Exclusive: CIA Commander: US Let Bin Laden Slip Away. Newsweek 15th August 2005
I’ll get Osama bin Laden, my friends. I’ll get him. I know how to get him. I’ll get him no matter what, and I know how to do it. John McCain, presidential campaign promise
I feel that there is a strong assumption that he is dead because of his health and because of the fact that nobody’s heard from him. Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan
It’s not cold: it’s frozen over. There isn’t no trail any more. We haven’t had eyes on this target now for over eight years. Bruce Riedel, former CIA officer & presidential adviser
No no no it wasn’t him. No. Because I have met Osama bin Laden twice. And I know that wasn’t Osama bin Laden. Hamid Gul, Director General Pakistani Intelligence Service 1987-1999, re video tapes released since 9/11
The Saudis let the US troops use their kingdom as a staging area from which to drive Saddam from Kuwait. For bin Laden the US troops massing in the desert are living proof that the United States is the great infidel, and all US allies in the Middle East are enemies of Allah. Inside 9/11: They Were Among Us
Khartoum, Sudan: April 1991: Osama bin Laden moves with his four wives, numerous children and a core group of supporters here to this poor capital city in East Africa. Bin Laden is now living in exile from his native Saudi Arabia. He cuts a deal with the radical Islamic government of Sudan: Al Qaeda provides money and weapons in return for sanctuary. ibid.
Almost a decade after 9/11 Osama bin Laden is killed by US special forces during an early morning raid in Pakistan. But the death of the world’s most wanted terrorist doesn’t mean the end for al Qaeda. The men he inspired are more than ready to step into the void. Inside 9/11: What Happened Next
On December 13th US forces intercept radio transmissions from bin Laden as he says goodbye to his remaining al Qaeda fighters at Tora Bora. ibid.
Al Qaeda comes to rely on its growing legion of web-savvy followers to disseminate videos on the internet. ibid.
Some in Pakistan view the Taliban as an important ally in a turbulent region. ibid.
Now some of its most dangerous recruits are US citizens. ibid.
One of Al Qaeda’s key recruitment tools is the internet. ibid.
On their way out the Seals siege the single largest collection of materials ever taken from a terrorist leader. ibid.
We gave Osama bin Laden his Iraqi Jihad so that he was able to move into Iraq in a way that he was not before. Eliza Manningham-Buller, MI5 chief, evidence to Iraq Enquiry
It is an illusion to believe that Mr bin Laden is in some why ventriloquizing the cries of the poor and the oppressed. Christopher Hitchens, lecture Islam and the West
Bin Laden and his network were actually funded by BCCI through US covert operations. Invisible Empire: A New World Order Defined
Betrayed? Of course. Pakistan knew his hiding place all along. Robert Fisk, The Independent 3rd May 2011
Targeting America’s most wanted terrorist: Osama bin Laden. How did the US find him? And how did they execute the mission? ... May 1st 2011 ... Operation Neptune Spear. Killing Bin Laden s/a Death of bin Laden
As the choppers head deeper into Pakistan territory the SEALS review their mission. ibid.
One of the black hawks clips the compound wall. ibid.
After a few weeks’ of surveillance President Obama is told about the compound and informed it might be hiding a very high value target. ibid.
Phase two: unmanned drones; phase three: on the ground surveillance. ibid.
The evidence is hardly rock solid. The meeting lasted a reported two hours. ibid.
And there’s a specially trained member of the strike team: a dog. ibid.
The strike team is in and out in thirty-eight minutes. With them what is believed to be the body of Osama bin Laden. ibid.
The raid yields what’s being called a treasure trove of intelligence, including ten hard drives, five computers and more than one hundred storage devices. ibid.
Nearly ten years after 9/11 the world’s most wanted man is very much alive ... This is the inside story of the people who confronted that threat. Bin Laden: Shoot to Kill, Channel 4 2011
‘Kuwaiti’ becomes a key target of every American intelligence agency. ibid.
Elite al Qaeda couriers don’t always destroy their Sim cards. ibid.
During the summer of 2010 ... A man in north-west Pakistan is speaking in Arabic to a friend of his from the Gulf States. The friend is a known al Qaeda sympathiser. The listeners are convinced that the Pakistani voice is that of super-courier al Kuwaiti. And what he’s saying astonishes them. ibid.
The CIA finally has a trace on a man who could break al Qaeda’s leadership wide open. ibid.
Agents who look Pakistani and speak Urdu move into an empty house overlooking the compound and start to watch everything that happens there. ibid.
They discover that al Kuwaiti and his brother live in the compound with their two families, and that they are great believers in privacy. ibid.
A third family living on the top floor even more private than the Kuwaitis. ibid.
The CIA lays its latest evidence before Obama and makes the case for an attack. ibid.
Obama calls for a final review of the intelligence ... Aware of the history of failed raids and false hopes only half of them say yes to the mission. ibid.
Obama and his staff will watch the most important Special Forces Operation in forty years in real time. ibid.
The Seals identify the dead as al Kuwaiti and his wife, and move on. ibid.
Support troops help the troops search the compound and grounds. In one of the rooms they discover what they are looking for: a huge cache of intelligence. ibid.
Identifying the man shot by the Seals is now everyone’s top priority. ibid.
Early the next morning DNA technicians confirm that the dead man is Osama bin Laden. ibid.
The last days of Osama bin Laden were spent in hiding. A once proud prince of Islamic Jihad became an old man watching his own flickering image on a cheap television set. Osama bin Laden: The Last Days, 2011
He escapes into a decade of hiding, coordinating attacks on London, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. ibid.
A national embarrassment that the Pakistanis would prefer to go away. ibid.
The US believed couriers used to distribute bin Laden’s communications would reveal his whereabouts. ibid.
Bin Laden and al Qaeda were so desperate for money they plotted to kidnap foreigners in return for hard cash. ibid.
The compound was unkempt. ibid.
On May 1st 2011 Osama bin Laden, the mastermind ... was targeted in a daring raid by special US forces. The Hunt for Bin Laden, ITV 2012
Bin Laden helps to fund the Jihad with his millions. ibid.
He makes an alliance with the Taliban. ibid.
President Clinton orders Operation Infinite Reach – the firing of scores of cruise missile at bin Laden’s training camps. ibid.
A new law will allow all agencies to share information. ibid.
The Taliban reject two ultimatums to hand over bin Laden. ibid.
Around 800 al Qaeda escaped into Pakistan overnight. ibid.
Bin Laden walks out of Tora Bora and into Pakistan. ibid.
Bin Laden has outlasted a succession of American presidents. ibid.
The most wanted man on Earth remains shut away in his room. ibid.
Osama bin Laden was buried at sea on May 2 2011. ibid.