When he pulled the trigger on his silenced rifle in a darkened bedroom in Pakistan and shot a tall, unarmed man with a straggly beard in a prayer cap and shalwar kameez , he ended a nine- year manhunt for Osama Bin Laden, the man who claimed 2,973 lives on September 11, 2001.
But no one — not even President Barack Obama — will ever know the name of that SEAL, nor of the comrade who wrapped Bin Laden’s wives in a huge bear hug and dragged them aside in case they were wearing suicide bomb vests, knowing he would absorb most of the blast and save the men behind him.
For the first time, the full fascinating details of that world- changing raid on Abbottabad, Pakistan, have been revealed, from the CostCo sandwiches the White House ordered for the Situation Room to the SEAL’s first words after he killed the world’s most- wanted man: “ For God and country — Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo.” According to the article by Nicholas Schmidle in New Yorker , it has also emerged “ there was never any question of detaining or capturing” Bin Laden — even though the White House always insisted the terror leader would not have died if he’d surrendered.
It also revealed that the SEALs were not wearing cameras on their helmets, and Obama and his colleagues spent nearly 25 minutes anxiously waiting to hear from the 23 SEALs, one translator and a Belgian Malinois dog named Cairo, who were engaged in the covert raid to kill the Al- Qaeda mastermind.
After the first dramatic words from Abbottabad, the SEAL added: “ Geronimo E. K. I. A. — enemy killed in action.” Geronimo was the codename for a hit on Bin Laden. The President pursed his lips, and speaking to no- one in particular, said: “ We got him.” The SEALs put Bin Laden in a body bag and carried him out of the house, where a medic took two bone marrow samples and DNA swabs. When they landed back in Afghanistan, they unzipped the bag to show their commander, and lacking a tape measure, a 6ft SEAL lay down next to his body to check that it was 6ft4ins — Bin Laden’s height.
The article says a speciallyselected team of 23 SEALs spent two weeks going over the mission, first at a replica of the compound built in a heavilyforested area in North Carolina, and then at a desert in Nevada.
The team would split into two, each half flown in from Afghanistan on speciallyadapted Black Hawk helicopters.
The 24th member was Ahmed, a translator who had been taken from a desk job and had never before descended a fast- rope the SEALs would use to enter the compound. He soon learned.
Also on board would be Cairo, a Belgian Malinois dog who would stay with Ahmed as he patrolled the perimeter and kept neighbours out. ON APRIL 26, the SEALs flew out to Afghanistan via Germany. On the same day, CIA director Leon Panetta held that crucial meeting with CIA officials.
The following day he briefed Obama and his security advisers, and the next day the President gave Vice Admiral Bill McRaven, the SEAL in charge of the Joint Special Operations Command, the go- ahead in Afghanistan, telling him to choose the night. McRaven selected Sunday, May 1.
The Black Hawk pilots wore night- vision goggles and flew without lights, the SEALs hunkered together in the back. At 4pm US time, Panetta informed the President they were approaching the compound.
Breaking off into smaller teams, they reached the guest house where Bin Laden’s courier was staying with his family. He came out brandishing an AK- 47 but the SEALs shot him dead.
Blasting away gate after gate, a team reached the main house.
Abrar, the courier’s brother, appeared next to his wife, carrying an AK- 47. Both were shot.
Shortly afterwards, the SEALs, led by James ( name changed), the commander, got into the house. For the next 20 minutes, watchers in the White House had no idea what was going on.
Finding a locked metal gate at the bottom of a staircase, three SEALs blasted it away and went up the stairs. Halfway up, they saw Khalid, Bin Laden’s 23- yearold son, come round the corner with an AK- 47. He was killed.
As they continued up the stairs, a tall man with a beard peered out of a bedroom door.
The SEALs immediately realised it was Bin Laden.
His two wives tried to shield Bin Laden. One SEAL shot her in the calf — and then, embraced both women in a huge bear hug in case they were wearing explosive vests. With the women out of the way, the second SEAL moved forward and saw Bin Laden, wearing a prayer cap on his head and a tan shalwar kameez . He was unarmed.
He pulled the trigger, shooting Bin Laden first in the chest and then in the left eye. Then, on his radio, he broadcast the historic words: “ For God and country — Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo.”
Coutesy: Mailtoday.in