Bin Laden's Death Disputed in New Book

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 30, 2012
All Rights Reserved.                                         

          Releasing a new blockbuster book “No Easy Day” about Osama bin Laden’s death May 1, 2011, 36-year-old former chief petty officer Navy Seal author Matt Bissonnette, AKA Mark Owen, betrayed his Navy Seal oath to get out the “real” story.  Disputing the official Pentagon version, Bissonnette writes that Bin Laden was not killed while engaged in a firefight with Navy Seals but rather shot in the head when he stuck his neck outside his bedroom on the third story of his Abbottabad, Pakistan compound.  Pentagon officials have scratched their heads trying to figure out why a devoted Navy Seal would betray his oath for financial gain.  “We were less that five steps from getting to the top [of the stairs] when I heard suppressed shots, BOP, BOP, BOP,” Owen writes in a soon-to-be-released Sept. 4 book by Dutton. Bissonnette entered the bedroom and found Bin Laden dead bleeding on the floor.

            Pentagon’s May 1 official version had Bin Laden shot dead in his bedroom lunging for his AK-47.  Bissonnette said he couldn’t live with the discrepancy of Bin Laden getting hit first, retreating to his bedroom, collapsing on the floor in a pool of blood and brains.  “Blood and brains spilled out the side of his skull,” said Bissonnette, admitting the body was still twitching and convulsing.  “[We] fired several rounds,” Bissonnette said.  “The bullets tore into him, slamming his body to the floor until he was motionless,” completing the account of Bin Laden’s actual death.  Well, for all the hubbub regarding the discrepancy, there’s not much difference in the official version, omitting gory details about the Seals’ opening fire on Bin Laden’s “twitching” corpse.  While it’s good to get out the real facts, the timing of the book’s release suggests something far more nefarious.

            No one doubts the heroism of the Seal team that tracked America’s No. 1 enemy down and finally ended his 20-year reign of terror.  Two foreign wars costing the U.S. Treasury over $1 trillion dollars and 6,593 U.S. war-dead added to the 2,996 killed on Sept. 11, a staggering 9,589 deaths, a mere fraction of the deaths caused by Bin Laden.  “As President Obama said on the night that justice was brought to Osama bin Laden, ‘We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country,’” said National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor, declining comment on Bissonnette’s account.  Bissonnette now faces disciplinary action for violating his confidentiality oath, going public with potentially classified information and all for what purpose?

            Timing the book’s release for Sept. 4, the exact opening of the Democratic National Convention in Charolotte, N.C., smells like a rat.  Republicans know that the Democratic National Committee plans to highlight President Barack Obama’s accomplishments during his first term.  Eclipsing all others is the successful mission to kill Osama bin Laden.  Timing the book’s release to the start of the DNC convention shows the extremes GOP dirty tricksters will go to discredit the president.  “The raid was reported as a bad action movie,” said Bissonnette.  “At first, it was funny because it was so wrong,” said Bissonnette, suggesting he just wanted to get the story straight.  “Although we applauded the {Obama’s] decision-making in this case, there was no doubt in anybody’s mind that that he would take all the political credit for this too,” Bissonnette wrote in his book exposing the real motive for writing the book.

            When you look at the Pentagon story, the only discrepancy involves where the kill-shot took place.  Whatever the Pentagon’s sanitized version of the kill or disposing of Bin Laden’s corpse, splitting hairs on the version makes little difference.  Bin Laden was shot in the head by a Navy Seal.  Who cares whether or not the kill was inside the bedroom or outside the door when the shots were fired?  After reviewing the book, Pentagon authorities found nothing unusual about Bissonnette’s account, saying it’s not unusual for accounts to vary slightly from one witness to another.  Failing to report about the Pentagon’s official version about Seals opening fire on Bin Laden’s “twitching” corpse should come as no surprise.  Giving all the gory details, including all the crime scene photos, would have served no purpose other than antagonizing Bin Laden’s followers now threatening Bissonnette’s life.

            No one knows today the extent of Bissonette’s involvement with anti-Obama groups committed to robbing him at the DNC convention of the credit for ordering the successful mission to get Osama bin Laden. Whatever Bissonnette’s politics, of course the president gets credit for successful military operations.  He also, all too often, gets the blame for messing up.  Talking about Obama taking the credit opens up a can of worms for Bissonnette, who now exposes himself not to correcting the factual record but for conspiring to take a cheap political shot against the president.  Obama has every right to highlight his National Security Record, going after terrorists with the same ferocity as his predecessor.  Raising issues of Barack taking proper credit for the mission opens disturbing questions about Bissonnette’s benefactors.  Dragging in politics certainly helps explain his motives.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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