Berntsen led led the hunt for osama bin laden and describes. I t was, as peter bergen points out in this meticulously reported, pacy and authoritative book, the most intensive and expensive manhunt of all time. The latest book to be written about the super secret delta force is kill bin laden, by dalton fury, which is the pseudonym of a former delta force troop commander. On may 2, 2011, osama bin laden, founder and leader of the terrorist organization al qaeda, the man responsible for the horrific sept. The hunt for bin laden has the epic style and reality of we were soldiers once. I already knew that osama bin laden read my book before the headlines this week but im still angry that he gave the best democracy money. A survey of books about osama bin laden and al qaeda. The washington post book world black hawk downin the snow. Navy seal, who wrote book about the bin laden raid, loses. According to albahri, bin laden is hiding in the regions in afghanistan or along the border with pakistan.
The hunt for bin laden plunges the reader into america s war on terror, from the first topsecret meetings of task force dagger in tampa on the afternoon of september 11, 2001, through the liberation of kabul sixtytwo days later and the tragedies of operation anaconda. The tenyear search for bin laden from 911 to abbottabad by bergen, peter l isbn. Excerpts of the book describing bin ladens final days were published online by time magazine thursday. Mark bowdens new book, the finish, tells of the hunt for osama bin laden from the top down based on. Witness the 20year search for the most wanted man on earth, as counterterrorism experts in the white house, the cia, and the fbi divulge their firsthand accounts and the navy. The first eyewitness account of the battle of tora bora, this is also the first book to detail just how close delta force came to capturing bin laden, how close u. I n the weeks following the raid on osama bin ladens compound in abbottabad, pakistan, by united states forces, u. The hunt for bin laden steve inskeep talks with former cia field commander gary berntsen about his new book, jawbreaker. May 2 marks the fifth anniversary of the operation that killed the worlds most wanted terrorist, osama bin laden. Bergen came away from that meeting struck by bin laden s raw hatred for the united states. It premiered on hbo on may 1, 20, two years after the mission that killed bin laden. Government ends war against navy seal who wrote book on. The book takes the reader into the heat of battle as seen through the eyes.
Osama bin ladens bookshelf reflects his fixation on west. The anonymous navy seal member who has written a book about the raid that killed osama bin laden remained anonymous for less than 24 hours. The story of rebeccas memo is just one of the nuggets in the book. In fact, check later editions of this and youll notice the title itself has been changed in an effort to steer away from the hardcovers lousy reputation. The documentary features narratives by many of the cia analysts and operatives. Exseal member who wrote book on bin laden raid forfeits.
The tenyear search for bin ladenfrom 911 to abbottabad by peter l. Michael scheuer, chief of the cias bin laden unit from 1996 to 1999, provides something revealing in his recent book osama bin laden. In fact, check later editions of this and youll notice the title itself has been changed in an effort to. When president obama brought the search for osama bin laden to an end, it was with a roll of the dice. The long and secret effort to track down osama bin laden has been called the biggest, costliest manhunt in history. A novel by dan weatherington available from rakuten kobo.
The search for bin laden is a 20 documentary film directed by greg barker that explores the central intelligence agencys investigation of osama bin laden, starting from 1995 until his death in 2011. Osama bin laden was born in jeddah, saudi arabia in 1957, the 17th of 2025 sons of mohamed bin laden, who had 5254 children in total. The hunt for bin ladenplunges the reader into americas war on terror, from the first topsecret meetings of task force dagger in tampa on the afternoon of september 11, 2001, through the liberation of kabul sixtytwo days later and the tragedies of operation anaconda. As such, the task was handed to roughly forty members of americas supersecret counterterrorist unit formerly known as 1st special forces operational detachmentdelta. Randal chronicles bin ladens combat experiences as an antisoviet. Here are riveting new details of bin ladens flight after the crushing defeat of the taliban to tora bora, where american forces came startlingly close to capturing him, and of the fugitive leaders attempts to find a secure hiding place. Task force dagger on the ground with the special forces in afghanistan, by robin moore. This book by a former washington post correspondent is less a biography of bin laden than a history of the contemporary jihadi movement, which mr. Navy seals book on the bin laden killing shows the real. The final pillar was tracking bin ladens occasional outreach to the media.
The liberation of afghanistan from the rule of the taliban was one of the most remarkable campaigns in history, and it took place almost entirely out of view of the television cameras. The former head of the cia on managing the hunt for bin laden. The officer who led the armys delta force mission to kill osama bin laden after 911 reveals what really happened in tora bora, afghanistan, when the. Bergen is highly qualified to write the definitive account of the hunt for and assassination of osama bin laden having actually interviewed him for cnn in 1997 when he was a jihadist fighting the soviet union occupation of afghanistan.
The book mentions bin laden only peripherally, and its not at all about the manhunt for him, so right there the book is false. A graphic retelling of americas global search for one of the most notorious fugitives in modern times. His initial motives for declaring jihad holy war against the united states in 1995 have actually been met. Fury was the highest ranking military officer present at the battle of tora bora, and. Witness the 20year, billiondollar hunt for the alqaeda leader, as told by the main players who finally brought him down. On the ground with the special forces in afghanistan. In an adaptation from the authors new book, indepth interviews with obama and other. Told by those who were involved in the hunt for osama bin laden, this special exhibition sheds light on the intelligence and military activities that led to the raid. Now an hbo documentary in manhunt, peter bergen delivers a taut yet panoramic account of the pursuit and killing of osama bin laden. The hunt for bin laden in tora bora tactical life gun. The hunt for bin laden may help you decide the truth. He told his tale of that mission in the book, kill bin laden, which went on to become a national bestseller. At midday thursday, fox news identified him as matt bissonnette, a 36yearold originally from alaska, and hours later defense department and military officials confirmed his identity. By december 10, the severe tora bora landscape, heavily bombarded by american air power, was relatively quiet.
Government ends war against navy seal who wrote book on bin laden raid. Steve tells the saudius story through the bin laden family, who played an important role in how saudi arabia developed as a modern state. The book takes the reader into the heat of battleas seen through the. This is the true story of one delta force commanders hunt to. Describes how, in the aftermath of the september 11 terroris.
One signifier of this is that initially bin laden issued a fatwa 23 february 1998 in conjunction with islamic leaders copingersymes, 2003, p. A decade later, a million members of the united states armed forces have been unable to locate the man responsible for t. The hunt for osama bin laden, we knew little of what actually went on at the time this isnt just an old western tale in which the posse chases the rustler into the. The book, the operator by robert oneill, recounts the former navy chiefs career spanning 400 missions, though his role with the elite seal teams raid on bin ladens compound in abbottabad.
Osama bin laden may be dead but the objectives he strove to achieve have in a large part become a reality. Coordinates osama bin laden, the founder and former leader of alqaeda, went into hiding following the start of the war in afghanistan in order to avoid capture by the united states andor its allies for his role in the september 11, 2001 attacks, and having been on the fbi ten most wanted fugitives list since 1999 after evading capture at the battle of tora bora in december. The main character in the book is mohammed bin laden, the patriarch of the family. The surprising books on osama bin ladens reading list. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. But like so much of reality, the truth is much deeper and the truth is much scarier. His book the rise and fall of the great powers was found in and around bin ladens compound in abbottabad, where bin laden was killed in a raid by u. As a delta troop commander he led ninetyone other western special operations commandos and support personnel and helped author the operation to hunt and kill bin laden. The man who killed bin laden speaks the washington times.
The new york times international bestsellercompletely revised and u. The hunt for bin laden by the washington post nook book. Probably the reason i missed it was my being distracted by the unpleasant white noise generated around the hunt for bin laden by the dozen navy seal memoirs, the occasional cia operator account and worst of all, a novelization of the seal team six takedown which stole dalton furys title that have saturated the market since 911. The us government told me osama bin laden read my book. Bergen crown bergens pakistani sources gave him new insight into bin ladens home life.
Many of jacks detractors say the book is a work of fiction and the authors selfpromotion. Peter bergens manhunt is by far the best book that i have read on the hunt for osama bin laden. More than learning just about the hunt of bin laden though, this book serves as a fantastic guide to the inner workings of much of the intelligence community as. Randal argues was inadvertently strengthened by american hubris, ignorance and missteps in the middle east and persian gulf. The killing of osama bin laden casts new light on the. Bin laden raid became reelection mission, seal book says. From the tragedy of september 11, 2001, to the events that brought a global search for one of the most notorious fugitives in modern times to a dramatic end, killing geronimo is the compelling graphic retelling of the hunt for alqaeda leader osama bin laden. This is the real story of the operation, the first eyewitness account of the battle of tora bora, and the first book to detail just how close delta force came to capturing bin laden, how close u. The mission was to kill the most wanted man in the worldan operation of such magnitude that it couldnt be handled by just any military or intelligence force. From the pulitzer prizewinning washington post, this reconstruction compiled from reporting from more than twodozen washington post correspondents and staffers from over more than 15 years traces the hunt from its beginnings. Bergen was a cnn reporter who personally met bin laden for an interview in 1997, wrote a biography of bin laden, and continued to follow his trail until that trail ended in may 2011.
Seals book on bin laden raid, woodward book on obama due sept. By the time i finished reading the hunt for bin laden, i was in awe of this force america had unleashed against our enemies. Among the books, periodicals and letters found in osama bin ladens hideout in pakistan was a copy of the former c. The best books on osama bin laden five books expert.