Book: Obama hoped to put bin Laden on trial
WASHINGTON (AP) - A new book says President Barack Obama hoped to put Osama bin Laden on trial, showing the U.S. commitment to due process under law, if the al-Qaida leader had surrendered during a U.S. raid in Pakistan last year.
In "The Finish," journalist Mark Bowden quotes the president as saying he thought he would be in a strong political position to argue in favor of giving bin Laden the full rights of a criminal defendant if bin Laden went on trial for masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks.
But Bowden, who also wrote "Black Hawk Down" about the 1993 in Somalia where two helicopters were downed, killing 18 U.S. soldiers, says Obama expected bin Laden to go down fighting. A team of Navy SEALs raided bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan in May 2011 and killed bin Laden.
The Associated Press purchased a copy of "The Finish," which is due to come out Oct. 16, a few weeks before the presidential election. The revelation that Obama hoped to capture bin Laden may provide political fodder for Republicans who have criticized the Obama administration for trying to bring terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and overseas to trials in U.S. courts.
"Frankly, my belief was if we had captured him, that I would be in a pretty strong position, politically, here, to argue that displaying due process and rule of law would be our best weapon against al-Qaida, in preventing him from appearing as a martyr," Obama is quoted saying in an interview with Bowden.
Obama believed that affording terrorists "the full rights of criminal defendants would showcase America's commitment to justice for even the worst of the worst," Bowden writes.
Obama had expressed similar views as a presidential candidate.
U.S. officials have said the Navy team was ordered to capture bin Laden if he surrendered or kill him if he threatened them. Bowden asserts that the SEALs could have taken bin Laden alive, but had no intention of doing so.
In a separate account of the raid that was published last month, one member of the Navy team, Matt Bissonnette, wrote that the SEALS climbed a stairway inside the compound and opened fire when bin Laden poked his head around a doorway. Bissonnette wrote that bin Laden's hands were concealed and the SEALS presumed he was armed so they shot him.
Bowden's extensive access to top figures, from the president to the raid's operational commander, Adm. Bill McRaven, may revive criticism from Republicans that the White House allegedly leaks about the raid to burnish its foreign policy record during an election year,
Bowden details how the White House planned the mission and explains that the specific American team was chosen because it had "already successfully conducted about a dozen secret missions inside Pakistan."
The recounting of the raid matches most previous versions. But Bowden also offers new insights from the first-person perspective of the officer who commanded it on the ground.
McRaven was able to monitor all Pakistani communications during the raid from his command post at a base in Afghanistan, according to Bowden. The account shows that Pakistani authorities were unaware of the raid as it happened, giving the Americans breathing room to fly in a backup helicopter to replace the one that had crashed while depositing the first batch of SEALs in the compound.
After McRaven told then-CIA director Leon Panetta he had a "Geronimo" call - the radio code that meant the SEALs had found bin Laden - the admiral realized he had not asked whether bin Laden was dead or had been captured.
McRaven checked again with the SEALs on the ground before relaying that bin Laden had likely been killed. But McRaven cautioned Panetta to "manage his expectations" until they had more definitive proof, by comparing his photographs with the dead man.
Later, McRaven told the president that he was "pretty damn sure" that they killed bin Laden, but said the military needed to complete DNA analysis to be sure, Bowden writes.
The book's publication may complicate the Pentagon's attempts to punish Bissonnette for his book. Writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen, Bissonnette published "No Easy Day" without submitting it for a security review by the Pentagon. Bowden was under no such requirement to have the book vetted because he was not a government or military employee.
The Finish" is published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.'s Atlantic Monthly Press imprint.
In "The Finish," journalist Mark Bowden quotes the president as saying he thought he would be in a strong political position to argue in favor of giving bin Laden the full rights of a criminal defendant if bin Laden went on trial for masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks.
But Bowden, who also wrote "Black Hawk Down" about the 1993 in Somalia where two helicopters were downed, killing 18 U.S. soldiers, says Obama expected bin Laden to go down fighting. A team of Navy SEALs raided bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan in May 2011 and killed bin Laden.
The Associated Press purchased a copy of "The Finish," which is due to come out Oct. 16, a few weeks before the presidential election. The revelation that Obama hoped to capture bin Laden may provide political fodder for Republicans who have criticized the Obama administration for trying to bring terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and overseas to trials in U.S. courts.
"Frankly, my belief was if we had captured him, that I would be in a pretty strong position, politically, here, to argue that displaying due process and rule of law would be our best weapon against al-Qaida, in preventing him from appearing as a martyr," Obama is quoted saying in an interview with Bowden.
Obama believed that affording terrorists "the full rights of criminal defendants would showcase America's commitment to justice for even the worst of the worst," Bowden writes.
Obama had expressed similar views as a presidential candidate.
U.S. officials have said the Navy team was ordered to capture bin Laden if he surrendered or kill him if he threatened them. Bowden asserts that the SEALs could have taken bin Laden alive, but had no intention of doing so.
In a separate account of the raid that was published last month, one member of the Navy team, Matt Bissonnette, wrote that the SEALS climbed a stairway inside the compound and opened fire when bin Laden poked his head around a doorway. Bissonnette wrote that bin Laden's hands were concealed and the SEALS presumed he was armed so they shot him.
Bowden's extensive access to top figures, from the president to the raid's operational commander, Adm. Bill McRaven, may revive criticism from Republicans that the White House allegedly leaks about the raid to burnish its foreign policy record during an election year,
Bowden details how the White House planned the mission and explains that the specific American team was chosen because it had "already successfully conducted about a dozen secret missions inside Pakistan."
The recounting of the raid matches most previous versions. But Bowden also offers new insights from the first-person perspective of the officer who commanded it on the ground.
McRaven was able to monitor all Pakistani communications during the raid from his command post at a base in Afghanistan, according to Bowden. The account shows that Pakistani authorities were unaware of the raid as it happened, giving the Americans breathing room to fly in a backup helicopter to replace the one that had crashed while depositing the first batch of SEALs in the compound.
After McRaven told then-CIA director Leon Panetta he had a "Geronimo" call - the radio code that meant the SEALs had found bin Laden - the admiral realized he had not asked whether bin Laden was dead or had been captured.
McRaven checked again with the SEALs on the ground before relaying that bin Laden had likely been killed. But McRaven cautioned Panetta to "manage his expectations" until they had more definitive proof, by comparing his photographs with the dead man.
Later, McRaven told the president that he was "pretty damn sure" that they killed bin Laden, but said the military needed to complete DNA analysis to be sure, Bowden writes.
The book's publication may complicate the Pentagon's attempts to punish Bissonnette for his book. Writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen, Bissonnette published "No Easy Day" without submitting it for a security review by the Pentagon. Bowden was under no such requirement to have the book vetted because he was not a government or military employee.
The Finish" is published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.'s Atlantic Monthly Press imprint.
Let's see...
10 years ago, OBL was to have required a dyalisis machine while hiding in the mountains of Tora Bora (according to the government/news). Obie get's elected, get's the chance to kill him, and 'pushes' the button. THEN we were informed that it was indeed OBL that was killed, and his 'confirmation' was made via DNA tests done over night (which isn't possible). THEN his body was dumped at sea in order to apease the muslim community.
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NOW obie says he wanted to bring OBL to trial???
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Reads like an episode from South Park.
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I like the results we had much better than the circus and risk of a trial.
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Go Navy! Go Seals! Thank you. You killed Bin Laden regardless of what anyone else says.
....little confused here. Has Barak not been trumping his "I KILLED BIN LADEN" "I" "I" "I"
Now we hear he wanted him alive....on trial....possibly inspiring attacks by sleeper cells in this Country....probably where ever the trial was being held & killing American citizens??
DAMMM, don't know what to think.......
 @Sydthepiper ROFLMAO
Sounds good in theory, but I think that it was pretty common knowledge that there was no way in hell Bin Laden would ever surrender. He would rather die a martyr and get his 72 virgins than ever be in custody.Â
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I've always wondered.... Who are these 72 virgins? Are they children? Really ugly men or women? Animals?  Since he has these virgins for eternity, what happens after he boinks them all? Then what's the point? Also, my curious mind wants to know: Is this the equivalent of hell for the virgins? They must have been really bad......
 @The WA Mama Osama likely would have surrendered. The high-ranking jihadi are all cowards never do the suicide bombing themselves. Better to send drugged-up children and the mentally handicapped than to do the deed themselves.
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I thought at the time that shooting OBL was the best possible outcome. Now, after reading this idiocy from our idiot president, I am even more convinced of that.
Like so many other Obama policies, Hope is not a plan.
I call BS. Â They had the opportunity to capture Bin Laden during that raid, according to the SEALs account. Â I believe the order was "Shoot to Kill".
@JCCBlvu whew! Thats a relief, I was worried for a moment.
Actually, you should read some of Mark Bowden's books; they are highly accurate and he is well known for not skewing the truth.
That would have been the biggest mistake we could have made. It would have been a show trial for some lawyers who hate the US and it way of life. (I could think of a few off the top that still practice in the US - William Kunstler if he is still alive). Better a dead martyr than a live prisoner. This is not a criminal, this is an enemy during time of war. You KILL you enemies when you are at war, you do not arrest them and try them. Imagine if we had tried to arrest the Wehrmacht soldiers were were fighting in Normandy, of the Japanese soldiers on Okinawa or Iwo Jima. This is the same thing. In time of war you kill the enemy.
Good thing the SEAL Team didn't have the same thoughts
Wink wink mister Pres. I will settle for his final outcome.
"Obama hoped to put Osama bin Laden on trial, showing the U.S. commitment to due process under law,"
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Where is the due process in the portion of the NDAA that allows Obama to be cop, judge, jury, executioner, and to do so in absolute secrecy? He can assassinate a US citizen without due process but wants to extend it to Osama?
@T_BONE_WALKER Actually we are at war and these people are the enemy. This is not a police action, they do not warrant due process. We did not give due process to Nazis and Japanese soldiers until Germany and Japan surrendered. During the war we killed them when we could. This is war against Al Quida and all its members. And US citizens fighting WITH the enemy have no extra rights. They fight against the US and they suffer the consequences.
 @Frank525  @T_BONE_WALKER Who you talking to frank? My comments were with regard to Obama extending rights to Osama at the same time he takes due process away from all US citizens whether or not they have anything to do with anything. Thats kind of the crux of the issue, without trial, you dont know who is guilty or not unless you have some Obama magic dust and then you can simply assassinate them in secret. BTW, The war against terrorism is joke that is used to usurp your rights. Do you really think Osama caused building 7 to collapse for no apparent reason from a cave 10,000 miles away? Thats rich, lol.
Can't wait for this book.Â
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I read "Black Hawk Down" and "Killing Pablo" and loved both.Â
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Guy is a great author.Â
 @caphillkid You should also read "Guests of the Ayatollah" which was his most recent release (if I am not mistaken). It, too, is a magnificent book and I am really looking forward to this one.
A trial would have been good.
Dead is better though.
 @mstipton A trial would not have been good. The terrorists have analyzed the western legal system and learned how to manipulate it and other aspects to their gain. They have studied how to turn a trial into a "political weapon" so to speak in order to recruit, incite hatred etc. We need to make sure that these creeps never see the light of day let alone let them spew any of their hatred on TV etc.
Not to mention, the laws broken, are western laws, which aren't theirs, so they do not recognize them as laws.. and therefore do not abide by them..Â
Is our president that naiive to think that it would make a difference to Al Quida??
Who would be the jurors... His peers? or any one? Then, with all the publicity, the argument would be that he could not get a fair trial anywhere.. yada....yada... yada....
The seals did the right thing... and Obama did the wrong thing by not releasing the photo's.. under the guise that it would cause more attacks...Â