 bewildered reactions of Pakistani officials: Michael Leiter interview; author interview with U.S. officials.
21 Zardari told Obama, “I’m happy because”: Author interview with senior administration official.
22 “Congratulations,” Kayani immediately said: Ibid.
23 lasted a tense twenty minutes: Ibid.
24 urged that Obama go out as soon as possible and explain: Ibid.
25 “Our people need to understand what happened here”: Ibid.
26 “Just get in!”: Ed Henry, CNN White House correspondent, CNN, May 1, 2011.
27 Gradually the speculation: Geraldo Rivera, “Geraldo at Large,” Fox News, May 1, 2011.
28 he thought, “I can’t do this. It’d jinx it”: Ben Rhodes interview.
29 “We decided not to sugarcoat it”: Ibid.
30 Obama told Rhodes that, for the speech: Ibid.
31 “You can’t write this stuff”: Tony Blinken interview.
32 “Turn on the TV”: Michael Vickers interview.
33 “I remember walking out”: James Clapper interview.
34 “Good evening. Tonight I can report”: “Full Text of Obama’s Speech on bin Laden’s Death,” CBS, May 2, 2011, www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20058783-503544.html.
35 some fifty-five million Americans: Brian Stelter, “Obama’s TV Audience Was His Largest,” New York Times, May 3, 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/arts/television/bin-laden-speech-drew-obamas-largest-audience-as-president.html.
36 Nayef offered his congratulations: Author interview with senior administration official.
37 A V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft: Schmidle, “Getting bin Laden.”
38 ceremony that took a little under an hour: “DOD Background Briefing with Senior Defense Officials from the Pentagon and Senior Intelligence Officials by Telephone on U.S. Operations Involving Osama Bin Laden,” May 2, 2011, www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4818.
39 hand-carried to Washington: Author interview with senior administration official.
40 Using DNA material obtained from relatives: “DOD Background Briefing with Senior Defense Officials from the Pentagon and Senior Intelligence Officials by Telephone on U.S. Operations Involving Osama Bin Laden,” May 2, 2011, www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4818.
41 made a number of assertions about what had happened: “Transcript of White House Press Briefing on bin Laden’s Death,” Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2011, blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/05/02/transcript-of-white-house-press-briefing-on-bin-ladens-death/.
42 White House quickly retracted: Robert Booth, “The Killing of Osama bin Laden: How the White House Changed Its Story,” Guardian, May 4, 2011, www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/04/osama-bin-laden-killing-us-story-change.
43 “would be presented to the public”: “Transcript of Interview with CIA Director Panetta,” NBC News, May 3, 2011, www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42887700/ns/world_news-death_of_bin_laden/t/transcript-interview-cia-director-panetta/#.TxclzV1AIj8.
44 Obama, Gates, and Clinton all agreed: “Obama on bin Laden: The Full 60 Minutes interview,” CBS News, May 8, 2011, www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20060530-10391709.html.
45 “important for us to make sure”: Ibid.
46 “The fact of the matter is”: Ibid.
47 “You ought to give McRaven a gold-plated tape measure”: Tony Blinken interview.
48 a tape measure mounted on a plaque: Author interview with senior administration official.
49 a task force of 125 people worked 24/7: Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.
50 “It was decided that any effort to work with the Pakistanis”: Calabresi, “CIA Chief: Pakistan Would Have Jeopardized bin Laden Operation.”
51 first reaction of the Pakistani military to the bin Laden operation: Author interview with U.S. official.
52 Both Pakistani generals offered their congratulations: Author interview with U.S. official.
53 horribly embarrassing for the Pakistani military: Ibid.
54 Criticism of the army from all quarters: “Altaf Asks Military, Govt to Apologise Over US Raid,” Dawn, May 5, 2011, www.dawn.com/2011/05/05/altaf-asks-military-govt-to-apologise-over-us-raid.html.
55 this was the worst week of his life: Author interviews with senior Pakistani military official and U.S. diplomatic official.
56 at least him or Kayani or President Zardari: Author interview with Pakistani military official.
57 Pasha had played a key role: Author interviews with U.S. officials.
58 Pasha felt that the relationship with the United States: Author interview with Pakistani official.
59 “I believe that there are elements”: Eli Lake, “Rogers: Pakistani Intelligence Services Aided bin Laden,” Washington Times, June 14, 2011, www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/14/rogers-pakistan-military-intel-aided-bin-laden/.
60 no official Pakistani complicity: Michael Leiter interview; author interviews with multiple other intelligence officials.
61 al-Qaeda officially confirmed the death of its leader: Augustine Anthony, “Al-Qaeda Confirms Bin Laden Is Dead, Vows Revenge,” Reuters, May 6, 2011, www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/06/us-obama-statement-idUSTRE74107920110506.
62 The same day that al-Qaeda announced bin Laden’s death: Jake Tapper, Nick Schifrin, and Jessica Hopper, “Obama Thanks SEALs, Troops Back from Afghanistan,” ABC News, abcnews.go.com/Politics/obama-seals-troops-back-afghanistan-job-well-done/story?id=13543148#.TxdJtV1AIj8.
63 half an hour, in a small classroom: Author interviews with senior administration officials.
64 First to speak was the helicopter pilot: Ibid.
65 describing everyone’s role, including that of the interpreter: Ibid.
66 “finest fighting force in the history of the world”: Ibid.
67 “Well, sir, I strongly advise you to have a treat”: Ibid.
68 discussed all the areas of tension: Author interview with U.S. government official, Washington, DC.
69 While Kerry was still in the air: Ibid.
70 “very hard, very difficult”: Author interview with Pakistani intelligence official involved in the interrogation of bin Laden’s wives.
71 President Obama visited CIA headquarters: Transcript of President Obama’s remarks to the intelligence community, May 20, 2011.
72 “we kept it a secret”: Ibid.
EPILOGUE: THE TWILIGHT OF AL-QAEDA
1 inception in Peshawar in August 1988: Peter Bergen, The Osama bin Laden I Know (New York: Free Press, 2006), pp. 74–82.
2 A Gallup Poll: John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think (New York: Gallup Press, 2007).
3 sent a team of would-be suicide bombers to Barcelona: Al Goodman, “11 on Trial Over Alleged Barcelona Terror Plot,” CNN.com, November 13, 2009, http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/11/12/spain.terror.trial/.
4 trained an American recruit, Faisal Shahzad: United States of America v. Faisal Shahzad, Plea, 10-CR-541 (MGC), United States District Court, Southern District of New York, June 21, 2010, http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/1435.pdf.
5 LeT carried out multiple attacks in Mumbai: Somini Sangupta, “Dossier Gives Details of Mumbai Attacks,” New York Times, January 6, 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07india.html.
6 hid bombs in toner cartridges: “Magazine Details al Qaeda Cargo Plane Plots,” CNN.com, November 21, 2010, http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-21/world/al.qaeda.magazine_1_cargo-plane-aq
ap-plane-crash?_s=PM:WORLD.
7 formally pledged allegiance to bin Laden: Katherine Houreld, “Somali Militant Group al-Shabaab Formally Joins Al-Qaeda,” Associated Press, February 9, 2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/09/somali-al-shabaab-join-al-qaida.
8 up to twelve hundred were working: Jane Ferguson, “Violent Extremists Calling Fighters to Somalia,” CNN.com, April 27, 2010, http://articles.cnn.com/2010-04-27/world/somalia.al.shabaab_1_somali-american-transitional-federal-government-foreign-fighters?_s=PM:WORLD.
9 Ryan Crocker, said: Lee Keath, “Al Qaeda Is Close to Defeat in Iraq, US Ambassador Says,” Associated Press, May 25, 2008, http://articles.boston.com/2008-05-25/news/29268149_1_shi-ite-sadr-city-maliki.
10 AQI sent foot soldiers into Syria: “US Official Says Al-Qaeda Involved in Syria,” Al Jazeera, February 17, 2012, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/02/201221794018300979.html.
11 favorable views … dropped by at least half: “Terror Suspect Went to Meet bin Laden,” Associated Press, May 4, 2011, www.foxnews.com/world/2011/05/04/indonesia-terror-suspect-went-meet-bin-laden/#ixzz1kCVvHPfP.
12 warned that the West faced “victory or holocaust”: David Frum and Richard Perle, An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror (New York: Random House, 2003), p. 7. Also see Dana Milbank, “Prince of Darkness Denies Own Existence,” Washington Post, February 20, 2009.
13 invoking the specter of World War IV: Charles Feldman and Stan Wilson, “Ex-CIA Director: US Faces ‘World War IV,’ ” CNN.com, April 3, 2003, http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/04/03/sprj.irq.woolsey.world.war/; James Woolsey on CNN, June 2, 2002.
14 a global conflict that killed tens of millions: See generally The Black Book of Communism (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999).
15 Americans are far more likely to drown: In a typical year about three hundred Americans accidentally drown in their bathtubs, http://danger.mongabay.com/injury_death.htm.
16 al-Qaeda announced his successor: Saeed Shah, “Ayman al-Zawahiri Takes Over Al Qaeda Leadership,” McClatchy, June 17, 2011, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/16/MNLH1JUT4A.DTL.
17 set off bombs in Manhattan in 2009: John Marzulli, “Najibullah Zazi Pleads Guilty to Plotting NYC Terror Attack, Supporting Al Qaeda,” New York Daily News, February 22, 2010.