“Like all of us”: Obama, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov, May 6, 2011.
COUNTDOWN: EPILOGUE
quarter century younger: Bowden, The Finish. Ebook.
“He never should”: John Brennan, interview with author, November 18, 2020.
“Here we are in”: Bin Laden letter, undated.
“Our pre-raid understanding”: Morell, The Great War of Our Time.
“Do you wish to”: New York Times, May, 20, 2015.
He even suggested putting trees: Bergen, Manhunt. Ebook.
“What we are witnessing”: Letter from Usama bin Laden to Atiyatullah al-Libi, CTC at West Point, www.ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Letter-from-UBL-to-Atiyatullah-Al-Libi-2-Translation.pdf, April 26, 2011.
They engaged in a process: Letters from Abbottabad: Bin Laden Sidelined?, CTC at West Point, ctc.usma.edu/letters-from-abbottabad-bin-ladin-sidelined, May 3, 2012.
The task force that reviewed: Washington Post, July 1, 2011.
“The decapitation strategy”: Morell, September 11, 2020.
“Al-Qaida faces a new and pressing challenge”: United Nations Security Council, February 3, 2021.
“cohesiveness the past few years”: U.S. Department of State, Rewards for Justice, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Al Qaeda “has been unjustly accused”: FDD’s Long War Journal, September 11, 2020.
“My assessment now”: Miller, Washington Post, September 9, 2020.
“the jihadist extremist movement is”: Morell, September 11, 2020.
“We delivered justice”: Biden, April 14, 2021.
“I’m a big believer”: Donilon, interview with author, January 19, 2021.
“This type of work”: Brennan, interview with author, November 18, 2020.
“It sounds like I’m”: Rasmussen, interview with author, December 3, 2020.
“The SEALs took the time to take”: Clinton, interview with author, December 17, 2020.
“You brought it to America”: Robert Gary, interview with author, February 11, 2021.
“There’s a narrative out there”: Gates, interview with author, December 1, 2020.
“There are a lot of moments”: Panetta, interview with author, November 23, 2020.
COUNTDOWN: POSTSCRIPT
“Ted, get the wine”: Panetta, interview with author, November 23, 2020.
“Have you ever heard”: Morell, The Great War of Our Time, p. 150.
“we’re going to get you”: Gary, interview with author, March 16, 2021.
“Obama was the consummate”: McRaven, interview with author, November 30, 2020.
You’ve got to be kidding: McRaven, interview with author, January 12, 2021.
“If I hadn’t gone”: Ibid.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Aid, Matthew. Intel Wars: The Secret History of the Fight Against Terror. New York: Bloomsbury, 2012.
Bergen, Peter. Holy War, Inc. Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.
———. The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda. New York: Free Press, 2011.
———. Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden from 9/11 to Abbottabad. New York: Broadway Books, 2012.
Bowden, Mark. The Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden. New York: Grove Atlantic, 2013.
Brennan, John. Undaunted: My Fight Against America’s Enemies, at Home and Abroad. New York: Celadon Books, 2020.
Briscoe, Charles, Richard Kiper, James Schroder, and Kalev Sepp. U.S. Army Special Operations in Afghanistan. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 2006.
Burke, Jason. The 9/11 Wars. New York: Penguin, 2011.
Bush, George W. Decision Points. New York: Crown, 2010.
Cheney, Dick. In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011.
Chesney, Will, and Joe Layden. No Ordinary Dog. My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2020.
Clinton, Hillary Rodham. Hard Choices. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014.
Coll, Steve. The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century. New York: Penguin, 2008.
———. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. New York: Penguin, 2004.
Fawaz, Gerges. The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Feith, Douglas. War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn on the War on Terrorism. New York: Harper Perennial, 2009.
Frederick, Jim. Special Ops: The Hidden World of America’s Toughest Warriors. New York: Time, 2011.
Fury, Dalton. Kill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commander’s Account of the Hunt for the World’s Most Wanted Man. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008.
Gates, Robert M. Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014.
Greitens, Eric. The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.
Hastings, Michael. The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan. New York: Blue Rider Press, 2012.
Jones, Seth: Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of Al Qa’ida since 9/11. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.
Kessler, Ronald: The CIA at War: Inside the Secret Campaign Against Terror. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2003.
Lawrence, Bruce, ed. Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden. New York: Verso, 2005.
McDermott, Terry, and Josh Meyer: The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2012.
McRaven, Admiral William H. Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2019.
———. Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice. New York: Random House, 1996.
Morell, Michael, and Bill Harlow. The Great War of Our Time: The CIA’s Fight Against Terrorism—from al Qa’ida to ISIS. New York: Twelve, 2015.
Obama, Barack. A Promised Land. New York: Crown, 2020.
O’Neill, Robert: The Operator: Firing the Shots That Killed Osama Bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior. New York: Scribner, 2017.
Owen, Mark, and Kevin Maurer. No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden. New York: Penguin Group, 2012.
Panetta, Leon, and Jim Newton. Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace. New York: Penguin, 2014.
Runkle, Benjamin. Wanted Dead or Alive: Manhunts from Geronimo to Bin Laden. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
Tenet, George. At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA. New York: HarperCollins, 2007.
Woodward, Bob. Bush at War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.
———. Obama’s Wars. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.
Wright, Lawrence. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. New York: Vintage, 2007.
INTERVIEWS
Bash, Jeremy. November 6, 2020. November 10, 2020.
Brennan, John. November 18, 2020.
Chesney, Will. September 15, 2020.
Clinton, Hillary Rodham. December 17, 2020.
Dominguez, Frank. December 10, 2020.
Donilon, Thomas. January 19, 2021. February 5, 2021.
Ferenczy, Jessica. November 15, 2020. December 5, 2020. December 28, 2020. January 5, 2021.
“Gary.” February 4, 2021. February 9, 2021. February 11, 2021. March 16, 2021.
Gates, Robert. December 1, 2020.
Leiter, Michael. March 18, 2021.
McDonough, Denis. December 7, 2020.
McRaven, Admiral William. November 30, 2020. January 12, 2021.
Morell, Michael. October 29, 2020. October 30, 2020. March 17, 2021.
Mullen, Admiral Michael. November 17, 2020. March 19, 2021.
O’Neill, Robert. November 29, 2020. December 5, 2020. December 30, 2020. January 5, 20
21.
Panetta, Leon. November 17, 2020. November 23, 2020. March 19, 2021.
Rasmussen, Nicholas. December 3, 2020. March 16, 2021.
Thompson, John. January 19, 2021.
Vickers, Michael. December 11, 2020.
NEWSPAPERS AND TELEVISION REPORTS
BBC News. “UK bomb plot suspect Abid Naseer found guilty.” March 4, 2015.
New York Times. “In Osama bin Laden Library: Illuminati and Bob Woodward.” May 20, 2015.
New York Times. “Al Qaeda’s No. 2, Accused in U.S. Embassy Attacks, Was Killed in Iran.” November 13, 2020.
Michael Morell. “The Road to Abbottabad: Ten Years After.” September 11, 2020. www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7LbMfyZOZg.
Washington Post. “Bin Laden document trove reveals strain on al-Qaeda.” July 1, 2011.
Washington Post. “This 9/11 anniversary arrives with the end of the war on al-Qaeda well in sight.” September 10, 2020.
DOCUMENTS AND JOURNALS
Letters from Abbottabad: Bin Ladin Sidelined? May 3, 2012. Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point.
Letter from Usama bin Laden to Atiyatullah al-Libi, April 26, 2011. Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Abbottabad Compound Materials. This archive contains more than 470,000 files from Osama bin Laden’s private computer, including his personal journal, as well as other materials seized during the Navy SEALs raid.
Rahman, Umer. “Identity, Nationalism and Ethnic Divide: A Case Study on Dr. Shakil Afridi’s Reputation.” Florida International University. 2013.
Twenty-seventh report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities. United Nations Security Council. February 3, 2021.
United States Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations. Tora Bora Revisited: How We Failed to Get Bin Laden and Why It Matters Today. November 30, 2009.
United States Senate, Intelligence Committee. Study on Central Intelligence Agency Detention and Interrogation Program. December 9, 2014.
Joscelyn, Thomas. “Zawahiri asserts al Qaeda’s independence in new message.” Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal, September 11, 2020.
MAGAZINES
Aikins, Matthieu. “The Doctor, the CIA, and the Blood of Bin Laden.” GQ, December 19, 2012.
Filkins, Dexter. “Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the C.I.A.” New Yorker, December 31, 2014.
Hudson, John. “The Crooked Case Against Pakistan’s CIA-Assisting Doctor.” Atlantic, May 30, 2012.
SPEECHES
Joseph R. Biden. “Remarks by President Biden on the Way Forward in Afghanistan.” Washington, D.C., April 14, 2021.
Barack Obama. “Remarks by the President in Address to the nation on the Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan.” Washington, D.C., December 1, 2009.
Barack Obama. “Remarks by the President at the Acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize.” Oslo, Norway, December 10, 2009.
Barack Obama. “Economic Recovery.” Washington, D.C., September 10, 2010.
Barack Obama. “President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden.” Washington, D.C., May 1, 2011.
Barack Obama. Opposition to Iraq War. Chicago, Illinois, October 2, 2002.
GOVERNMENT WEBSITES
United States Department of State. Rewards for Justice. Wanted: Ayman al-Zawahiri. rewardsforjustice.net/english/ayman_zawahiri.html.
INDEX
A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.
Page numbers in italics refer to images.
Abbott, James, 38
Abbottabad, 38, 121, 251 arrest of bomber in, 111
Pakistan Military Academy in, 73, 74, 121, 135, 136
Patek in, 113
vaccination program in, 70–73, 125–27, 181
Abbottabad compound, 75, 126 balcony on third floor of, 7, 8
bin Laden’s activities at, 301
brainstorming session for getting information about, 78–79
discovery of, 1, 7–9, 68–69, 160, 307
DNA samples sought from, 72, 76, 144, 145, 181
families living at, 22–23, 37, 75, 83, 123, 136, 142, 147–48, 300
graphic of, 166
intelligence gathering and surveillance of, 9, 22–23, 37, 74–77, 83, 102, 105, 159, 160, 181, 183, 193, 209–12, 214
al-Kuwaiti tracked to, 7–8, 22
length of bin Laden’s stay at, 300–301
neighborhood surrounding, 121, 136, 253
Obama informed of, 9, 22–24, 36, 62, 69, 75
“The Pacer” at, 75–76, 79, 83–85, 101–3, 105, 119, 129, 132, 134, 135, 141, 143, 145, 157–60, 165, 166, 181, 183, 192–93, 204, 209–12, 232, 266
Panetta and, 1, 7–9, 54, 68–69, 74–79, 91, 93, 160
Panetta’s briefing of Defense Department on, 94
as possible bin Laden hideout, 1, 8–9, 37–38, 62, 65, 81
scale model of, 120, 121, 121, 127, 128, 132, 141
segmentation of, 22–23
surveillance photographs of, 7–8, 8, 22, 37, 75, 76, 105, 120, 159
top floor of, 84
vaccination program strategy to obtain information about, 70–73, 125–27, 181
walls surrounding, 121–22
White House Situation Room meeting on, 80–85
Abbottabad compound, raid on (Operation Neptune’s Spear) Afghanistan as starting point of, 141, 142, 146–47, 189, 194, 244
aftermath of, 287–99
air strike option for, 123, 135–36, 144–46
air strike option for, and proof of bin Laden’s death, 123, 136, 145, 214
approach and entry to the house, 147, 177–79, 189, 251–63
bin Laden capture possibility in, 238
bin Laden discovered in, 262–63
bin Laden killed in, see bin Laden, Osama, killing of
bin Laden’s room in, 177, 178, 204, 254, 261, 262
bin Laden’s sons in, 261, 264–65, 271
booby trap danger and, 159, 166, 179–80, 225, 253, 259
as CIA operation, 222
CIA-led raid idea discarded, 146
CIA’s Courses of Action (COA) proposals for, 122–23, 134, 140
command center for, 230–31
computers and documents found in, 267–70, 293, 300–303
crowd celebration of conclusion of, 285–86, 287
Davis incident as complication for, 114
decision matrix for, 175–76, 218
decision on whether to use SEALs or Green Berets for, 139–40
drone strike option for, 145, 146, 207, 211, 214
dress rehearsals for, 167, 170, 181, 185–91, 192–94, 214, 291
estimated time needed for, 149
exit from, 148–49, 266–73
fake door encountered in, 256
“Geronimo” code in, 265
and goal of defeating Al Qaeda, 146, 167, 279, 280, 284, 298, 303–4, 310
gorilla package in, 149, 218, 244, 273
helicopters in, see helicopters, in bin Laden mission
Joint Operations Center (JOC) in, 230, 247, 265
al-Kuwaiti killed in, 271
and lack of information on interior living quarters, 122, 159–60
launch of assault force in, 244
McRaven’s command of, 226, 230–31, 236, 241–42, 244, 246–50, 252, 254–55, 257, 265–66, 268–69, 290–91
McRaven’s final briefings for, 230, 236–39
McRaven’s final message for men in, 242
McRaven’s mission plan for, 143, 146–50, 157, 194
McRaven’s postponement of, 224–25, 227–28
; moon and weather conditions for, 193, 203, 224–25, 227–28, 231
named Operation Neptune’s Spear, 167
Obama’s authorization of, 150, 157, 194, 195, 207–9, 213, 214–16, 218, 219, 221, 224
Obama’s speech following, 277–84, 283, 287, 289
opium found during, 269
options and plans considered, 80–85, 94, 103, 105, 106, 109–10, 111, 113–14, 119–24, 128–31, 132–38, 139–42, 143, 146–50
Pakistani deaths as possibility in, 148, 238
and Pakistani locals gathered outside, 190, 257, 265, 269, 270
Pakistani police or military and, 106, 136, 142, 148–49, 189, 190, 194, 257, 270–73
Pakistani spotlight and, 247
Pakistan joint operation considered for, 85, 122–23, 135
political ramifications of, 211–12, 250
press briefing following conclusion of, 284
roof landing in, 147, 168, 177, 180, 225
rules of engagement in, 238
schedule for, 131, 138, 139, 141, 142, 157, 160–61
secrecy surrounding, 84, 93, 104, 110, 113–14, 128–30, 132–34, 279
snipers in, 177, 189, 253, 255
special forces considered for, 105, 123, 136–38
training in North Carolina for, 149, 158–59, 162–69, 177–80, 181
uncertainty about bin Laden’s presence at, 134–36, 138, 142, 144, 145, 182–84, 192–93, 209–12, 228, 232, 234, 240, 300, 308
U.S.-Pakistani relations and, 145, 148–49, 211, 215, 278
and women and children living in compound, 123, 136, 142, 147–48, 177, 258–59, 263, 264–65, 267, 270, 308
White House Correspondents’ Dinner and, 220, 222, 224–29, 233
White House Situation Room viewing of, 226, 235–36, 250, 252, 253, 257–58, 267
Afghanistan, 2, 19, 47, 99, 106, 135, 201, 289 Al Qaeda’s loss of base in, 304–5, 307
Asadabad, 15
bin Laden as fighter alongside insurgents in, 41
Forward Operating Base Chapman attack in, 57–59
Countdown bin Laden Page 32