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| India-Pakistan |
| Death of Osama bin Laden: Phone call pointed U.S. to compound — and to ‘the pacer’ |
| 2011-05-07 |
| Interesting article. Some extracts. Panetta designated Navy Vice Adm. William H. McRaven, who had headed the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) for nearly three years, to devise a boots-on-the ground plan for the special forces that became known as “the McRaven option.” McRaven had increased the intensity of Special Operations raids, especially in Afghanistan. During his first two years as head of JSOC, the “jackpot rate” — when the strikes got their intended target — jumped from 35 percent to more than 80 percent. His decision to assign the operation to the Navy SEALs, a Special Operations unit with extensive experience in raids on high-value targets, was critical. SEALs have a tradition of moving in and out fast, often killing everyone they encounter at a target site. Most members of the SEAL team in the bin Laden raid had been deployed to war zones a dozen or more times. A “pattern of life” study of the compound by intelligence agencies showed that about a dozen women and children periodically frequented it. Specific orders were issued to the SEALs not to shoot the women or children unless they were clearly threatening or had weapons. (During the mission, one woman was killed and a wife of bin Laden was shot in the leg.) Bin Laden was to be captured, one official said, if he “conspicuously surrendered.” The longer such raids take, the greater the risk to the SEALs. One senior official said the general philosophy of the SEALs is: “If you see it, shoot it. It is a house full of bad guys.” ..When bin Laden’s corpse was laid out, one of the Navy SEALs was asked to stretch out next to it to compare heights. The SEAL was 6 feet tall. The body was several inches taller. After the information was relayed to Obama, he turned to his advisers and said: “We donated a $60 million helicopter to this operation. Could we not afford to buy a tape measure?” |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #2 SEALs have a tradition of moving in and out fast, often killing everyone they encounter at a target site. Yup, as is said: "Let God sort them out!" |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-05-07 16:14 |
| #1 Obama said: "We donated a $60 million helicopter to this operation. Could we not afford to buy a tape measure?" Can I answer, huh, can I? Yes, Mr. President, we could afford a tape measure, but carrying it was not necessary for the sucess of the mission. Not only a genius, but also a clever wit, our zero! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2011-05-07 13:07 |