WASHINGTON – A firsthand account of the Navy SEAL raid that
killed Osama bin Laden contradicts previous accounts by administration
officials, raising questions as to whether the terror mastermind presented a
clear threat when SEALs first fired upon him.
Bin Laden apparently was hit in the head when he looked out
of his bedroom door into the top-floor hallway of his compound as SEALs rushed
up a narrow stairwell in his direction, according to former Navy SEAL Matt
Bissonnette, writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen in "No Easy Day."
The book is to be published next week by Penguin Group (USA)'s Dutton imprint.
Bissonnette says he was directly behind a "point
man" going up the stairs. "Less than five steps" from top of the
stairs, he heard "suppressed" gunfire: "BOP. BOP." The
point man had seen a "man peeking out of the door" on the right side
of the hallway.
The author writes that bin Laden ducked back into his
bedroom and the SEALs followed, only to find the terrorist crumpled on the
floor in a pool of blood with a hole visible on the right side of his head and
two women wailing over his body.
Bissonnette says the point man pulled the two women out of
the way and shoved them into a corner and he and the other SEALs trained their
guns' laser sights on bin Laden's still-twitching body, shooting him several
times until he lay motionless. The SEALs later found two weapons stored by the
doorway, untouched, the author said.
In the account related by administration officials after the
raid in Pakistan, the SEALs shot bin Laden only after he ducked back into the
bedroom because they assumed he might be reaching for a weapon.
White House spokesman Tommy Vietor would not comment on the
apparent contradiction late Tuesday.
"No Easy Day" was due out Sept. 11, but Dutton
announced the book would be available a week early, Sept. 4, because of a surge
of orders due to advance publicity that drove the book to the top of the
Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com best-seller lists.
The Associated Press purchased a copy of the book Tuesday.
In another possibly uncomfortable revelation for U.S.
officials who say bin Laden's body was treated with dignity before being given
a full Muslim burial at sea, the author reveals that in the cramped helicopter
flight out of the compound, one of the SEALs called "Walt" was
sitting on bin Laden's chest as the body lay at the author's feet in the middle
of the cabin.
The publisher says the author used pseudonyms for all the
SEALs.
Bissonnette also writes disparagingly that none of the SEALs
were fans of President Barack Obama and knew that his administration would take
credit for ordering the May 2011 raid. One of the SEALs said after the mission
that they had just gotten Obama re-elected by carrying out the raid.
But he says they respected him as commander in chief and for
giving the operation the go-ahead.
Bissonnette writes less flatteringly of meeting Vice
President Joe Biden along with Obama at the headquarters of the 160th Special
Operations Aviation Regiment after the raid. He says Biden told "lame
jokes" no one understood, reminding him of "someone's drunken uncle
at Christmas dinner."
Beyond such embarrassing observations, U.S. officials fear the
book may include classified information, as it did not undergo the formal
review required by the Pentagon for works published by former or current
Defense Department employees.
Officials from the Pentagon and the CIA, which commanded the
mission, are examining the manuscript for possible disclosure of classified
information and could take legal action against the author.
In a statement provided to The Associated Press, the author
says he did "not disclose confidential or sensitive information that would
compromise national security in any way."
Bissonnette's real name was first revealed by Fox News and
confirmed to The Associated Press.
Jihadists on al-Qaida websites have posted purported photos
of the author, calling for his murder.
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