Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--From 9/11 to Abbottabad (43 page)

    
1
believed that the sun revolved around the Earth:
Adam Zagorin and Michael Duffy, “Inside the Interrogation of Detainee 063,”
Time
, June 20, 2005,
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1071284-1,00.html
.

    
2
dropped out of agricultural college:
JTF-GTMO assessment for Maad Al Qahtani, ISN US9SA-000063DP (S), October 30, 2008.

    
3
fighting alongside the Taliban:
Ibid.

    
4
Qahtani trained on the usual panoply:
See
U.S. v. Moussaoui
, Cr. No. 01-455-A, exhibit ST-0001.

    
5
“ready for a mission”:
JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment for Maad Al Qahtani.

    
6
“I’ll be back”:
Greg Miller and Josh Meyer, “Clues Missed on 9/11 Plotters,”
Los Angeles Times
, January 27, 2004, articles.latimes.com/2004/jan/27/nation/na-terror27/2. Also see Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman, “How the ’20th Hijacker’ Got Turned Away,”
Newsweek
, January 26, 2004,
www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2004/01/25/exclusive-how-the-20th-hijacker-got-turned-away.html
.

    
7
arrested on December 15:
JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment for Maad Al Qahtani.

    
8
love of falconry:
Zagorin and Duffy, “Inside the Interrogation of Detainee 063.”

    
9
head-butting one of his interrogators:
Ibid.

  
10
given drugs and enemas:
Neil A. Lewis, “Fresh Details Emerge on Harsh Methods at Guantánamo,”
New York Times
, January 1, 2005.

  
11
FBI official later noted:
Zagorin and Duffy, “Inside the Interrogation of Detainee 063.”

  
12
legal definition of torture:
Bob Woodward, “Guantanamo Detainee Was Tortured, Says Official Overseeing Military Trials,”
Washington Post
, January 14, 2009,
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/13/AR2009011303372.html
.

  
13
after the weeks of abuse:
U.S. Department of Defense, “Recommendation for Continued Detention Under DoD Control (CD for Detainee, ISN US9SA-000063DP[S]),” October 30, 2008.

  
14
“Those guys were swashbucklers”:
Michael Scheuer interview.

  
15
gave them some useful information:
Musharraf,
In the Line of Fire
, p. 220.

  
16
waterboarded 183 times:
Scott Shane, “Waterboarding Used 266 Times on 2 Suspects,”
New York Times
, April 19, 2009,
www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/world/20detain.html
.

  
17
diapered and shackled:
Peter Finn, Joby Warrick, and Julie Tate, “How a Detainee Became an Asset: Sept. 11 Plotter Cooperated After Waterboarding,”
Washington Post
, August 29, 2009,
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/28/AR2009082803874_pf.html
.

  
18
“retired”:
Scott Shane, “Harsh Methods of Questioning Debated Again,”
New York Times
, May 4, 2011,
www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/us/politics/04torture.html
.

  
19
senior CIA analyst Frederica traveled:
Jane Mayer,
The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals
(New York: Anchor Books, 2008), p. 273.

  
20
When CIA officials interrogated Hambali:
JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment for Riduan Isomuddin, ISN US9ID-010019DP, October 30, 2008.

  
21
stayed in an al-Qaeda safe house:
Ibid.

  
22
letter addressed to bin Laden:
“Letter May Detail Iraq Insurgency’s Concerns,”
CNN.com
, February 10, 2004,
articles.cnn.com/2004-02-10/world/sprj.nirq.zarqawi_1_zarqawi-qaeda-senior-coalition?_s=PM:WORLD
.

  
23
not clear if these techniques were actually employed:
Mark Hosenball and Brian Grow, “Bin Laden Informant’s Treatment Key to Torture Debate,” Reuters, May 14, 2011,
www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/14/us-binladen-ghul-idUSTRE74D0EJ20110514
. The confusion stems from ambiguity surrounding Ghul’s detention and status, and the only mention of his treatment appears in a Department of Justice memo to the CIA regarding acceptable treatment of detainees, where it says that interrogators received approval to use “attention grasp, walling, facial hold, facial slap, wall standing, stress positions, and sleep deprivation.” See U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, “Memorandum for John A. Rizzo, Senior Deputy Council, Central Intelligence Agency,” May, 30, 2005, p. 7,
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/missing_memos/28OLCmemofinalredact30May05.pdf
.

  
24
traveled with al-Qaeda’s leader:
JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment for Maad Al Qahtani.

  
25
the Kuwaiti was trusted by KSM:
Ken Dilanian, “Detainee Put CIA on bin Laden Trail,”
Los Angeles Times
, May 5, 2011,
articles.latimes.com/2011/may/05/nation/la-na-bin-laden-torture-20110505/2
.

  
26
the operational commander of al-Qaeda:
On al-Libi’s role as operational commander, see JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment for Abu al-Libi, ISN US9LY-010017DP, September 10, 2008.

  
27
two serious but ultimately unsuccessful attempts:
Tim McGirk, “Can This Man Help Capture Bin Laden?”
Time
, May 8, 2005,
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1058999,00.html
.

  
28
lacked melanin:
Musharraf,
In the Line of Fire
, p. 258.

  
29
arrested in Pakistan:
JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment for Abu al-Libi.

  
30
handed over to the CIA:
Ibid. He was transferred to U.S. custody on June 6, 2005.

  
31
he had been promoted to KSM’s spot:
Ibid.

  
32
Libi also told his interrogators:
Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, “Phone Call by Kuwaiti Courier Led to bin Laden,” Associated Press, May 3, 2011,
abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=13512344
.

  
33
made-up name:
Scott Shane and Charlie Savage, “Bin Laden Raid Revives Debate on Value of Torture,”
New York Times
, May 3, 2011,
www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/us/politics/04torture.html
.

  
34
“If you were to ask me”:
Robert Richer, interview by author, Washington, DC, October 6, 2011.

  
35
Scrabble board:
Ibid.

  
36
“Those guys gave a wealth of invaluable information”:
Robert Dannenberg interview.

  
37
help in the hunt for bin Laden:
Author interviews with counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden.

  
38
of real interest at the CIA:
Ibid.; also see Goldman and Apuzzo, “Phone Call by Kuwaiti Courier.”

  
39
his real name:
Lamb, “Revealed: The SEALs’ Secret Guide.”

  
40
large family of brothers:
Author interviews with counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden.

  
41
the Kuwaiti had died in the arms:
See JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment for Walid Said bin Said Zaid, ISN US9YM-000550DP (S), January 16, 2008.

  
42
“marginalized”:
Barton Gellman and Thomas E. Ricks, “U.S. Concludes bin Laden Escaped at Tora Bora Fight,”
Washington Post
, April 17, 2002,
www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A62618-2002Apr16?language=printer
.

  
43
“As I would walk into the Oval Office”:
Michael Hayden, interview for
The Last Days of Osama bin Laden
, National Geographic, aired November 9, 2011.

  
44
“The president’s questions were passed down to us”:
Author interviews with counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden.

  
45
warrant from a judge:
This story was first reported by James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, “Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts,”
New York Times
, December 16, 2005,
www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html?pagewanted=all
.

  
46
pursuing bin Laden through his courier network:
Michael Hayden interview.

  
47
“no bated-breath moment”:
Author interviews with counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden.

  
48
fixated on finding bin Laden:
Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, “Meet ‘John’: The CIA’s Bin Laden Hunter-in-Chief,” Associated Press, July 5, 2011,
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43637044/ns/us_news-security/
.

  
49
Chuck’s hair had gradually turned gray:
Author observation.

  
50
done a thorough job:
“9/11 Commission Report,” pp. 255–58, 534.

  
51
Malaysian terror summit, on January 15, 2000:
Ibid., pp. 215 and 267.

  
52
“Some fifty to sixty”:
Office of the Inspector General, “Report on CIA Accountability with Respect to the 9/11 Attacks,” August 21, 2007,
www.cia.gov/library/reports/Executive%20Summary_OIG%20Report.pdf
.

  
53
had a visa … flown to Los Angeles:
“9/11 Commission Report,” p. 267.

  
54
local phone directory:
Defendants’ exhibit 950 in
U.S. v. Moussaoui
, Cr. No. 01-455-A, “FBI’s Handling of Intelligence Information Related
to Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hamzi,” Department of Justice Inspector General’s report by Glenn A. Fine, obtained via INTELWIRE. com, p. 29.

  
55
“routine” notice:
Ibid., p. 54.

  
56
“informing the FBI”:
Office of the Inspector General, “Report on CIA Accountability.” Also useful is Defendants’ exhibit 950 in
U.S. v. Moussaoui
, p. 26 and generally.

    
1
“We were told to evacuate”:
Barack Obama’s Speech at Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC, August 1, 2007,
www.cfr.org/us-election-2008/obamas-speech-woodrow-wilson-center/p13974
.

    
2
Obama thought she was vulnerable:
“I think I will be the Democrat who will be most effective in going up against John McCain, or any other Republican—because they all want basically a continuation of George Bush’s policies—because I will offer a clear contrast as somebody who never supported this war, thought it was a bad idea.” Barack Obama at Democratic Debate, Los Angeles, CA, January 31, 2008,
articles.cnn.com/2008-01-31/politics/dem.debate.transcript_1_hillary-clinton-debate-stake/29?_s=PM:POLITICS
.

    
3
“has protected or regenerated”:
National Intelligence Council, “National Intelligence Estimate: The Terrorist Threat to the US Homeland,” July 2007,
www.c-span.org/pdf/nie_071707.pdf
.

    
4
met with his foreign policy advisors:
Ben Rhodes, interview by author, Washington, DC, August 15, 2011.

    
5
Obama campaign’s foreign policy critiques:
Author interviews with senior administration officials.

    
6
“If we have actionable intelligence”:
Obama’s speech at Woodrow Wilson Center.

    
7
“I find it amusing”:
AFL-CIO Presidential Democratic Forum, Chicago, IL, August 7, 2007,
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20180486/ns/msnbc_tv-hardball_with_chris_matthews/t/afl-cio-democratic-presidential-forum-august—pm-et/#.TwXh111AIj8
.

    
8
Clinton’s most famous campaign ad:
Ariel Alexovich, “Clinton’s National Security Ad,”
New York Times
, February 29, 2008,
thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/clintons-national-security-ad/
.

    
9
“Dr. Strangelove”:
“Transcript: The Republican Candidates Debate,”
New York Times
, August 5, 2007,
www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/us/politics/05transcript-debate.html?pagewanted=all
.

  
10
“Will we risk the confused leadership”:
“Transcript: John McCain Speech After His Win in the Wisconsin Primary,” C-SPAN, February 19, 2008,
www.c-spanvideo.org/appearance/290354897
.

  
11
“John McCain likes to say”:
Jonathan Alter,
The Promise: President Obama, Year One
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 2009), p. 2.

  
12
Obama approved the campaign:
Matthew M. Aid,
Intel Wars: The Secret History of the Fight Against Terror
(London: Bloomsbury, 2012), p. 119.

  
13
a pair of CIA drone strikes:
R. Jeffrey Smith, Candace Rondeaux, and Joby Warrick, “2 U.S. Airstrikes Offer a Concrete Sign of Obama’s Pakistan Policy,”
Washington Post
, January 24, 2009,
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012304189.html
.

  
14
“extraordinary efforts”:
“The Nobel Committee Explains Its Choice,”
Time
, October 9, 2009,
www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1929399,00.html
.

  
15
“surge” of thirty thousand troops:
“Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on the Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” White House press release, December 1, 2009,
www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-address-nation-way-forward-afghanistan-and-pakistan
.

  
16
forty-five drone strikes … reliable press reports:
See Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann, “The Year of the Drone,” New America Foundation, February 24, 2010,
counterterrorism.newamerica.net/sites/newamerica.net/files/policydocs/bergentiedemann2.pdf
.

  
17
“I face the world as it is”:
“Obama’s Nobel Remarks [transcript],”
New York Times
, December 10, 2009,
www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/world/europe/11prexy.text.html?pagewanted=all
.

  
18
his first intelligence briefings:
Bruce Riedel, interview by Tresha Mabile, Washington, DC, July 2011.

  
19
three-day attack 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
.

  
20
“Most of these threats”:
Juan Zarate, interview by author, Washington, DC, 2010.

  
21
“We need to redouble our efforts”:
“Obama on bin Laden: The Full
60 Minutes
Interview,” CBS, May 8, 2011,
www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20060530-10391709.html
.

  
22
“Where do you think Osama bin Laden is?”:
Bruce Riedel interview.

  
23
“In order to ensure”:
Ken Dilanian, “In Finding Osama bin Laden, CIA Soars from Distress to Success,”
Los Angeles Times
, May 8, 2011,
articles.latimes.com/2011/may/08/nation/la-na-bin-laden-cia-20110508
.

  
24
It became embarrassing to bring nothing new:
Author interviews with U.S. counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden.

  
25
late July of 2009:
Warrick,
The Triple Agent
, p. 117.

  
26
Balawi was arrested in early 2009:
Ibid., pp. 40–41.

  
27
a short video clip:
Ibid., pp. 115–16.

  
28
“golden source”:
Ibid., p. 114.

  
29
providing medical treatment:
Ibid., p. 126.

  
30
“to conduct martyrdom operations”:
John Marzulli, “Najibullah Zazi Pleads Guilty to Plotting NYC Terror Attack, Supporting al Qaeda,”
New York Daily News
, February 22, 2010.

  
31
first genuine al-Qaeda recruit:
Josh Meyer, “Urgent Probe Underway of Possible al Qaeda–linked Terror Plot,”
Los Angeles Times
, September 21, 2009,
articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/21/nation/na-terror-arrests21
.

  
32
pages of handwritten notes:
U.S. v. Najibullah Zazi
, Eastern District of New York, 09-CR-663, memorandum of law in support of the government’s motion for a permanent order of detention obtained via
INTELWIRE.com
.

  
33
quick actions … “was acquired in Yemen”:
“Yemen Can Carry Out Airstrikes Against al Qaeda,”
CNN.com
, December 30, 2009,
www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/12/30/U.S..yemen.strikes/index.html
.

  
34
“We dodged a bullet”:
Jake Tapper, Karen Travers, and Huma Khan, “Obama: System Failed in a ‘Potentially Disastrous’ Way,” ABC News, January 5, 2010,
abcnews.go.com/print?id=9484260
.

  
35
arranged for the Jordanian doctor to slip over the border:
Warrick,
The Triple Agent
, p. 160.

  
36
Forward Operating Base Chapman … December 30, 2009:
Ibid., p. 162.

  
37
arranged for a cake to be made:
Ibid., p. 143.

  
38
As he met with the CIA team:
Ibid., p. 179.

  
39
“very personal for”:
John Brennan, interview by author, Washington, DC, December 6, 2011.

  
40
launched an unprecedented eleven:
Warrick,
The Triple Agent
, pp. 189–90.

  
41
put more Agency officers on the ground:
Author interviews with National Security Council officials.

  
42
“The CIA goes into a completely different mode”:
Vali Nasr, interview by author, Washington, DC, May 31, 2011.

  
43
almost four hundred U.S. officials:
Shamila Chaudhary, interview by author, Washington, DC, November 1, 2011.

  
44
“all bets are off”:
Bob Woodward,
Obama’s Wars
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010), p. 365.

  
45
Zardari pushed back:
Author interviews with National Security Council officials.