44 five audiotapes a year: Mazzetti and Shane, “Data Show Bin Laden Plots.”
45 “catastrophe”: Inal Ersan, “Bin Laden Warns EU over Prophet Cartoons,” Reuters, March 20, 2008, www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/08d9a978-f60e-11dc-8d3d-000077b07658.html#axzz1jqoWHZmu.
46 bombed the Danish embassy in Islamabad: Jane Perlez and Pir Zubair Shah, “Embassy Attack in Pakistan Kills at Least 6,” New York Times, June 3, 2008, www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/world/asia/03pakistan.html.
47 recent Israeli invasion of Gaza: “Bin Laden ‘Tape’ Calls Israel Offensive in Gaza a Holocaust,” Associated Press, March 14, 2009, www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/14/osama-bin-laden-gaza-Israel.
48 weighed in on France’s decision: Leela Jacinto, “Bin Laden Targets France, Blasts Burqa Ban and Afghan War,” France24.com, October 28, 2010, www.france24.com/en/20101027-osama-bin-laden-terrorism-france-al-qaeda-burqa-ban.
49 “We watch this great historic event”: Scott Shane, “In Message, Bin Laden Praised Arab Revolt,” International Herald Tribune, May 18, 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/world/middleeast/19binladen.html?gwh=BD6FB65DDBFB14D2218387E70809F0D5.
CHAPTER 10: THE SECRET WARRIORS
1 three shots rang out: Robert D. McFadden and Scott Shane, “In Rescue of Captain, Navy Kills 3 Pirates,” New York Times, April 12, 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/world/africa/13pirates.html?pagewanted=all.
2 Obama had authorized the use: Ibid.
3 Obama called: Author interview with Department of Defense official, December 2011.
4 killing eight American servicemen: Mark Bowden, “The Desert One Debacle,” The Atlantic, May 2006, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/05/the-desert-one-debacle/4803/2/?single_page=true.
5 A Pentagon investigation found: Holloway Report, August 23, 1980, www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB63/doc8.pdf.
6 creation in 1980 of the Joint Special Operations Command: Steven Emerson, “Stymied Warriors,” New York Times, November 13, 1988, www.nytimes.com/1988/11/13/magazine/stymied-warriors.html.
7 suspicious of the “snake eaters”: See for instance Michael Smith, Killer Elite: The Inside Story of America’s Most Secret Special Operations Teams (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2011), p. 215.
8 the debacle at Mogadishu: See Mark Bowden, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999).
9 sent some of its top trainers: “9/11 Commission Report,” p. 60.
10 “You know it would scare the shit out of al-Qaeda”: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 498.
11 “I don’t carry a brief”: Michael Scheuer interview.
12 expressing his irritation: Document 19, National Security Archives, George Washington University, www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB358a/index.htm#19.
13 Officials working for Rumsfeld: Bradley Graham, By His Own Rules: The Ambitions, Successes, and Ultimate Failures of Donald Rumsfeld (New York: PublicAffairs, 2009), p. 369.
14 “Somalia-ized”: Smith, Killer Elite, p. 233.
15 “showstoppers” … “actionable intelligence”: Ibid.
16 “brand-new Ferrari”: Richard Shultz Jr., “How Clinton Let al Qaeda Go,” Weekly Standard, January 19, 2004, archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=14524.
17 asking General Schoomaker: Smith, Killer Elite, p. 258.
18 executive order: Dana Priest and William M. Arkin, Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State (New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2011), p. 236.
19 didn’t even acknowledge that JSOC existed: Dexter Filkins, “Stanley McChrystal’s Long War,” New York Times Magazine, October 14, 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/magazine/18Afghanistan-t.html?pagewanted=all.
20 from a force of eighteen hundred: Priest and Arkin, Top Secret America, p. 227; see generally Marc Ambinder and D. B. Grady, The Command: Deep Inside the President’s Secret Army (John Wiley & Sons, ebook).
21 Confederate Air Force: U.S. intelligence official, interview by author, Washington, DC, December 2011.
22 if it was going to defeat al-Qaeda: Spencer Ackerman, “How Special Ops Copied al-Qaida to Kill It,” Danger Room, Wired, September 9, 2011, www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/mcchrystal-network/all/1.
23 Mohamed taught courses: See Bergen, Holy War, Inc., p. 132.
24 During his leave from the army: On Mohamed taking leave time to travel to Afghanistan, see ibid., pp. 132–33.
25 manuals he had pilfered from Ft. Bragg: Wright, The Looming Tower, p. 181.
26 “flat and fast”: Author interview with former Special Operations officers.
27 In the summer of 2004: Ibid.
28 to work at the CIA station in Baghdad: Ibid.
29 One of the senior leaders in the Pentagon: Author interview with senior Department of Defense official.
30 leased a couple of small aircraft: Author interview with former Special Operations officers.
31 “actionable intelligence”: Ibid.; also see Priest and Arkin, Top Secret America, pp. 244–55.
32 “fight for intelligence”: Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda (New York: Times Books, 2011), p. 93.
33 “divining rod”: Priest and Arkin, Top Secret America, p. 244.
34 netting more leads for JSOC: Author interview with National Security Council official.
35 JSOC was “awesome”: Bob Woodward, “Why Did Violence Plummet? It Wasn’t Just the Surge,” Washington Post, September 8, 2008, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/07/AR2008090701847.html?hpid=topnews.
36 thirty-four task force members were disciplined: Eric Schmitt and Carolyn Marshall, “In Secret Unit’s ‘Black Room,’ a Grim Portrait of Detainee Abuse,” New York Times, March 19, 2006, www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/international/middleeast/19abuse.html?ei=5088&en=e8755a4b031b64a1&ex=1300424400&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all.
37 McChrystal himself was one: Scott Lindlaw and Martha Mendoza, “General Suspected Cause of Tillman Death,” Associated Press, August 4, 2007, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/03/AR2007080301868.html.
38 half a dozen operations a month … three hundred a month: Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.
39 “17-5-2”: Priest and Arkin, Top Secret America, p. 240.
40 McChrystal wrote to all his men: Smith, Killer Elite, p.276.
41 20 of his men in Afghanistan and 250 in Iraq: Priest and Arkin, Top Secret America, p. 238.
42 twenty operations a month: Author interview with senior U.S. Department of Defense official.
43 hardest training in the world: Eric Greitens, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), pp. 144–63.
44 swimming underwater for fifty yards: Eric Greitens, interview by author, Washington, DC, August 2011.
45 “We had some incredible people”: Ibid.
46 “you are going to push people as hard as you possible can”: Ibid.
47 divided into squadrons that are named by color: Mir Bahmanyar with Chris Osman, SEALs: The US Navy’s Elite Fighting Force (Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2008), p. 22.
48 DevGru’s base at Dam Neck: Author observations of the base from a 2010 visit.
49 potential to be Operation Eagle Claw all over again: Schmitt and Shanker, Counterstrike, pp. 31–32.
50 distinctive red motorcycle: Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.
51 A plan was developed to drop in thirty SEALs: Evan Thomas, “Into Thin Air,” Newsweek, September 2, 2007.
52 Rumsfeld called off the raid: Mark Mazzetti and David Rohde, “Amid U.S. Policy Disputes, Qaeda Grows in Pakistan,” New York Times, June 30, 2008, www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/washington/30tribal.html?pagewanted=all.
53 On August 11, 2006: See JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment for Harun al-Afghani, ISN US9AF-003148DP, August 2, 2007.
54 In July 2007, JSOC received intelligence: Author in
terview with senior U.S. intelligence official.
55 summit meeting of militants: Ibid.; Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, “In Long Pursuit of Bin Laden, the ’07 Raid, and Frustration,” New York Times, May 5, 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/world/asia/06binladen.html?pagewanted=1&hp.
56 smaller operation over the course: Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.
CHAPTER 11: COURSES OF ACTION
1 “I want to hear back from you”: Author interview with senior administration official, Washington, DC, August 2011.
2 “Let’s make sure”: John Brennan in Targeting bin Laden.
3 “If we were going to embark”: Barack Obama in Targeting bin Laden.
4 someone on the fringes of al-Qaeda: Chris Brummitt and Adam Goldman, “Indonesia: 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.
5 “We have to act now”: Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, “AP Enterprise: The Man Who Hunted Osama bin Laden,” Associated Press, July 5, 2011, news.yahoo.com/ap-enterprise-man-hunted-osama-bin-laden-040627805.html.
6 “options to go against this compound”: John Brennan in Targeting bin Laden.
7 CAD file: Shane Harris, “Bin Laden Death Planned Out in Miniature,” Washingtonian, May 5, 2011, www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/19328.html.
8 two tiny toy cars: Author observation of parts of the model.
9 “That was a good vehicle”: James Cartwright, interview by author, Washington, DC, September 30, 2011.
10 bring another person into the secret: Michael Vickers, interview by author, Washington, DC, November 15, 2011.
11 known each other for three decades: Ibid.
12 Much of the public credit: Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.
13 well over two thousand a year by 2010: Author interview with senior Department of Defense official.
14 soared from 35 percent to more than 80 percent: Woodward, “Death of Osama bin Laden.”
15 average age of Taliban commanders in Afghanistan declined: Con Coughlin, “Karzai Must Tell Us Which Side He’s On in Afghanistan,” Telegraph, November 18, 2010, www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/concoughlin/8144423/Karzai-must-tell-us-which-side-hes-on-in-Afghanistan.html.
16 once a month in Afghanistan: Craig Whitlock, “Adm. William McRaven: The Terrorist Hunter on Whose Shoulders Osama Bin Laden Raid Rested,” Washington Post, May 4, 2011.
17 McRaven visited CIA headquarters: Siobhan Gorman and Julian E. Barnes, “Spy, Military Ties Aided bin Laden Raid,” Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2011, online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704083904576334160172068344.html.
18 McRaven could see immediately: Author interview with Pentagon official.
19 “First of all, congratulations”: Author interview with U.S. intelligence official.
20 “He’s an experienced operator”: Ibid.
21 tasked a navy captain: Gorman and Barnes, “Spy, Military Ties Aided Bin Laden Raid.”
22 a covert, “deniable” operation: Michael Vickers interview; Michael Leiter inverview.
23 first floor of the CIA’s printing plant: Nicholas Schmidle, “Getting bin Laden,” New Yorker, August 1, 2011, www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/08/08/110808fa_fact_schmidle?currentPage=all.
24 One plan was … nixed that plan: Ibid.
25 helped establish a Special Operations curriculum: “Biography: Admiral William H. McRaven, United States Special Operations Command,” updated August 8, 2011, http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioid=401.
26 one of the principal authors: Ibid.
27 McRaven’s 1996 book: William H. McRaven, Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice (New York: Random House, 1996).
28 the star is Jonathan Netanyahu: “Of all the men studied so far no one exhibits as much leadership ability as Jonathan Netanyahu,” McRaven writes in ibid., p. 342.
29 read Machiavelli to relax: Ibid., p. 345.
30 It was a simple plan: Author interview with Pentagon official.
31 not the only “kinetic” … plan: Author interview with senior Pentagon official.
32 highest-ranking female … mother of three: Emily Wax, “Michèle Flournoy, Pentagon’s Highest-Ranking Woman, Is Making Her Mark on Foreign Policy,” Washington Post, November 6, 2011, www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/Michèle-flournoy-pentagons-highest-ranking-woman-is-making-her-mark-on-foreignpolicy/2011/10/27/gIQAh6nbtM_story.html. Three of the five key players at the Pentagon deeply involved in the bin Laden operation were raised in the decidedly unmilitary milieu of Hollywood: Michèle Flournoy’s father was a cinematographer there, Michael Mullen’s father was a Hollywood agent, and Michael Vickers’s father was a set designer.
33 range of options to consider: James Cartwright interview.
34 “We had a very serious debate”: Michèle Flournoy interview by author, Washington, DC, November 18, 2011.
35 “fair-weather friend”: “Pervez Musharraf on U.S.-Pakistan Relations,” Council on Foreign Relations, October 26, 2011, carnegieendowment.org/files/1026carnegie-musharraf.pdf.
36 Pakistan was a sanctuary for militant groups: Statement of Admiral Michael Mullen, U.S. Navy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Before the Senate Armed Services Committee, September 22, 2011, armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2011/09%20September/Mullen%2009-22-11.pdf.
37 a CIA contractor: Greg Miller, “U.S. Officials: Raymond Davis, Accused in Pakistan Shootings, Worked for CIA,” Washington Post, February 22, 2011, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/21/AR2011022102801.html.
38 called for the execution of Davis: “Rallies Demand Public Execution of Davis,” Dawn, February 12, 2011, www.dawn.com/2011/02/12/rallies-demand-public-execution-of-davis.html.
39 about three-quarters of all NATO and U.S. supplies: Muhammad Tahir, “Central Asia Stands to Gain as NATO Shifts Supply Lines Away from Pakistan,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, March 22, 2011, www.rferl.org/content/central_asia_supply_lines_afghanistan/2345994.html.
40 “So there was a big push”: Michèle Flournoy interview.
41 work together to expand: Remarks by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Kuznetsov Naval Academy, St. Petersburg, Russia, March 21, 2011.
42 “I didn’t want to miss the opportunity”: Hillary Clinton, interview by author, Washington, DC, January 23, 2012.
43 “decided that the potential”: Nick Rasmussen interview.
44 On a Friday evening in late February: Gorman and Barnes, “Spy, Military Ties Aided Bin Laden Raid.”
45 U.S. Marine aviator … Tony Blinken: Yochi J. Dreazen, “Man Most Likely to Take Top Military Job Has Never Seen War,” The National Journal, May 2, 2011.
46 What was likely to be difficult: Author interview with Pentagon official.
47 “I think our folks”: Author interview with U.S. intelligence official.
48 On March 14, 2011, Obama’s war cabinet gathered: Author interview with senior administration official, Washington, DC.
49 force of the bombs would: James Cartwright interview.
50 “Some people said”: Tony Blinken, national security adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden, interview by author, Washington, DC, November 3, 2011.
51 bin Laden might shelter in a vault … escape through a tunnel: James Cartwright interview.
52 Using thermal imaging, the NGA concluded: Author interview with National Security Council official.
53 large streams course through the neighborhood: Author observations during visits to Abbottabad, July 2011 and February 2012.
54 Proponents of the raid option, who included Panetta: Author interview with senior administration official.
55 they could just leave and no one would ever know: Ibid.
56 General Cartwright, Obama’s favorite general: Author interviews with multiple senior administration officials.
57 hit the mysterious “pac
er”: Author interview with counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden; also see Woodward, “Death of Osama bin Laden.”
58 required a very high degree of precision: Author interview with senior administration official.
59 “chatter” about bin Laden’s “martyrdom”: Ibid.
60 “it was a system that had not been tested”: Michael Mullen, interview by author, Annapolis, MD, January 20, 2012.
61 Michèle Flournoy was also one of the proponents of the raid: Michèle Flournoy interview.
62 “Mister President, we haven’t thoroughly tested this out yet”: John Brennan in Targeting bin Laden.
63 Obama observed, “Then you’d better get moving”: Author interview with U.S. official.
64 a helicopter-borne assault team was a risky option: Author interview with White House official. 177
65 his comments didn’t get much traction at the time: Author interview with U.S. intelligence official; James Cartwright interview.
66 many of the participants believed: Author interview with U.S. intelligence official.
67 “Everybody left those meetings”: Hillary Clinton interview.
68 might end up getting killed in his Pakistani prison cell: Mazzetti, Cooper, and Baker, “Behind the Hunt for bin Laden.”
69 it would require dropping thirty-two 2,000-pound bombs: Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.
70 Bombs might also fall short of the target: Ibid.
71 Obama peppered McRaven with questions: Jake Tapper, “President Obama to National Security Team: ‘It’s a Go,’ ” ABC News, May 2, 2011, abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/05/president-obama-to-national-security-team-its-a-go/.
72 one of the most skeptical of the president’s advisers: Michèle Flournoy interview.
73 “We finally left the White House at about 1:30 in the morning”: Robert M. Gates, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006), pp. 154–55.
74 “What if you have a helicopter crash?” … “Kool-Aid”: Michèle Flournoy interview.
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