Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--From 9/11 to Abbottabad (46 page)

  
79
“The premium is on the protection of our force”:
Ibid.

  
80
ended up having some two dozen Navy SEALs in Pakistani custody:
Author interview with senior administration officials, Washington, DC.

  
81
“That was a huge fundamental shift”:
Ibid.

  
82
quick reaction force:
Ibid.

  
83
“If we know we can find Number One or Number Two”:
Michael Mullen interview.

  
84
forged a personal relationship:
Author interview with Pakistani official.

  
85
“You have too many CIA agents in this country”:
Ibid.

  
86
“shouting match”:
Jane Perlez, “Denying Links to Militants, Pakistan’s Spy Chief Denounces U.S. Before Parliament,”
New York Times
, May 13, 2011,
www.nytimes.com/2011/05/14/world/asia/14pakistan.html
.

  
87
over the course … deep in the forests of North Carolina:
Schmidle, “Getting bin Laden.”

  
88
These rehearsals … “on target”:
Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.

  
89
“audio signature” … McRaven had advertised it could be:
Ibid.

  
90
During the rehearsals … the SEALs practiced:
Ibid.

  
91
had encountered pretty much every type of surprise possible:
James Cartwright interview.

  
92
“McRaven had a backup for every possible failure”:
Michèle Flournoy interview.

  
93
a great cheer went up:
Eric Greitens interview.

  
94
replicated the likely heat conditions:
Schmidle, “Getting bin Laden.”

  
95
this time joined by Admiral Mullen:
Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.

  
96
“rehearsal of concept” … “game time” decisions:
Ibid.

  
97
the whole operation could be conducted in under thirty minutes:
Author interview with senior U.S. administration official.

  
98
drop in at the JSOC operations center at Bagram:
Michael Mullen interview.

  
99
“If I am going to send somebody in to die”:
Ibid.

  
100
“First of all, it helps that he’s from central casting”:
Tony Blinken interview.

101
“In terms of difficulty”:
Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.

102
told the
Al-Quds Al-Arabi
newspaper:
Khalid al Hammadi, “Bin Laden’s Former ‘Bodyguard’ Interviewed,”
Al-Quds Al-Arabi
, August 3, 2004, and March 20 to April 4, 2004.

103
willingness to be martyred:
The
Guardian
website has a useful chronology of statements by bin Laden and Zawahiri at
www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/page/0,,839823,00.html
, where bin Laden’s February 20, 2006, statement can be found.

104
rules of engagement the SEALs adhered to:
Leon Panetta interview with
NBC Nightly News
, May 3, 2011,
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42887700/ns/world_news-death_of_bin_laden/t/transcript-interview-cia-director-panetta/#.TwHRIiNAYfU
.

105
consisting of … experienced interrogators:
James Cartwright interview. See also Eric Schmitt, Thom Shanker, and David E. Sanger, “U.S. Was Braced for Fight with Pakistanis in bin Laden Raid,”
New York Times
, May 9, 2011,
www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/world/asia/10intel.html?emc=na#
.

106
would fly to the aircraft carrier USS
Carl Vinson:
James Cartwright interview; Schmitt, Shanker, and Sanger, “U.S. Was Braced for Fight.”

107
point of diminishing returns:
Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.

108
“There was always the tension between”:
Tony Blinken interview.

109
Obama gave a provisional go-ahead:
Gorman and Barnes, “Spy, Military Ties Aided bin Laden Raid.”

110
“not invited”:
Ben Rhodes interview in
Targeting bin Laden
.

111
“In the past I have had to engage newspaper editors and say”:
Ben Rhodes interview.

112
“I felt the enormous weight of the information I’d been told”:
Ben Rhodes interview in
Targeting bin Laden
.

113
“playbook” … “Keep preparing”:
Author interview with senior administration official.

114
able to flip a switch immediately:
Ibid.

115
“So, for all the options that involved him not being there”:
Ibid.

116
worked up a sixty-six-page document:
Author interview with U.S. intelligence official.

117
In mid-April, John Brennan called Mike Leiter:
Michael Leiter interview.

118
president of the
Harvard Law Review:
Harvard Gazette
, February 25, 1999,
news.harvard.edu/gazette/1999/02.25/news.html
.

119
position that Barack Obama had held:
Fox Butterfield, “First Black Elected to Head Harvard’s Law Review,”
New York Times
, February 6, 1990,
www.nytimes.com/1990/02/06/us/first-black-elected-to-head-harvard-s-law-review.html
.

120
worked for the congressional commission … final report:
Testimony of former senator Charles S. Robb before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, “Nomination of Michael Leiter to Be Director, National Counterterrorism Center,” p. 3,
www.fas.org/irp/congress/2008_hr/leiter.pdf
.

121
“I had seen enough failures in this world”:
Michael Leiter interview.

122
there were aspects of the case that bothered him:
Ibid.

123
In Leiter’s mind … gaps in the coverage:
Ibid.

124
“I don’t think that is sufficient if this is successful or a failure”:
Ibid.

125
Brennan agreed that the Red Team was a good idea:
Ibid.

126
Leiter then went to see Tom Donilon:
Ibid.

127
“Denis, are you fucking kidding me?”:
Ibid.

128
The ideal time to do the helicopter assault:
Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official.

129
the longer they waited, the greater the possibility of a leak:
Ibid.; James Cartwright interview.

130
Morell said, “Absolutely, I think it’s a great idea:
Michael Leiter interview.

131
they had forty-eight hours:
Ibid.

132
Leiter’s team explored three alternative hypotheses:
Ibid.

133
The analysts found that the first hypothesis was the most likely:
Ibid.

134
“We actually thought we had a pretty good handle”:
Ibid.

135
none of the alternative hypotheses was as likely:
Ibid.

136
posted online … “silliness”:
Alan Silverleib, “Obama Releases Original Long-Form Birth Certificate,” CNN, April 27, 2011,
edition.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/04/27/obama.birth.certificate/index.html
.

137
the SEAL teams had already left their base:
Schmidle, “Getting bin Laden.”

    
1
“Bottom line is”:
Michael Leiter interview.

    
2
“It really didn’t change anything”:
Michael Vickers interview.

    
3
“Even if you’re at the forty percent low end of this range”:
Michael Leiter interview.

    
4
“We thought the prospects were higher”:
John Brennan in
Targeting bin Laden
.

    
5
“There was a deflation in the room”:
Ben Rhodes in
Targeting bin Laden
.

    
6
“if anything, the Red Team actually brought down”:
Tony Blinken interview.

    
7
“I think this Red Team”:
Michael Leiter interview.

    
8
“the best evidence since Tora Bora”:
Author interview with senior U.S. intelligence official. Also see Massimo Calabresi, “CIA Chief: Pakistan Would Have Jeopardized Operation,”
Time
, May 3, 2011,
swampland.time.com/2011/05/03/cia-chief-breaks-silence-u-s-ruled-out-involving-pakistan-in-bin-laden-raid-early-on/
.

    
9
Obama summed up the case:
Michael Leiter interview.

  
10
“Mister President, this is a very hard call”:
Ben Rhodes interview for
Targeting bin Laden
.

  
11
Situation Room began to fill with laughter:
Interviews with senior administration officials.

  
12
Joe Biden … was worried about the local fallout from the raid:
Ibid.

  
13
Robert Gates continued to be skittish:
Ibid.; Michael Leiter interview; James Cartwright interview.

  
14
Gates and Biden still leery:
Michael Leiter interview and interviews with senior administration officials.

  
15
against the SEAL helicopter assault:
Tom Donilon interview for
Targeting bin Laden;
Mike Leiter interview.

  
16
had never prepared … with as much care:
Michael Mullen interview.

  
17
“Bill’s [McRaven’s] team can do this”:
Ibid.

  
18
a tiny drone-fired munition:
Author interviews with senior administration officials.

  
19
a thirteen-pound “smart” bomb:
V. J. Hennigan, “Pentagon Seeks Mini-Weapons for New Age Warfare,”
Los Angeles Times
, May 30, 2011.

  
20
Hillary Clinton gave a long, lawyerly presentation:
Author interview with senior administration officials.

  
21
“Mister President, my first choice would be that we wait”:
Michael Leiter interview.

  
22
“I’ve always used the test”:
Leon Panetta, interview by author, Washington, DC, February 16, 2012.

  
23
Hillary Clinton voiced a related point:
Author interview with senior administration officials.

  
24
John Brennan, Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, urged a go:
Michael Leiter interview.

  
25
Ben Rhodes, Michèle Flournoy, Tony Blinken, Mike Vickers, Robert Cardillo, and Nick Rasmussen all endorsed the raid:
Author interviews with each of them.

  
26
Obama listened to the counsel:
Tony Blinken interview.

  
27
“This is a close call”:
Barack Obama interview for
Targeting bin Laden
.

  
28
felt that those who had voiced doubts:
“Obama on bin Laden: The Full
60 Minutes
Interview.”

  
29
on his shoulders for the rest of his life:
John Brennan interview for
Targeting bin Laden
.

  
30
“The most difficult part”:
“Obama on bin Laden: The Full
60 Minutes
Interview.”

  
31
“I thought it was important”:
Barack Obama in
Targeting bin Laden
.

  
32
Obama had 100 percent confidence:
Author interview with administration officials, Washington, DC, August 2011.

  
33
Obama knew the stakes were high:
Barack Obama in
Targeting bin Laden
.

  
34
“What if the mysterious pacer was a prince from Dubai”:
“Obama on bin Laden: The Full
60 Minutes
Interview.”

  
35
tripled the number of troops in Afghanistan:
“Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on the Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

  
36
called Mubarak and told him it was time to step down:
Jake Tapper, “After Thursday Speech, White House Pushed Mubarak: You Must Satisfy the Demonstrators in the Street,” ABC News, February 11, 2011,
abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/02/after-thursday-speech-white-house-pushed-mubarak-you-must-satisfy-the-demonstrators-in-the-street/
; author interview with senior administration official.

  
37
military campaign that toppled the Libyan dictator:
Paul Richter and Christi Parsons, “Obama Faces Growing Criticism for Libya Campaign,”
Los Angeles Times
, March 21, 2011,
articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/21/world/la-fg-us-libya-20110322
.

  
38
Both Gates and Biden had advised Obama against:
Michael Hastings, “Inside Obama’s War Room,”
Rolling Stone
, October 13, 2011,
www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/inside-obamas-war-room-20111013
.

  
39
word could trickle out:
Author interviews with senior administration oficials, Washington, DC, December 2011.

  
40
“Even though I thought it was only fifty-fifty”:
“Obama on bin Laden: The Full
60 Minutes
Interview.”

  
41
semicircle around him:
Tom Donilon in
Targeting bin Laden
.

  
42
“I’ve considered the decision”:
Ibid.

  
43
“This is the third president”:
Tom Donilon for
Targeting bin Laden
, unaired portion of his interview.

  
44
“I thought, ‘Man, that is a gutsy call’ ”:
Tony Blinken interview.

  
45
“I’ve never seen devastation like this”:
“Obama on Tornado Devastation in the South: ‘It’s Heartbreaking,’ ”
Los Angeles Times
, April 29, 2011,
latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/04/obama-visits-tornado-devastation.html
.

  
46
Donilon signed an official authorization:
Tom Donilon in
Targeting bin Laden
.

  
47
were told to evacuate:
Saeed Shah, “U.S. Officials Escape bin Laden Revenge Bombing in Pakistan,”
McClatchy Newspapers
, October 4, 2011,
www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/20/v-print/114485/us-officials-survive-bomb-attack.html
.

  
48
Obama flew to Kennedy Space Center:
Devin Dwyer, “President Obama, Gabrielle Giffords Meet After Shuttle Launch Postponed,” ABC News, April 29, 2011,
abcnews.go.com/US/president-obama-gabrielle-giffords-meet-florida-scrubbed-shuttle/story?id=13478147#.Tx3niV1AIj8
.

  
49
McRaven decided to push the mission back:
Michael Leiter interview; Tom Donilon in
Targeting bin Laden
.

  
50
during a break from rehearsing his speech:
Mazzetti, Cooper, and Baker, “Behind the Hunt for bin Laden.”

  
51
“I couldn’t have any more confidence in you”:
Jake Tapper, “President Obama to National Security Team: ‘It’s a Go,’ ” ABC News, May 2, 2011,
abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/05/president-obama-to-national-security-team-its-a-go/
.

  
52
Obama was turning over the details:
“Obama on bin Laden: The Full
60 Minutes
Interview.”

  
53
a hilarious after-dinner monologue:
Transcript of Obama’s Remarks at the Correspondents’ Dinner,
Wall Street Journal
, May 1, 2011,
blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/05/01/transcript-of-obamas-remarks-at-the-correspondents-dinner/
.

  
54
comedian Seth Meyers, at one point made a joke:
Nick Carbone, “Obama’s Poker Face: President Reacts to Bin Laden Joke at Correspondents’ Dinner,”
Time
, May 2, 2011,
newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/02/obamas-poker-face-president-reacts-to-bin-laden-joke-at-correspondents-dinner/#ixzz1kKBJRvr5
.

  
55
Stephanopoulos quizzed him:
Marc Ambinder in
Targeting bin Laden
.