The dramatic raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in May 2011 delivered far more than the world’s most wanted man – computers, hard drives, notebooks. Secrets of Bin Laden’s Lair, Discovery Channel 2012
Where does al Qaeda stand now? ibid.
Ten hard drives, five computers, and more than a hundred storage devices. ibid.
There was another surprising discovery amongst the material – pornography. A large stash of it was found in the compound. ibid.
The courier they’d heard about eight years earlier in the interrogation led the CIA then the SEALS right to bin Laden’s door. ibid.
Al Qaeda makes its money through crime. ibid.
Another remarkable theory – bin Laden was actually turned in by his own wife. ibid.
They’re the team that carried out the mission to kill Osama bin Laden. They’re the elite of the elite. They’re the men of Seal Team Six. Secrets of Seal Team Six
It was dramatic headline news. And the details of the secret mission were as extraordinary as the news itself. ibid.
On May 1 2011 US Navy Seals Raided Osama bin Laden’s Compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Manhunt, caption, HBO 2013
‘Tonight: I can report to the American people and to the world: the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda.’ ibid. Barak Obama
Cindy Storer began tracking bin Laden for the CIA in 1995. ibid. caption
‘America won’t stop supporting the Jews, who are killing Muslims, until we attack them and raise the banner of Jihad.’ ibid. voice of bin Laden 1993
In the early 90s, bin Laden lived openly, denying all ties to terrorism. Al Qaeda was a secret organisation, unknown to the US government. ibid. caption
John McLaughlin oversaw the CIA analysts. Later he ran the entire CIA. ibid.
In 1995 the CIA created the bin Laden unit. Its codename was Alec Station. ibid.
The FBI was also investigating al Qaeda. In Yemen an FBI team was building a case against bin Laden. Six days after 9/11, they interrogated his former bodyguard. ibid.
He did not know they were tracking his courier. ibid.
For years Al Qaeda and its affiliates have defiled the great religion of peace and justice, and ruthlessly murdered men, women and children of all nationalities and faiths. Indeed, above all, they have killed Muslims. Barack Obama, public address
In the nearly eight years since 9/11 Al Qaeda and its extremist allies have moved across the border to the remote areas of the Pakistani frontier. This almost certainly includes al Qaeda’s leadership – Osama bin Laden. Barack Obama, public address
Tonight I can report to the American people and to the world the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda. Barack Obama press conference 1st May 2011 11.35 p.m.
When Skull & Bonesman George Bush senior became CIA director in the 1980s the CIA recruited Osama bin Laden to train Al Qaeda and Mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan. The job of Osama’s trainees was not just to fight the Russian communists, it was run Afghanistan’s multi-billion-dollar opium trade. Ring of Power
A fortress in Afghanistan. 1 month after 9/11. 2 operatives from the CIA’s elite special activities division are hot on the trail of Osama bin Laden. This is the declassified story of how the CIA with elite forces put down a Taliban uprising outnumbered 100/1. CIA Declassified s1e2: Fortress of War, 2014
The full operational force of the CIA now forcuses on one man and his network of terrorists. The CIA knows bin Laden is hiding in Afghanistan. He’s found refuge with a Taliban, the ruling extremist Islamic regime. But they don’t know his precise location. ibid.
For the very first time in American history, President Bush approves a plan using the CIA as a lead element in a war. Operation Enduring Freedom is the invasion of Afghanistan. ibid.
At the CIA headquarters analysts receive intelligence that many of these hardline foreigners are in fact members of Al Qaeda. ibid.
In 1996 the CIA set up a specialist unit to investigate a relatively unknown but extremely wealthy Saudi billionaire. His name is Osama bin Laden. CIA Declassified s1e3: The Real Zero Dark Thirty
Alex Station doesn’t give up. It tracks Bin Laden through the warrens of Kandahar. ibid.
Intelligence suggest that bin Laden has slipped over the border into Pakistan. Pakistan is officially an ally of the United States. ibid.
In Zero Dark Thirty, under torture [Abu] Zubaydah reveals Bin Laden’s link to the outside world – a courier. ibid.
It is Al-Qaeda’s first strike at America. Hundreds are killed by suicide bombs at two US embassies in Africa. CIA Declassified s1e6: Operation Celestial Balance
The terrorists are operating from a country [Kenya] that’s a no-go zone for the US. The top-secret mission: to infiltrate the most dangerous country in the world, deliver Operation Celestial Balance, and work with SEAL Team 6 to ensure that justice is done. ibid.
Nairobi, Kenya, 7th August 1998: Just after 10.30 a.m. a truck drives up to the US embassy, and instead of slowing at the barrier it accelerates. The final death toll is 12 Americans and 200 Kenyans. With over 4,000 injured. lmost simultaneously another suicide bomb explodes outside the US embassy in Dar es Salaam, the capital of the neighbouring country of Tanzania. ibid.
The CIA Nairobi station immediately get to work. ibid.
Kenya’s chaotic neighbour Somalia is the perfect safe haven for terrorists on the run. For years it’s been a no-go area for Americans thanks to the notorious Battle of Mogadishu five years earlier – the shooting down of a Blackhawk helicopter, and the drawn out rescue attempt that followed. ibid.
‘18 US Army Rangers were killed. Hundreds of Somalis died in that the US pulled out, and Somalia was left to its own devices for a number of years.’ ibid. comment
Suddenly a car explodes outside the hotel: 16 people are killed including 10 Kenyans and 3 Israelis; many more are injured. ibid.
Simultaneous coordinated attacks – the Al Qaeda signature. ibid.
The plot [plane into embassy] is foiled but it shows the CIA that al-Qaeda is maturing into a determined and well-resourced operation, and its protection in Magadishu is making it stronger every day. ibid.
The Warlords are now faking information and arresting innocent people just to keep the money rolling in. ibid.
It’s making the Americans even more unpopular on the streets of Magdishu. ibid.
Gang warfare erupts on the streets. ibid.
‘The Ethiopian Armed Forces invaded Somalia.’ ibid. comment
Operation Celestial Balance: The US Fifth Fleet is directed to wait off the Somali coast, silent miniaturized surveillance drones are launched to watch the roads running south out of Magadishu … Seal Team Six stationed on a nearby Destroyer now get their orders. The plan is simple: make an airborne assault … With a fix on [Saleh Ali Saleh] Nabhan, Seal Team Six moves and engages the Al Qaeda bomber, killing him. ibid.
The bombing of the USS Cole. It is one of the first of a series of deadly strikes by Al Qaeda on US targets. The organisation responsible is quickly identified. CIA Declassified s1e8: Killing the Bombers
How the CIA used cutting-edge technology in one of the most inhospitable regions in the world to hunt down the terrorist mastermind behind the attack on the USS Cole and deliver lethal justice. ibid.
A suicide bomb has ripped a 40-foot hole in the hull of the Cole nearly sinking the ship. Eventually the death toll rises to 17 with 39 injured … Prime suspect: Al Qaeda. ibid.
The name of the organiser, the leader of the cell … is Abd al-Nashiri. ibid.
Nashiri has set in motion another attack. This time his target is the investigators themselves. ibid.
Yemen becomes a front line in the War on Terror. ibid.
The CIA’s classified mission is to help Yemen’s Special Forces find and take out as many Al Qaeda operatives as possible. ibid.