SEAL book contradicts some official details about bin Laden's death
WASHINGTON (AP) - A firsthand account of the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden contradicts previous accounts by administration officials, raising questions as to whether the terror mastermind presented a clear threat when SEALs first fired upon him.
Bin Laden apparently was shot in the head when he looked out of his bedroom door into the top-floor hallway of his compound as SEALs rushed up a narrow stairwell in his direction, according to former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette, writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen in "No Easy Day." The book is to be published next week by Penguin Group (USA)'s Dutton imprint.
Bissonnette says he was directly behind a point man going up the stairs in the pitch black hallway. Near the top, he said, he heard two shots, but the book doesn't make it clear who fired them. He wrote that the point man had seen a man peeking out of a door on the right side of the hallway.
The author writes that the man ducked back into his bedroom and the SEALs followed, only to find the man crumpled on the floor in a pool of blood with a hole visible on the right side of his head and two women wailing over his body. Once they wiped the blood off his face, they were certain it was bin Laden.
Bissonnette says the point man pulled the two women out of the way and shoved them into a corner. He and the other SEALs trained their guns' laser sights on bin Laden's still-twitching body, shooting him several times until he lay motionless. The SEALs later found two weapons stored by the doorway, untouched, the author said.
Administration officials briefing reporters in the days after the May 2011 raid in Pakistan said the SEALs shot bin Laden only after he ducked back into the bedroom because they assumed he might be reaching for a weapon.
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor would not comment on the apparent contradiction late Tuesday. But he said in an email Wednesday, "As President Obama said on the night that justice was brought to Osama bin Laden, 'We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country.'"
"No Easy Day" was due out Sept. 11, but Dutton announced the book would be available a week early, Sept. 4, because of a surge of orders due to advance publicity that drove the book to the top of the Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com best-seller lists.
The Associated Press purchased a copy of the book Tuesday.
The account is sure to renew questions about whether the raid was intended to capture or simply to kill bin Laden. Bissonnette writes that during a pre-raid briefing, an administration lawyer told them that they were not on an assassination mission. According to Bissonnette, the lawyer said that if bin Laden was "naked with his hands up," they should not engage him. If bin Laden did not pose a threat, they should detain him.
A former deputy judge advocate general for the Air Force said the shooting was understandable according to the orders the SEALS had.
"It wasn't unreasonable for the SEALs to shoot the individual who stuck his head out," said the former JAG, ret. Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, who now teaches at Duke University law school.
"In a confined space like that where it is clear that there are hostiles, the SEALs need to take reasonable steps to ensure their safety and accomplish the mission," Dunlap said.
Dunlap adds that shooting bin Laden's fallen form was also reasonable in his legal opinion, to keep the terrorist from possibly blowing himself up or getting a weapon and shooting at the SEALs.
In another possibly uncomfortable revelation for U.S. officials who say bin Laden's body was treated with dignity before being given a full Muslim burial at sea, the author reveals that in the cramped helicopter flight out of the compound, one of the SEALs was sitting on bin Laden's chest as the body lay at the author's feet in the middle of the cabin, for the short flight to a refueling stop inside Pakistan where a third helicopter was waiting.
This is common practice, as U.S. troops sometimes must sit on their own war dead in packed helicopters. Space was cramped because one of the helicopters had crashed in the initial assault, leaving little space for the roughly two dozen commandos in the two aircraft that remained. When the commandos reached the third aircraft, bin Laden's body was moved to it.
Bissonnette writes that none of the SEALs were fans of President Barack Obama and knew that his administration would take credit for ordering the raid. One of the SEALs said after the mission that they had just gotten Obama re-elected by carrying out the raid.
But he says they respected him as commander in chief and for giving the operation the go-ahead.
Bissonnette writes less flatteringly of meeting Vice President Joe Biden along with Obama at the headquarters of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment after the raid. He says Biden told "lame jokes" no one understood, reminding him of "someone's drunken uncle at Christmas dinner."
Beyond such embarrassing observations, U.S. officials fear the book may include classified information, as it did not undergo the formal review required by the Pentagon for works published by former or current Defense Department employees.
Officials from the Pentagon and the CIA, which commanded the mission, are examining the manuscript for possible disclosure of classified information and could take legal action against the author.
In a statement provided to the AP, the author says he did "not disclose confidential or sensitive information that would compromise national security in any way."
Bissonnette's real name was first revealed by Fox News and confirmed to the AP.
Jihadists on al-Qaida websites have posted purported photos of the author, calling for his murder.
Bin Laden apparently was shot in the head when he looked out of his bedroom door into the top-floor hallway of his compound as SEALs rushed up a narrow stairwell in his direction, according to former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette, writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen in "No Easy Day." The book is to be published next week by Penguin Group (USA)'s Dutton imprint.
Bissonnette says he was directly behind a point man going up the stairs in the pitch black hallway. Near the top, he said, he heard two shots, but the book doesn't make it clear who fired them. He wrote that the point man had seen a man peeking out of a door on the right side of the hallway.
The author writes that the man ducked back into his bedroom and the SEALs followed, only to find the man crumpled on the floor in a pool of blood with a hole visible on the right side of his head and two women wailing over his body. Once they wiped the blood off his face, they were certain it was bin Laden.
Bissonnette says the point man pulled the two women out of the way and shoved them into a corner. He and the other SEALs trained their guns' laser sights on bin Laden's still-twitching body, shooting him several times until he lay motionless. The SEALs later found two weapons stored by the doorway, untouched, the author said.
Administration officials briefing reporters in the days after the May 2011 raid in Pakistan said the SEALs shot bin Laden only after he ducked back into the bedroom because they assumed he might be reaching for a weapon.
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor would not comment on the apparent contradiction late Tuesday. But he said in an email Wednesday, "As President Obama said on the night that justice was brought to Osama bin Laden, 'We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country.'"
"No Easy Day" was due out Sept. 11, but Dutton announced the book would be available a week early, Sept. 4, because of a surge of orders due to advance publicity that drove the book to the top of the Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com best-seller lists.
The Associated Press purchased a copy of the book Tuesday.
The account is sure to renew questions about whether the raid was intended to capture or simply to kill bin Laden. Bissonnette writes that during a pre-raid briefing, an administration lawyer told them that they were not on an assassination mission. According to Bissonnette, the lawyer said that if bin Laden was "naked with his hands up," they should not engage him. If bin Laden did not pose a threat, they should detain him.
A former deputy judge advocate general for the Air Force said the shooting was understandable according to the orders the SEALS had.
"It wasn't unreasonable for the SEALs to shoot the individual who stuck his head out," said the former JAG, ret. Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, who now teaches at Duke University law school.
"In a confined space like that where it is clear that there are hostiles, the SEALs need to take reasonable steps to ensure their safety and accomplish the mission," Dunlap said.
Dunlap adds that shooting bin Laden's fallen form was also reasonable in his legal opinion, to keep the terrorist from possibly blowing himself up or getting a weapon and shooting at the SEALs.
In another possibly uncomfortable revelation for U.S. officials who say bin Laden's body was treated with dignity before being given a full Muslim burial at sea, the author reveals that in the cramped helicopter flight out of the compound, one of the SEALs was sitting on bin Laden's chest as the body lay at the author's feet in the middle of the cabin, for the short flight to a refueling stop inside Pakistan where a third helicopter was waiting.
This is common practice, as U.S. troops sometimes must sit on their own war dead in packed helicopters. Space was cramped because one of the helicopters had crashed in the initial assault, leaving little space for the roughly two dozen commandos in the two aircraft that remained. When the commandos reached the third aircraft, bin Laden's body was moved to it.
Bissonnette writes that none of the SEALs were fans of President Barack Obama and knew that his administration would take credit for ordering the raid. One of the SEALs said after the mission that they had just gotten Obama re-elected by carrying out the raid.
But he says they respected him as commander in chief and for giving the operation the go-ahead.
Bissonnette writes less flatteringly of meeting Vice President Joe Biden along with Obama at the headquarters of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment after the raid. He says Biden told "lame jokes" no one understood, reminding him of "someone's drunken uncle at Christmas dinner."
Beyond such embarrassing observations, U.S. officials fear the book may include classified information, as it did not undergo the formal review required by the Pentagon for works published by former or current Defense Department employees.
Officials from the Pentagon and the CIA, which commanded the mission, are examining the manuscript for possible disclosure of classified information and could take legal action against the author.
In a statement provided to the AP, the author says he did "not disclose confidential or sensitive information that would compromise national security in any way."
Bissonnette's real name was first revealed by Fox News and confirmed to the AP.
Jihadists on al-Qaida websites have posted purported photos of the author, calling for his murder.
I am antiwar. Many of you here, have made a career out of war. Although all the wars are a bit different, none of the wars since at least WW2 have been self defense. The U.S. has killed millions of innocent people in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq. Those people never attacked the U.S. So why did we kill them? Most of the victims were noncombatants -horrific deaths-- burned to death, buried under buildings, shot with automatic weapons, artillery, blasted by explosives, often dying lingering deaths from infection or disease, or starvation. Perhaps we might find common ground. Is it time to get out of Afghanistan yet? What is the rationale in the mind of today's soldiers for continuing the war and occupation? Oaths of obedience are BS. What do you really believe?
@toddboyle It's nice to be anti-war. It's nice to live in a safe, comfortable world where all choices are black and white and where ethical decisions take on the patina of religious devotion.
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You're welcome. I did not 'make a career out of war'. I served my country, yes, and during a difficult period of our history [the '80s]. I won't go into my reasons for joining the Army, but I assure you that they were just as morally and ethically correct as your reasons for not joining.
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As for 'oaths of obedience'... This is oath of enlistment in it's full text, you tell me where blind obedience comes into it:
"I, [your full name], do solemnly swear [or affirm] that will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreigh or domestic; that I shall obey the lawfull orders of the President of the United States and those officers appointed above me in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Regulations."
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There is no duration specific or implied in that oath. 'Lawfull orders' means several things; it means that I may not be ordered to assist the Civil Power as law enforcement; it means that I may not be ordered to commit atrocities or any other act prohibited by the Law of Land Warfare; further, it means that I am OBLIGATED not only to refuse those orders but to report anyone who seeks to enforce such orders on other soldiers [etc.] to their superiors in the chain of command.
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It is men and women who have sworn that oath [or the similar Oath of Commisioning for officers] that have allowed you to live in a society a] allows your dissent as free speech and b] is safe enough for you to live in. If this is somehow repugnant to you, I suggest that you will find many other regimes less comfortable and less safe.
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Again, you're welcome.
God I wish this system had an edit function...
The first full line in the Oath of Enlistment reads as follows:
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"I, [your full name], do solemnly swear [or affirm] that *I* will support and defend...."
They should have photographed OBL with a copy of that day's Islamabad Times sitting on his chest and then brought his body out for DNA confirmation.
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Ok, I have to admit it... I would probably not be selected for this mission because I also would have brought a bacon double cheeseburger and a few empty Israeli-brand beer bottles to pose the photo with. But I'm told I can be a little grumpy...
"one of the SEALs was sitting on bin Laden's chest"
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This one made my day. Disrespectful and good AA protection.
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As for meeting with lawyers before the mission--that says all you need to know about what is wrong with the USA.
You liberal losers are pathetic. The Seals are not particularly happy with their totally inept, incompetent, unqualified commander in chief, which is why this book was written in the first place. The Seals are sick and tired of listening to Obama take credit for the killing of OBL as though nobody else had anything to do with it. Then following the raid this administration went public with information about all the captured computers, hard drives, and thumb drives, I do believe they referred to it as a "treasure trove" of intelligence that was captured. A nice big pat on the back to themselves. So the Seals watched while terrorist after terrorist changed location, (moved) ditched their cell phones, changed their methods of communication, their identities, and that "treasure trove" of information became useless. Obama was (is) an idiot, and this book was payback. I will bet they were hoping this worthless administration would pursue them for illegally releasing sensitive information just so the defense could make a counter charge against the white house. By the way, this morning it was reported that after reading the book the pentagon has decided that nothing sensitive was released and no charges will be filed. Imagine that!  Â
There's two very pathetic things going on here:
1) a SEAL wrote a book where he broke the SEAL code of silence. He's an idiot for doing so. I hope he's got his entire family and thier entire blood line secure and safe because the terrorists and thier allies will come for him AND his entire bloodline. Vengance is a mother _____er.
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2) The only people who are going to care about the difference in the story regarding how Bin Laden was killed are those people who already hate Obama - and will automatically twist anything into something that they can try to use to fly the 'look at how bad he is' flag.  Doesn't matter that in the midst of an operation like this, that they are going to do exactly what they did - because otherwise they risked being killed themselves AND when the shot was taken, point man didn't know who the F it was other than an enemy who could kill him if he didn't get him first. In that scenario, you don't have time to figure out who he is before you nuetralize the threat. Anyone who argues otherwise is a pathetic brainless idiot.
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 @FormerMarineSgt As to your first point, I don't actually think they'll really go after him or his family. I served with SF in Honduras in the bad old days in the '80s and trust me when I tell you that the Arabs are positively kittens compared to narcoterroristas when it comes to blood vengeance. Truth be told, OBL had been marginalized for years by the time he was whacked and could only communicate via couriers [and it was courier tracking that eventually led to his death], By the time SEAL 6  went in at him, he was an absolutely ineffective leader beyond the figurehead /martyr function.
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On your second point, I couldn't agree more. OBL was a foreign enemy combattant engaged in outright warfare against the US, it's citizens and it's interests. The liberals complaining about us not 'arresting' OBL are the very same ones who completely spazzed on themselves when we drone-missiled al'Awlaki two years ago. Idiots like this are the kind who wonder if we couldn't have somehow arrested Yamamoto [the Japanese admiral who planned the Pearl Harbor attack] instead of just shooting him down in Operation Flyswatter.
This SEAL is a disgrace, and I doubt many SEALS, Special Forces, Rangers, or other elite forces, if any, would capitalize on doing their duty. He says he will give the money to a charity which supports the wives and families of fallen SEALS, who, incidentally are well cared for financially by the US Government and therefore, our tax dollars. Then he speaks for all the SEALS who were on this mission about their support, and opinions of President Obama, which is heresay and gossip. This man should hang his head in shame, and I will boycott him and his book, and I do so in honor of my family members who were true war heros! One being a survivor of the Battleship Arizona at Pearl Harbor, and the other having served on the Yorktown, which was sunk twice in the Pacific Ocean. I can guarantee you that were they still alive they would be completely disgusted by this man, and would just be appalled.
@onebluedolphin I'm just curious but are you including all the other special operators that have written books about their experiences over the years? Are all they traitors too? And by that I mean honored names like Charlie Beckwith, Bull Simmons, or Dick Meadows [just to name the SF side of things].
Is what this SEAL did in poor taste? Yep. Did this SEAL violate the code of silence about recent operations? You betcha he did and he'll never be able to hold his head up in Coronado or Little Creek again.
But here is the imporant point: NOBODY HAS READ THE BOOK YET! None of us commentors have any idea whether he included training or techniques in his book. Fact is, given the bull-dung mythology surrounding special operators, you can write a bestselling 'autobiography' about your career as an operator and never reveal an actual technique. Ask Richard Marcinko. He's been doing that for years.
Now, I have no idea what's in the book, but I'll reserve judgement until I do. I will give this SEAL credit though... at least he didn't defecate on his oath, his training, or his teammates by becoming a mercenary... er, uh, 'private security contractor'.
Zeitgeist.
I bet his fellow SEALS would love to get this rule breaking SEAL in a dark room for about 60 seconds...
Wasn't the 25 million payout, as Dead or Alive, if so it makes no difference. Some would say executing criminals without a trial violates their constitutional rights. Ask Bonnie and Clyde. Others say it's cost effective justice. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.Â
@LNSeveN I didnt know bin laden was an american citizen.
wow you guys are dumb... they found out his identity then it was requested that it not be revealed any further than it already was for fear of his life, but everyone just ignores that and gladly spreads his real name. Way to go. If this man dies, the blood is on the medias hands. Not just Komo, but every media outlet that released his name
@Pikkon - gee, it was that right wing mouthpiece called Fox News that outed this damm fool, so don't blame KOMO in anyway.
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@Pikkon Excuse me sir, but this was a man who didn't even have the courage to give his true name after he wrote a book he shouldn't have, in order to capitalize on a secret mission, which is truly deplorable. He deserves whatever he gets!
 @Pikkon FOX outed him. Blame FOX. Fair and balanced.
He made his bed...
I think Bin Laden had to know that his days were numbered. He must have been surprised he lived as long as he did. As technology advances and death can rain down from unseen robots there will be less of them who will be brave enough to step into his place.
 @Elvis Hopefully.
My dad had to get permission to release a photo of his huey with my mom's name on the nose for a book about Vietnam. I don't really care how it went down, just that it did. Guess he should've ran faster, he got what he deserved.
The book should not have been written nor should the details of the raid leaked, but both have happened and Bin Laden is still dead. So I guess it really doesn't matter one way or the other, certainly not worth getting your knickers in a knot over it.
Why was this book even authorized? I have never seen any previous raid made public. So why this one?
 @skulls98040 It wasn't.  People can write anything they want.  Witness Richard Miniter's book "Leading From Behind" which is fiction masquerading as the truth.  The only limit is that if you divulge classified information to which you were authorized access, you can be prosecuted after the fact.
@Cetus @skulls98040 Sure... or anything that Richard Marcinko has typed in the last 20 years. You can write a bestseller and never reveal a technique.
@skulls98040 The SEAL apparently couldn't wait to make money, no matter for what cause,and certainly the timing of this book has something to do with the coming Presidential election.
@skulls98040 Yes, other 'raid stories' have been made public... several books about the Son Tay raid have been published for example. As to why this was published so soon after the action, well, it beats me.
 @skulls98040 Apparently it wasn't "authorized"
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"U.S. officials fear the book may include classified information, as it did not undergo the formal review required by the Pentagon for works published by former or current Defense Department employees."
 @skulls98040 There have been detailed accounts written of previous actions like this. I don't know how detailed this one gets, but it's not the first.
No body, no pictures or it didn't happen. Just sayin.
@Kodiak that was my first thought when it happened. They said his body was dumped at sea to honor islamic custom to bury it within a certain amount of time. No photos were produced authenticating the death like they did for Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay
I agree,... Pictures, or it didn't happen...  LOL
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Dead Is dead in my book!
I don't care...he's dead. Â
I wasn't any kind of Special Forces, just a plain 11B but I will tell you this, if I saw him I don't care if his hands were up I would have shot him as dead as the weapon would allow. Not felt a bit of remorse either.
 @uplink I'd prefer he be smuggled into the US and, after a full page ad on the covers of the NY Newspapers, be released into Times Square. "Escape From NY 2" but I'd sleep like a baby if I had pulled the trigger, too.
Killing him should've been the intent all along
Why is this man not on trial for divulging confidential information?
@T H I S Because the current administration isn't on trial for devulging even more confidential information.
 @uplink Yeah I know right. For the Republicans, the only thing worse than Bin Laden  being killed on Obama's watch is that Obama told people it happened.
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 @uplink You mean, do I think the president has far more authority to release confidential information than a soldier? Yes, I would consider that a given.
@T H I S @uplink Agreed. None of them said a damn word when Saddam's sons were executed, then put on display in their dead state
@uplink Obama did not give details. Even the republicans acknowlegde that. The investigation in place is looking to find who leaked. Does not mean Obama condoned the leak no different when Bush W had a leak, he would not condone it, but it happened. Ask Scooter how he and Darth Cheney are getting along.
@T H I S @uplink So you think since Obama can talk about it no one else can? Very one way of you.
Please, obviously the raid was about killing Bin Laden. It was never about trying to capture him as it shouldn't have been.
@Gaikokujin I am waiting for the mamby pambys from the extreme left to raise the question - was excessive force used? Couldn't they have shot him in the arm or tasered him?
 @skulls98040  @Gaikokujin I'm a flaming liberal and have no problem with him being shot in the manner described.
@pampire @skulls98040 @Gaikokujin Me too. He was the worst kind of human being and he was a menace to public safety.
 @skulls98040 Keep waiting.  If anyone goes there, it will be the right-wing libertarian Paul-Bots that that will go there.
 @Mumblix Grumph  @T H I S  @skulls98040 And yet most of the comments like "he should have been shot in the arm or tasered" seem to come from the right...
 @T H I S  @skulls98040 Amnesty International whined about it. I really don't think of them as right-wing extremists...maybe you do.
Who cares about excessive force when it comes to terrorists.....i don't think you'd be shooting someone in the arm if they were shooting back at you...you'd be shooting them to kill them.
 @skulls98040  @Gaikokujin Bin Laden got what he deserved.