Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--From 9/11 to Abbottabad (44 page)

    
1
the Kuwaiti was back in bin Laden’s inner circle:
Bob Woodward, “Death of Osama bin Laden: Phone Call Pointed U.S. to Compound—and to ‘the Pacer,’ ”
Washington Post
, May 6, 2011,
www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/death-of-osama-bin-laden-phone-call-pointed-us-to-compound–and-to-the-pacer/2011/05/06/AFnSVaCG_story.html
; author interview with U.S. officials.

    
2
at least an hour’s drive:
Author interview with Pakistani intelligence official, July 2011.

    
3
able to follow him as he drove home:
Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.

    
4
phone or Internet service:
Mazzetti, Cooper, and Baker, “Behind the Hunt for Bin Laden”; author interview with U.S. intelligence officials.

    
5
“Tell me about that fortress”:
U.S. intelligence officer, interview with author, Washington, DC, December 20, 2011.

    
6
“interested, but cautious”:
History Channel,
Targeting Bin Laden
, September 6, 2011.

    
7
“don’t be afraid of making some of them kind of creative”:
Author interview with U.S. intelligence official.

    
8
“You are commanded to come out into the street”:
Ibid.

    
9
bogus vaccination program:
Saeed Shah, “CIA Organised Fake Vaccination Drive to Get Bin Laden’s Family DNA,”
Guardian
, July 11, 2011,
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/11/cia-fake-vaccinations-osama-bin-ladens-dna
.

  
10
“Closing In on Usama bin Ladin’s Courier”:
Author interview with U.S. counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden.

  
11
“Anatomy of a Lead”:
Goldman and Apuzzo, “Meet ‘John’: The CIA’s bin Laden Hunter-in-Chief.”

  
12
“We had a group who weren’t afraid”:
Author interviews with U.S. counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden.

  
13
friends and colleagues:
Ibid.

  
14
alcoholic and a congenital liar:
Edward Helmore, “US Relied on ‘Drunken Liar’ to Justify War,”
Guardian
, April 2, 2005.

  
15
skeptical of this claim:
U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, “Report on Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Postwar Iraq, together with Additional Views,” February 12, 2004, p. 87, intelligence.senate.gov/prewar.pdf.

  
16
Matthew … a careful analyst:
Author interviews with U.S. counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden.

  
17
Kuwaiti even still working for al-Qaeda:
Ibid.

  
18
“We put an enormous amount of work”:
Ibid.

  
19
“We kept explaining”:
Ibid.

  
20
“high confidence”:
Ibid.

  
21
religious school outside Abbottabad:
Lamb, “Revealed: The SEALs’ Secret Guide.”

  
22
“pattern of life”:
Author interviews with U.S. counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden.

  
23
“non-alerting”:
Author interview with former CIA operations officer posted in Pakistan after the 9/11 attacks.

  
24
bin Laden’s wives, children, and grandchildren:
Author interview with U.S. official.

  
25
“the pacer”:
Ibid.; also see Woodward, “Death of Osama bin Laden.”

  
26
“collection gaps” … local police on the payroll:
Author interviews with U.S. counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden.

  
27
“We had pulled on a gazillion threads”:
Ibid.

  
28
“Oh, that’s a bummer”:
Denis McDonough, interview by author, Washington, DC, December 6, 2011.

  
29
Brennan … pointed out:
Ibid.

  
30
training police dogs:
“Part One of Series of Reports on bin Ladin’s Life in Sudan,”
Al Quds Al-Arabi
, November 24, 2001.

  
31
“Seventy percent”:
Author interview with U.S. counterterrorism officials involved in the hunt for bin Laden.

    
1
both in their early thirties:
Lamb, “Revealed: The SEALs’ Secret Guide.”

    
2
rice, lentils, and other groceries:
Saeed Shah, “At End, bin Laden Wasn’t Running al-Qaida, Officials Say,”
McClatchy Newspapers
, June 29, 2011,
www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/06/28/116666/at-end-bin-laden-wasnt-running.html
.

    
3
stomach upsets, colds and coughs:
Munir Ahmed, “AP Exclusive: Doc Recalls Kids from bin Laden Home,” Associated Press, June 1, 2011.

    
4
small white Suzuki Jeep and a red van:
Author observation of model of bin Laden compound.

    
5
they worked in the transportation business:
Shabbir, a neighbor of bin Laden in Abbottabad, interview by author, Pakistan, July 20, 2011.

    
6
they didn’t help the poor:
Nahal Toosi and Zarar Khan, “Bin Laden’s Neighbors Noticed Unusual Things,” Associated Press, May 4, 2011.

    
7
father emigrated five decades earlier:
Zahid Hussain, “Investigators Track bin Laden Couriers,”
Wall Street Journal
, June 1, 2011,
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576357601886423360.html
; author interview with Pakistani intelligence official, July 2011.

    
8
they could easily blend in:
Michael Isikoff, “How Profile of bin Laden Courier Led CIA to Its Target,” NBC News, May 4, 2011,
today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42906157/ns/today-today_news/t/how-profile-bin-laden-courier-led-cia-its-target/
.

    
9
small town of Hasan Abdal:
Author interview with Pakistani intelligence official, July 2011.

  
10
plot carnage on a grand scale:
Peter Walker, “Osama bin Laden ‘Closely Involved in al-Qaida Plots,’ ”
Guardian
, May 6, 2011,
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/06/osamabinladen-al-qaida
.

  
11
heavy-handed and undiplomatic:
Sebastian Rotella, “New Details in the bin Laden Docs: Portrait of a Fugitive Micro-Manager,”
Pro-Publica
, May 11, 2011,
www.propublica.org/article/bin-laden-documents-portrait-of-a-fugitive-micro-manager
.

  
12
deep in the weeds of personnel decisions:
Author interview with U.S. intelligence official.

  
13
issued instructions to his regional affiliates:
Lolita C. Baldor and Kimberly Dozier, “Source: Bin Laden Was Directing al-Qaeda Figures,” Associated Press, May 7, 2011; author interview with Pakistani intelligence official, July 2011.

  
14
Rahman also traveled to Iran:
U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Treasury Targets Key Al-Qa’ida Funding and Support Network Using Iran as a Critical Transit Point,” July 28, 2011,
www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1261.aspx
; also see Matt Apuzzo, “Atiyah Abd al-Rahman Dead: Al Qaeda Second in Command Killed in Pakistan,” Associated Press, August 28, 2011,
www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/27/atiyah-abd-al-rahman-al-qaeda-dead_n_939009.html
.

  
15
Bin Laden reminded the leaders:
Author interview with Pakistani official, July 2011.

  
16
Rahman wrote a seven-page letter:
Atiyah abd al-Rahman, “Note to Zarqawi,” November 12, 2005, available at
www.ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/CTC-AtiyahLetter.pdf
; on Abdul al-Rahman’s role in communicating with al-Qaeda in Iraq, see Brian Fishman, “Redefining the Islamic State: The Fall and Rise of Al-Qaeda in Iraq,” New America Foundation, August 18, 2011,
newamerica.net/publications/policy/redefining_the_islamic_state
.

  
17
harmed the al-Qaeda brand:
Author interview with Pakistani official, July 2011.

  
18
scolding them for “fanaticism”:
Fawaz Gerges,
The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 120.

  
19
America was still their main enemy:
Ken Dilanian and Brian Bennett, “Osama bin Laden’s Surrender Wasn’t a Likely Outcome in Raid, Officials Say,”
Los Angeles Times
, May 3, 2011,
articles.latimes.com/2011/may/03/world/la-fg-bin-laden-us-20110504/2
.

  
20
not a sufficiently important target:
Rotella, “New Details in the bin Laden Docs”; Siobhan Gorman, “Petraeus Named in bin Laden Documents,”
Wall Street Journal
, June 23, 2011,
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304231204576404222056912648.html
.

  
21
al-Qaeda simply didn’t have the resources:
Michael Leiter, interview by author, Washington, DC, August 29, 2011.

  
22
attack the United States itself:
It should be noted that while bin Laden continued to emphasize large-scale attacks in the United States, he also supported the shift made by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula toward smaller attacks against American targets. See Kimberly Dozier, “Bin Laden Trove of Documents Sharpen US Aim,” Associated Press, June 8, 2011,
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43331634/ns/us_news-security/t/bin-laden-trove-documents-sharpen-us-aim/
.

  
23
how many thousands of dead Americans:
Pierre Thomas and Martha Raddatz, “Osama bin Laden Operational Journal Among Evidence from SEAL Raid,” ABC News, May 11, 2011,
abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-diary-evidence-seal-raid/story?id=13581186
.

  
24
He mused about attacking trains:
Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane, “Data Show Bin Laden Plots; C.I.A. Hid Near Raided Houses,”
New York Times
, May 5, 2011,
www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/world/asia/06intel.html
.

  
25
disaffected African Americans and Latinos:
Greg Miller and Karen DeYoung, “Bin Laden’s Preoccupation with U.S. Said to Be Source of Friction with Followers,”
Washington Post
, May 11, 2011.

  
26
Bryant Neal Vinas:
For more on Vinas, see Michael Powell, “U.S. Recruit Reveals How Qaeda Trains Foreigners,”
New York Times
, July 23, 2009,
www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/nyregion/24terror.html?pagewanted=all
.

  
27
tenth anniversary of 9/11:
Siobhan Gorman, “Bin Laden Plotted New Attack,”
Wall Street Journal
, July 15, 2011,
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304521304576446213098582284.html
.

  
28
Christmas:
Dozier, “Bin Laden Trove of Documents Sharpen U.S. Aim.”

  
29
oil tankers … wider strategy:
Damien Pearse, “Al-Qaida Hoped to Blow Up Oil Tankers, Bin Laden Documents Reveal,”
Guardian
, May 20, 2011,
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/20/al-qaida-oil-tankers-bin-laden
.

  
30
in touch with a group of Moroccan militants:
“Top Terrorist Had Ties to Düsseldorf Cell,”
Der Spiegel
, May 6, 2011,
www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,761101,00.html
.

  
31
in the fall of 2010:
Author interviews with U.S. national security officials, December 2010.

  
32
Monotheism and Jihad Group:
Matt Apuzzo, “Osama Wanted New Name for al-Qaida to Repair Image,” Associated Press, June 24, 2011,
www.salon.com/2011/06/24/us_al_qaida_new_name/
. Monotheism and Jihad was, somewhat ironically, the name of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s terrorist group before it became al-Qaeda in Iraq. There was an earlier al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula that was repressed by Saudi authorities; the new iteration of the group was announced in 2009, when al-Qaeda in the Southern Arabian Peninsula merged with its Saudi counterpart.

  
33
did not reflect al-Qaeda’s “values”:
Rotella, “New Details in the bin Laden Docs.”

  
34
didn’t know Awlaki:
Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.

  
35
Bin Laden also offered strategic advice:
Greg Miller, “Bin Laden Document Trove Reveals Strain on al-Qaeda,”
Washington Post
, July 1, 2011,
www.washingtonpost.com/national/national-security/bin-laden-document-trove-reveals-strain-on-al-qaeda/2011/07/01/AGdj0GuH_story.html
.

  
36
half a dozen other key lieutenants:
Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann, “Washington’s Phantom War: The Effects of the U.S. Drone Program in Pakistan,”
Foreign Affairs
(July/August 2011),
www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67939/peter-bergen-and-katherine-tiedemann/washingtons-phantom-war
.

  
37
“getting hammered”:
Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.

  
38
counterintelligence shop … particular worry:
Author interviews with Pakistani intelligence officials, July 2011; Greg Miller, “Bin Laden Document Trove.”

  
39
negotiate a grand alliance:
Jason Burke, “Osama bin Laden Tried to Establish ‘Grand Coalition’ of Militant Groups,”
Guardian
, May 30, 2011,
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/30/osama-bin-laden-militant-alliance
.

  
40
considered brokering some sort of deal:
Mark Mazzetti, “Signs That Bin Laden Weighed Seeking Pakistani Protection,”
New York Times
, May 26, 2011,
www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/world/middleeast/27binladen.html
.

  
41
in 2003 tried to assassinate Pakistan’s president:
Salman Masood, “Pakistan Leader Escapes Attempt at Assassination,”
New York Times
, December 26, 2003,
www.nytimes.com/2003/12/26/world/pakistani-leader-escapes-attempt-at-assassination.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
.

  
42
his battle was fought in the media:
“Letter to Mullah Mohammed Omar from bin Laden,” undated, AFGP-2002-600321, available at
www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/letter-to-mullah-mohammed-omar-from-bin-laden-english-translation
.

  
43
Kyoto agreement on global warming:
Osama bin Laden, “The Wills of the Heroes of the Raids on New York and Washington,” videotape released September 11, 2011, transcript available at
abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/transcript2.pdf
.

  
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
.