# Lifestyles & Discussion > Family, Parenting & Education > Books & Literature >  Osama bin Laden Raid, What Really Happened? New First-Hand "Tell All" Book to be Released

## FrankRep

*SEAL's Account of bin Laden Raid Sparks New Jihadist Calls for Vengeance*


Jack Kenny | The New American
29 August 2012


Reports of a soon-to-be released "tell all" book about the raid to get al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May of last year has given rise to new threats of vengeance from Arab jihadists and concerns in the United States over the security of its covert operations and the safety of those who carry them out. The book, written by a retired Navy SEAL who took part in the raid, is also bound to create political fallout over what it says about President Obama and the official version of what transpired when the special operations unit found bin Laden's quarters at his secret residence in Abbottabad on May 1, 2011.

Excerpts from the book, first published on HuffingtonPost.com, *describe the raid in less dramatic and somewhat less heroic terms than in the "official" version* issued immediately after the raid and in the days that followed. The author of No Easy Day: A First Hand Account Of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden, writes that there was *no 40-minute firefight, no effort by bin Laden to use the two women in the apartment as "human shields,"* and *no armed resistance* by the al-Qaeda leader. According to "Mark Owen," the pseudonym used by the author, *bin Laden had already been shot and lay dying* by the time the SEALs found him in his bedroom. The author wrote that he was right behind the "point man" as members of SEAL Team 6 were going up the stairs when a man stuck his head out the doorway.

"We were less than five steps from getting to the top when I heard suppressed shots. BOP. BOP," he recounted. "I couldn't tell from my position if the rounds hit the target or not. The man disappeared into the dark room." When the SEAls entered the room, "Blood and brains spilled out of the side of [bin Laden's] skull." The author and another SEAL "trained our lasers on his chest and fired several rounds. The bullets tore into him, slamming his body into the floor until he was motionless."

The SEALs found a rifle and a pistol in the room, the author said, though neither had a round in the chamber. "He hadn't even prepared a defense. He had no intention of fighting. He asked his followers for decades to wear suicide vests or fly planes into buildings, but didn't even pick up his weapon. In all of my deployments, we routinely saw this phenomenon. The higher up the food chain the targeted individual was, the bigger a p***y he was."

The book was originally scheduled for release on September 11, the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed an estimated 3,000 people in New York and Washington. It has been rescheduled for release next week. But the published excerpts have already provoked renewed anger and cries for vengeance from militants in the Arab world, a situation made more dangerous for "Owen" by the fact that Fox News learned the author's real name, age, and hometown and published them in a story on its website about the book. The Associated Press confirmed the identity through its sources and circulated the news to its subscribers.

The next day the man's name, age, and photograph appeared on the Al-Fidaa Islamic Network, a website endorsed by al-Qaeda. Comments calling for the death of the man and others involved in the raid appeared with the information.

"Oh, Allah, kill every one of them," read one comment. "Oh, Allah make an example of him for the whole world and give him dark days ahead," said another.

"We protect the names of our special ops personnel for a reason," Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Co. James Gregory told MailOnline, a publication of the Daily Mail of London. "Any time names are revealed, it's a concern." U.S. officials said they had no prior knowledge of the book, despite regulations requiring both active and former military or intelligence personnel to submit writings about sensitive matters for review before publication to prevent release of classified information.

"As current or former members of our special operations community, authors have a moral obligation, and a legal duty, to submit their works for pre-publication security review," Admiral Bill McRaven wrote in open letter emailed to active duty personnel involved in special duty operations. "We will pursue every option available to hold members accountable, including criminal prosecution where appropriate." Any potential criminal prosecution of the book's author, who retired shortly after the bin Laden raid, would be handled by the Justice Department, a Pentagon official told Fox News.

Whether the book revealed state secrets or merely information embarrassing to government officials is unclear, however. In addition to seeing the official version of the raid disputed by a firsthand account, the president cannot be pleased by published accounts of disparaging remarks made by military personnel about their commander-in-chief. The author, who also took part in 2009 operation that rescued Captain Richard Phillips from pirates off the coast of Somalia, said the SEALs joked about how Obama would exploit the bin Laden operation for political gain.

"And we'll get Obama reelected for sure," he quotes one of the SEALs as saying shortly before the raid. "I can see him now, talking about how he killed bin Laden."

"We had seen it before when he took credit for the Captain Phillips rescue," the author observed. "Although we applauded the decision-making in this case, there was no doubt in anybody's mind that he would take all the political credit for this too."

The author's description of Vice President Biden was even less flattering, as he recalled a White House reception in honor of the SEALs who took part in the raid. Biden, he said, told "lame jokes that no one got (He seemed like a nice guy, but he reminded me of someone's drunken uncle at Christmas dinner)."

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and other GOP leaders have been calling in recent months for the appointment of an independent prosecutor to investigate leaks of classified information regarding counter-terrorism operations. The party platform, ratified at this week's convention, charged that leaks concerning the bin Laden raid and other covert activities have "damaged our national security" and "served the single purpose of propping up the image of a weak President." A spokesman for the White House National Security Council, HuffingtonPost reported, sent out an email noting that Obama had given due credit to the "special ops" personnel who carried out the mission against bin Laden: 


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."

The author of No Easy Day, meanwhile, drew sharp criticism from some of his former comrades in arms, with some even calling him a "traitor," according to the Fox report. 

"How do we tell our guys to stay quiet when this guy won't?" one Navy SEAL said. Col. Tim Nye, a Special Operations Command spokesman, told the cable news channel that the author put himself in danger by writing the book.

 "This individual came forward. He started the process. He had to have known where this would lead," Nye said. "He's the one who started this so he bears the ultimate responsibility for this." The controversy provides a stark contrast to the picture of unit cohesion and mutual trust President Obama described in this year's State of the Union address, when he spoke of the bin Laden raid.


*SOURCE:*
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews...-for-vengeance

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## CaptainAmerica

very interesting. The seal who wrote the book is saying that the whole thing was basically staged and that they were just sent to execute whoever was there even if the person was non-combative.

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## anaconda

I'm extremely confident that Bin Laden was not ever there. The book sounds like fanciful but silly right cover propaganda. Just curious: Does anyone here actually believe Bin Laden was in that building?

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## fr33

I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I really am not. But I still don't believe the official story or what this book claims happened. It is ridiculous that the body has still not been shown.

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## FrankRep

> I'm extremely confident that Bin Laden was not ever there.





> According to "Mark Owen," the pseudonym used by the author, bin Laden had already been shot and lay dying by the time the SEALs found him in his bedroom.


That becomes a big possibility since the target "had already been shot" and possibly not identifiable anymore.

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## Weston White

Wait, I thought that SEAL Team 6 members were all killed a few months after the Bin Laden raid (And if this anonymous author was not with his military team during an operation, the question as to why must be asked?  Is this book yet more “Obama” propaganda?):

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/08...icopter-crash/

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## FrankRep

> Wait, I thought that SEAL Team 6 members were all killed a few months after the Bin Laden raid (And if this anonymous author was not with his military team during an operation, the question as to why must be asked?  Is this book yet more “Obama” propaganda?):






> The author wrote that he was right behind the "point man" as members of SEAL Team 6 were going up the stairs when a man stuck his head out the doorway.


The author was behind the SEAL Team 6.

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## Weston White

> I'm extremely confident that Bin Laden was not ever there. The book sounds like fanciful but silly right cover propaganda. Just curious: Does anyone here actually believe Bin Laden was in that building?


Yup, it was probably just a poser, how many “doubles” was Saddam Hussein reported to have?

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## anaconda

The video they showed us of the dufus watching videos was clearly not Bin Laden. Nor is it anything he would have been spending his time on. And I always laugh at that ridiculous photo op of key administration officials watching the operation "live."

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## anaconda

> Yup, it was probably just a poser, how many “doubles” was Saddam Hussein reported to have?


I'll wager that it wasn't even a poser. Just some building they staked out where some Islamic dude may have lived. They probably just went in and shot the place up and killed the inhabitant. Then dumped the body. Maybe no one was even there or killed. Just have one of the seals slide into a body bag, zip it up, slide it into the Humvee, and drive off (in case of possible witnesses outside the "compound")

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## anaconda

Much in the same spirit as this ridiculous and laughable fiction:

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## donnay

Osama Bin Laden died in December 2001, from Marfan syndrome.  

*
Top US Government Insider: Bin Laden Died In 2001, 9/11 A False Flag*

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## Carehn

I thought Osama died like ten years ago?

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## FrankRep

> Osama Bin Laden died in December 2001, from Marfan syndrome.


Even Fox News covered it!


*Report: Bin Laden Already Dead*
Fox News - December 26, 2001
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,41576,00.html

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## FrankRep

*Pentagon Threatens Legal Action Against SEAL Author*
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/01/us...ssonnette.html

*Navy SEAL Author Rejects the Pentagon's Legal Threat*
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/polit...-threat/56433/

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## mac_hine

> Much in the same spirit as this ridiculous and laughable fiction:


Did they ever find any of these "many" caves and record  it? I know, dumb question.

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## donnay

> Even Fox News covered it!
> 
> 
> *Report: Bin Laden Already Dead*
> Fox News - December 26, 2001
> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,41576,00.html



Yes!  Thanks for finding that clip.  +rep

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## anaconda

> Did they ever find any of these "many" caves and record  it? I know, dumb question.


Can't record what's not there. But, no, I never saw the slightest confirmation of this alleged facility. It is just laughably bad fiction. I can't believe Rumsfeld went on national tv with this goofball cartoon diagram. Plus you can tell he is just making $#@! up as he's going along. You can tell he's unable to even take himself seriously. You might want to watch the video "The Power of Nightmares." It's on youtube. There is a classic scene where they interview a British officer regarding their success in finding any Al Queda or caves in Afghanistan.

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## mac_hine

> Can't record what's not there. But, no, I never saw the slightest confirmation of this alleged facility. It is just laughably bad fiction. I can't believe Rumsfeld went on national tv with this goofball cartoon diagram. You might want to watch the video "The Power of Nightmares." It's on youtube. There is a classic scene where they interview a British officer regarding their success in finding any Al Queda or caves in Afghanistan.


I've seen all of Adam Curtis' docs. He's a wonderful filmmaker. 

I've never seen that clip you posted. I replayed it 5+ times and you're right, it is laughably bad fiction. But to be perfectly honest, back then I would have believed it. Crazy, isn't it?

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## FindLiberty

> I thought Osama died like ten years ago?


Yep. I guess they needed to rewind and re-spin 'cause it was bad for the war.

Then came the various clones...

Finally, almost ten years later, they even managed to dump "his" body at sea...  lol

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## awake

I would say that the permanent fascist war machine needs to protect its most prized trophy: Osama Bin Laden. With out the great climactic Hollywood ending, the war on terror could not be justified. Nor could the future ones not yet started.

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## tangent4ronpaul

Navy SEAL Memoir Exploits Market 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...060964576.html

The book controversy took on a political tint Friday when a group of former Navy SEALs said the Obama administration is "applying a dishonorable double standard" in its quick condemnation of Mr. Bissonnette.

The SEALs group, the OPSEC Education Fund Inc., an independent political-advocacy group, has accused the administration of leaking security secrets for political gain and providing information to producers of a forthcoming movie on the bin Laden raid.

Marie Harf, a spokeswoman for President Barack Obama's campaign, said the critique by OPSEC amounted to "hypocrisy," since the group recently asked the administration to stop distribution of "No Easy Day."

Scott Taylor, president of the group, countered that OPSEC is targeting the administration's failure to take action against leaks "at the highest levels of this administration."

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## anaconda

> I've seen all of Adam Curtis' docs. He's a wonderful filmmaker. 
> 
> I've never seen that clip you posted. I replayed it 5+ times and you're right, it is laughably bad fiction. But to be perfectly honest, back then I would have believed it. Crazy, isn't it?


Meh, don't beat yourself up. I voted for Kerry to repudiate Bush. How bad a sucker was I for the left-right paradigm? And, get this..I used to think in 2004 that maybe my government knew something about terrorism that was best kept secret from the public and that it was best for us to have some trust in them. There. I said it. Your sins must pale in comparison.

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## mrsat_98

> Osama Bin Laden died in December 2001, from Marfan syndrome.  
> 
> *
> Top US Government Insider: Bin Laden Died In 2001, 9/11 A False Flag*





> I thought Osama died like ten years ago?





> Even Fox News covered it!
> 
> 
> *Report: Bin Laden Already Dead*
> Fox News - December 26, 2001
> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,41576,00.html


So they dug him up and shot him again.

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## RickyJ

> I'm extremely confident that Bin Laden was not ever there. The book sounds like fanciful but silly right cover propaganda. Just curious: Does anyone here actually believe Bin Laden was in that building?


On this forum I hope not, but there are people out there that believe every damn thing they here on their boob tube and from a government source. You don't need a dictatorship to rule such people, they vote for their own chains with glee.

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## satchelmcqueen

ive seen many shooting vids and i can tell you that once someone is shot in the head and their brains spill out, they hit the floor instantly. so how did it take 2 more rounds to the chest to put him on the floor?? its impossible.

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## truelies

> [............................. bin Laden raid.
> 
> 
> ........................................


Yawn, Osama has been dead for around 10 years.

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## pcosmar

> So they dug him up and shot him again.


Nope (they don't know where he is buried) 
They just used a stand in.

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## FrankRep

*Ex-SEAL who wrote book on bin Laden gets written off by cadre*
No easy way for  No Easy Day


Washington Times
September 6, 2012


While top military leaders publicly bash a former Navy SEAL for his book about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, his foxhole comrades convey their displeasure in a more subtle way.

From now on, rogue author Matt Bissonnette will be ostracized by the fraternity. No invitations will be sent to annual events for retired and active SEALs who keep the secretive community of special warriors a closely knit band of brothers, former Navy officers told The Washington Times.

Dont look for Mr. Bissonnette at any sanctioned SEAL reunions or memorial events, including those at his old unit, the low-profile Naval Special Warfare Development Group, known better as SEAL Team 6.

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