SEAL Team 6

The Navy SEALs You Didn’t See in ‘Black Hawk Down’

The Battle of Mogadishu is one of the most infamous and controversial engagements in modern U.S. military history. The battle has been documented in books and film, most notably the 2001 film Black Hawk Down. The film depicts the Rangers, Delta operators, 160th SOAR pilots, and Air Force Pararescuemen that made up the ill-fated Task Force Ranger. Even the 10th Mountain Division and Pakistani UN Peacekeepers were mentioned and depicted respectively. However, the film does not depict or even refer to the Navy SEALs from the elite SEAL Team Six that joined the raid on October 3, 1993, all of whom received Silver Stars for their actions during the battle.

HT1 Howard Wasdin enlisted in the Navy in 1983 as an antisubmarine warfare operator and rescue swimmer. He served with distinction in Anti-Submarine Squadron 7 (HS-7) and even survived a helicopter crash over water before he re-enlisted to attend BUD/S. Wasdin graduated with Class 143 in July 1987 and was assigned to SEAL Team Two in Little Creek, Virginia. He completed deployments to Europe and the Middle East during the Gulf War before he volunteered for the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, better known as SEAL Team Six, in November 1991. Wasdin completed an eight-month specialized selection and training course to join DEVGRU and later completed the USMC Scout Sniper Course.

In August 1993, Wasdin deployed to Mogadishu with three other snipers from SEAL Team Six and their skipper, Commander Eric Thor Olson, as part of Task Force Ranger. The special task force’s primary mission was to capture the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid who had been attacking UN supply convoys and food distribution centers. The task force also included Air Force Combat Controllers who, like the SEALs, were omitted from the 2001 film.

Navy SEALs Black Hawk Down Wasdin — Wasdin (second from the left) with the rest of the DEVRGU sniper team. (Photo by Howard Wasdin)

In the time leading up to the October 3 raid, Wasdin and the other SEALs conducted a number of missions in and around Mogadishu. On the day of the raid, the four-man team returned to the airfield from setting up CIA repeaters in the town to find the task force gearing up. The intel driving the raid had developed earlier in the day and the mission was planned quickly.

The SEALs received the hour to hour-and-a-half-long mission brief from Cdr. Olson in just a few minutes. “You’ll be part of a blocking force. Delta will rope in and assault the building. You guys will grab the prisoners. Then get out of there,” Cdr. Olson said, slapping Wasdin on the shoulder. “Shouldn’t take long. Good luck. See you when you get back.” With that, the SEALs, and three soldiers joined the convoy of trucks and drove into the city.

Not long into the mission, the convoy received sporadic fire. The SEALs’ Humvee, referred to as a “cutvee,” had no roof, doors, or windows. The only protection that it offered was the iron engine block and a Kevlar ballistic blanket underneath the vehicle. Neither of these was able to protect one SEAL, known as Little Big Man, from taking a round on the way to the target building. “Aw hell, I’m hit!” He shouted. Wasdin pulled over to check his buddy out and found no blood. Rather, he saw Little Big Man’s broken custom Randall knife and a large red mark on his leg. The knife, strapped to Little Big Man’s leg, had absorbed most of the bullet’s energy and prevented it from entering the SEAL’s leg.

The convoy made it to the target building and the SEALs joined their assigned blocking position with the Rangers and Delta operators as the Delta assaulters infilled on the roof. Wasdin engaged a handful of enemy snipers with his CAR-15 for 30 minutes before the call came over the radio to return to the convoy. It was then that he took a ricochet to the back of his left knee. “For a moment, I couldn’t move,” he recalled. “The pain surprised me, because I had reached a point in my life when I really thought I was more than human.” Wasdin’s SEAL teammate, nicknamed Casanova, quickly neutralized two militia fighters as Air Force CCT Dan Schilling dragged Wasdin to safety for a medic to patch him back up.

Navy SEALs Black Hawk Down Task Force Ranger — (Kneeling, left to right) Little Big Man, Casanova, Wasdin, and Sourpuss, with other operators of Task Force Ranger (Howard Wasdin)

Thirty-seven minutes into the routine mission, a call came over the radio that changed the mission, and Wasdin’s life. “Super Six One down.” CW3 Cliff “Elvis” Wolcott’s bird had been shot down by an RPG, turning the raid into a rescue mission. Wasdin hopped back behind the wheel and the SEALs joined the convoy to secure Wolcott’s crash site. Holding the wheel with his left hand, Wasdin returned fire with his CAR-15 in his right hand.

On the way to the crash site, five Somali women walked up to the roadside shoulder to shoulder, their colorful robes stretched out to their sides. When a Humvee reached them, they pulled their robes to reveal four militia fighters underneath. The militia opened fire on the soldiers. Seeing this, Wasdin flicked his CAR-15’s selector switch to full-auto and emptied a 30-round magazine into all nine Somalis. “Better to be judged by twelve than carried by six,” he said of the incident. Shortly after, the call came over the radio that CW3 Mike Durant’s Super Six Four had also been shot down. With two birds down, ammunition running low, casualties mounting, and an entire city out to kill Americans, things looked grim for the men of Task Force Ranger.

To make matters worse, the convoluted communication network between the observation aircraft, the JOC, the C2 bird, and the convoy leader was further mired by the misunderstanding of sending the convoy to the closest crash site rather than the first crash site. This led to the bullet-ridden convoy going literally in circles and passing the target building that they raided at the start of the mission.

Randy Shughart Gary Gordon — Sgt. First Class Randy Shughart and Master Sgt. Gary Gordon were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for trying to rescue Mike Durant before they were overrun (U.S. Army)

Even the AH-6J Little Birds providing direct fire support from the air were feeling the strain of the not-so routine mission. “We’re Winchestered,” one pilot told Wasdin as he called for air support. With no ammunition left, the Little Bird pilots flew low over the enemy positions in order to draw the attention of the militia fighters skyward and off the beleaguered convoy. “The pilots didn’t just do that once. They did it at least six times that I remember,” Wasdin said, recalling the bravery of the Night Stalkers. “Our Task Force 160 pilots were badass, offering themselves up as live targets, saving our lives.”

Contact was so heavy that Wasdin ran out of 5.56 for his CAR-15, including the ammo given to him by the wounded Rangers in the back of his cutvee, forcing him to draw his 9mm Sig Sauer sidearm. As the convoy slowed, a militia fighter emerged from a doorway with an AK-47. Wasdin and the fighter exchanged rounds. The first double-tap from the Sig missed and the fighter put a round through Wasdin’s right shinbone before a second double-tap put the fighter down.

His right leg hanging on by a thread, Wasdin switched seats with Casanova and continued to return fire with his sidearm despite the incredible pain. Five to 10 minutes later, Wasdin was wounded a third time, taking a round to his left ankle. “My emotions toward the enemy rocketed off the anger scale,” Wasdin recalled. “Suddenly, I realized I was in trouble.” As the convoy pressed on, the SEAL cutvee hit a landmine. Though the occupants were protected by the Kevlar blanket, the explosion brought the vehicle to a halt. With three holes in him, Wasdin thought of his family and likened his situation to one of his favorite films, The Alamo. Not willing to give up without a fight, he continued to return fire. “Physically, I couldn’t shoot effectively enough to kill anyone at that point,” Wasdin said. “I had used up two of Casanova’s pistol magazines and was down to my last.”

As if scripted in a movie, the Quick Reaction Force soon arrived to extract the battered convoy from the city. With the arrival of the QRF, the militia fighters retreated and gave the convoy a much-needed reprieve. “Be careful with him,” Casanova said as he helped load Wasdin onto one of the QRF’s deuce-and-a-half trucks. “His right leg is barely hanging on.” The convoy returned to the airfield without further incident.

Battle of Mogadishu — The only picture taken on the ground during the battle (U.S. Army)

The scene at the base was unreal. Dozens of American bodies laid out on the runway as medics tried to sort out the most critically wounded. “A Ranger opened a Humvee tailgate — blood flowed out like water.” The sight enraged Wasdin who itched for payback. Many of the chieftains in the Aidid militia, anticipating the revenge that Wasdin and his brothers sought, fled Mogadishu. Some even offered to flip on Aidid to save themselves. “Four fresh SEAL Team Six snipers from Blue Team were on their way to relieve us. Delta’s Alpha Squadron was gearing up to relieve Charlie Squadron. A new batch of Rangers was coming, too.” Ultimately, there would be no counteroffensive.

With the broadcast of the results of the battle on American televisions, the Clinton administration feared the negative publicity that further operations could bring. “In spite of the gains, President Clinton saw our sacrifices as losses,” Wasdin recalled angrily. “He ordered all actions against Aidid stopped.” Four months later, all prisoners taken by Task Force Ranger were released.

On what should have been a routine snatch-and-grab operation, special operators were left exposed and eventually trapped by thousands of Somali militia fighters. Conducting the raid in the afternoon without the cover of darkness removed one of the biggest advantages that the operators had. Sending them into the city without armored fighting vehicles or Spectre gunships further reduced the American technological advantage. For warriors like Wasdin though, the ultimate defeat was not finishing the job.

‘Black Hawk Down’ documentary shines new light on the battle that claimed 19 American lives

A new documentary/war movie about Operation Gothic Serpent, also known as the Black Hawk Down incident, offers a fresh perspective on the battle that cost 19 Americans their lives.

Retired Air Force Colonel Randall Larsen worked with retired Brigadier General Bill David, who fought in the battle, to produce “Black Hawk Down: The Untold Story.” The documentary showcases the actions of the 10^th Mountain Division. The 10^th Mountain Division, alongside Marines, were the first to deploy to the war-torn country in 1992 as part of Operation Restore Hope, meant to ensure that humanitarian aid sent by the U.S. and the United Nations was distributed to the starving Somali civilians and not stolen by the warring factions. They failed to accomplish this, which is why Task Force Ranger deployed.

The operation took place on October 3-4, 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia. The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) was hunting down Mohamed Farrah Aidid—a Somali warlord responsible for much of the chaos and bloodshed in the country’s civil war—and his key lieutenants. JSOC’s Task Force Ranger was comprised of Delta Force’s C Squadron, B Company; 3^rdRanger Battalion; Air Force pararescuemen and combat controllers; a small sniper element from SEAL Team 6; and a helicopter detachment that included MH-60 Black Hawks and AH-6 Little Birds from the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (160^th SOAR).

Although not a part of Task Force Ranger, the 2^ndBattalion, 10^th Mountain Division was also deployed to Somalia to provide conventional support and serve as the quick reaction force (QRF) to the American commandos in case they ran into trouble. The 10th Mountain QRF was sent in alongside Pakistani and Malaysian U.N. peacekeepers (the force was accompanied by a number of Delta operators). According to Delta Force operators, the QRF was pivotal in the rescue of the stranded Task Force Ranger, but neither the book nor the movie acknowledged its role.

Colonel Larsen told the Army Times in an interview, “As I started peeling the onion and looking into this thing I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is an incredible story and I didn’t know it.’ I’d read the book when it came out. I’d seen the movie. I’d sat in bars with Bill and kind of heard it a little bit.”

Operation Gothic Serpent has been dubbed a debacle of great proportions. And politically, it was. But the military portion of the operation should be considered a success. Task Force Ranger did accomplish its objectives (capturing a number of high-value targets), and in the process killed more than 1,000 enemy combatants. NEWSREP’s own George Hand and his Delta squadron deployed to Mogadishu immediately after the battle to assist their comrades.

Colonel Larsen, who also served in the Army during his 32-year military service and fought in Vietnam, has also produced a documentary. It’s titled “Operation Whitecoat” and focuses on conscientious objectors who volunteered for military biological experiments from the 1950s to 1970s.

Earlier in March, “Black Hawk Down: The Untold Story” was screened at the International Spy Museum and the Army-Navy Club. You can pre-order it on Amazon.

This article was written by Stavros Atlamazoglou

Feature image: Delta Force A Squadron operators kitting up for operations in Mogadishu (Image courtesy of George Hand)

January 1, 1962, The US Navy SEAL Teams Are Born

On this day in 1962 is the official date of the beginning of the United States Navy’s Sea, Air and Land Teams (SEAL) as President John Kennedy established the Navy’s Unconventional Warfare unit. SEAL teams are designed to conduct direct action missions from any environment.

Although the official date for the SEAL Teams is in 1962, they were actually tied to units in World War II that they owe their lineage to. Less than a year after Pearl Harbor, the Navy recognized the need for dedicated beach reconnaissance. The Amphibious Scout and Raider School was established at Little Creek, Virginia and contained both Navy and Army personnel. This first group of special operators also contained Phil Bucklew, who is considered the father of all Navy Special Operations.

And while most people think of the work that the Navy’s beach clearing operations in the Pacific, they also conducted operations in every major amphibious landing in the European theater. They were instrumental in leading the way for amphibious forces in North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Normandy on D-Day, and the landings in Southern France.

The Navy also developed Navy Combat Demolition Units (NCDU) which would blow gaps in beach defenses for amphibious forces to breach during invasions. NCDUs suffered a large number of casualties during D-Day. While in the Pacific they created Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT). The UDTs rewrote the manuals of the NCDUs and wore just swimming trunks (UDT shorts), fins, masks, and a combat knife. They, contrary to orders would get out of their boats to conduct their missions and thus became known as the “naked warriors.”

UDT swimmers conducted operations at Eniwetok, Saipan, Kwajalein, Tinian, Guam, Angaur, Ulithi, Peleliu, Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, Zambales, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Labuan, and Brunei Bay. During the Korean War UDTs would perform operations all long the Korean coastlines and they targeted bridges, mines, and scouted out the landings at Inchon.

It should be noted that OSS (Office of Strategic Services) had its own Maritime Unit. And many of the missions we think of SEALs today were actually conducted by the special operations unit then. The OSS Maritime Unit conducted operations using newly improved fins, masks, SCUBA (self-contained, underwater breathing apparatus), the use of Swimmer Delivery Vehicles and conducted the first submarine lockout.

As the war in Vietnam was still in its infancy stage for the Americans, President Kennedy recognized what kind of a war it would eventually become. He helped get the U.S. Army Special Forces the recognition it needed to expand the Army’s Unconventional Warfare capabilities. He foresaw the same need for the U.S. Navy. While making the speech about putting a man on the moon, he spoke about spending $100 million dollars to strengthen the U.S. UW capability. However, while he was the one signing the SEAL Teams into existence, the Navy had already been working on expanding the role of UDTs for several years.

SEAL Teams One and Two deployed to Vietnam to operate in the deltas and thousands of rivers and canals in the country to try to effectively disrupt the enemy’s lines of communication.

SEALs advised and trained Vietnamese forces, such as the LDNN (Vietnamese SEALs) and conducted their own brand of UW. These Navy commandos also perfected the art of nighttime Direct Action missions such as ambushes and raids to capture prisoners of high intelligence value. These are considered the bread-and-butter of the SEAL forces today.

During the war, the intelligence gathering for the troops was generally poor, it was then that SEALs and Green Berets would begin gathering their own intelligence. It was then that the value of the intel gathered by these Special Operators rose up quickly. Both Army and Navy Special Operators would serve together along with CIA personnel in the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group (MACVSOG).

These men while representing less than 1 percent of the ground forces in Vietnam, produced about 75 percent of all the usable intelligence for the troops in the country.

After Vietnam, the SEAL Teams would expand during the buildup of Special Operations forces in the 1980s. SEALs would serve in the battles in Grenada, Panama, the first Persian Gulf war with Iran, Somalia, Afghanistan after 9/11, Iraq and in Syria. They’ve also been involved in more low-visibility operations in the Philippines, in the Horn of Africa and countless other third-world countries where Special Operations Troops generally work in the shadows.

But two of the missions that SEALs have conducted have become mainstream news items. One was conducted in April of 2009 when Somali pirates took over the U.S. ship the Maersk Alabama. The pirates had taken the Captain of the Alabama, Richard Phillips hostage and they were in a lifeboat being towed behind the USS Bainbridge. SEALs from DEVGRU were alerted and transported to the Navy ships in the Area. Then, in a tremendous feat of marksmanship while on the open seas, DEVGRU snipers took out the pirates, each with a headshot.

During the early morning hours of May 1, 2011, in the country of Pakistan that is where SEALs of DEVGRU (Naval Special Warfare Development Group) were alerted after CIA intelligence pinpointed the location of Osama bin Laden.

In a combined operation with CIA assets on the ground in Abbottabad, Pakistan about 35 miles from Islamabad, Pakistan, DEVGRU SEALs infiltrated into the target area using specially designed “stealth” Blackhawk helicopters landed in the compound that bin Laden had been hiding in, with members of his family. They quickly moved thru the facility and killed bin Laden and brought out his body and several of his computers in a tremendous intelligence coup.

Since the initial Iraq War in Desert Storm and thru the on-going Global War on Terror (GWOT), over 80 SEALs have given their lives in the service of our country. Today, there are 10 SEAL Teams and a SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team deployed everywhere around the globe.

Photos: US Navy

Michael E. Thornton, SEAL, MOH Oct. 31, 1972

Michael Thornton was a Navy SEAL and was awarded the U.S. military’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the war in Vietnam. He was decorated for saving the life of his senior officer, Lieutenant Thomas R. Norris, who also a recipient of the Medal of Honor in another combat action in Vietnam.

Thornton was born in Greenville, SC and graduated from high school in 1967 and immediately joined the U.S. Navy. He was trained as a gunner’s mate and served on a destroyer until he volunteered for Naval Special Warfare. Thornton graduated from Class 49 Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training in Coronado, CA in November 1968 and was assigned to SEAL Team One and served in several tours in Vietnam between 1969 and 1972.

He was a member of MACVSOG (Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group), the Special Operations Forces joint command in Vietnam. During the final year of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam during 1972, only a handful of Navy SEALs remained in Vietnam. But the combat didn’t lessen for those who were there. And Thornton, now a Petty Officer would see some horrific combat where he’d be awarded the nation’s highest honor.

Quang Tri Mission:

Thornton and Lt. Thomas Norris would accompany three South Vietnamese troops on a mission on October 31, 1972, to gather intelligence and capture enemy personnel. The three Vietnamese were members of their Special Forces and they had worked extensively with the two SEALs in the past.

They boarded Vietnamese junks and then after dark took rubber boats ashore near the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). The five men slipped around several North Vietnamese encampments and began their reconnoiter.

Realizing too late they had actually landed in North Vietnam, they scouted several bunkers and large amounts of NVA troops. Moving back toward the shore, they scouted two NVA troops which they would attempt to capture.

When one of the NVA troops broke towards the jungle, Thornton chased him to prevent him from alerting the others. That is when all hell broke loose. All of a sudden, 50 NVA troops were turning the tables on Thornton and firing at him. He moved from position to position trying to link back up with his small team as he was taking fire.

Thornton was constantly moving about, giving the NVA troops the impression there were many more Americans on the ground than they thought. He called for Naval gunfire from two destroyers nearby but they had been driven off by shore fire from several North Vietnamese artillery batteries.

The tiny band of five men held off a force of about 150 NVA for the next four hours. One of the South Vietnamese junks had a mortar on board and Thornton called for them to come in and lend some indirect fire support but the destroyers wouldn’t allow them to get close enough.

Near dawn, Norris had the men withdraw towards the beach, but bounding while he covered them from the rear. He called in a fire for effect mission from the cruiser USS Newport News (CA-148) to cover their withdrawal. As he was attempting to fire a LAW rocket to suppress the enemy. He was shot thru the head. The South Vietnamese assumed he was dead.

When they told Thornton, he raced to Norris’ position to recover his body. To his shock, Norris was alive but “the whole side of his head was completely gone.” He took down several NVA who tried to overrun their position. He then hoisted Norris over his shoulders despite having suffered a wound in his back from grenade shrapnel, he ran to the beach.

Just then the first shells from Newport News hit the beach. The concussion threw both Thornton and Norris 20 feet into the air. He then dragged the barely alive Lieutenant into the surf and began swimming out to sea. One of the South Vietnamese was shot thru his hip and into his butt and couldn’t swim. Thornton pushed, pulled both he and Norris out to sea as bullets rained around them. The Newport News left believing the team was dead.

One of the other South Vietnamese reached a junk and reported the rest of the team had been killed. Despite this, Thornton bandaged Norris’ head as best he could and then fired his AK-47 to draw the attention of the junks. They were finally picked up and transported to the Newport News. Thornton carried his SEAL Lt to the operating room. The doctor there told him that there was no way that Norris would survive.

But he did and Norris was the guest of President Gerald Ford on March 6, 1976, at the White House as he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his rescue of Air Force LTC Iceal Hambleton in the famous “BAT 21” story.

Thornton would receive the Medal of Honor from President Richard Nixon at the White House on October 15, 1973, nearly one year from the action that took place. In doing so, he became the first man ever to receive the Medal of Honor for rescuing another man who was a fellow MOH awardee. Thornton also was awarded a Silver Star, Bronze Star with “V” device with two oak leaf clusters, and the Purple Heart. He later served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

After the war in Vietnam, Thornton would continue to serve in the SEALs and from 1974 -1977, Thornton served as a BUD/S instructor at NAB Coronado. In 1978 he was selected to serve two years with the British Royal Marines’ Special Boat Squadron (SBS) in an exchange program. In 1980, the Navy was putting together SEAL Team Six, which was the Navy’s first Counter-Terrorism Force. Thornton was personally chosen by the first Commander, Richard Marcinko to be a founding member of the team.

Thornton later became a commissioned officer in June 1982 and retired as a Lieutenant in 1992.

Under heavy gunfire from dozens of North Vietnamese soldiers, Navy SEAL Mike Thornton lifted critically injured fellow SEAL Tom Norris onto his shoulders and carried him in the darkness down the beach into the South China Sea surf. (Navy SEAL Museum)

Medal of Honor citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while participating in a daring operation against enemy forces. PO Thornton, as Assistant U.S. Navy Advisor, along with a U.S. Navy lieutenant serving as Senior Advisor, accompanied a 3-man Vietnamese Navy SEAL patrol on an intelligence gathering and prisoner capture operation against an enemy-occupied naval river base.

Launched from a Vietnamese Navy junk in a rubber boat, the patrol reached land and was continuing on foot toward its objective when it suddenly came under heavy fire from a numerically superior force. The patrol called in naval gunfire support and then engaged the enemy in a fierce firefight, accounting for many enemy casualties before moving back to the waterline to prevent encirclement.

Upon learning that the Senior Advisor had been hit by enemy fire and was believed to be dead, PO Thornton returned through a hail of fire to the lieutenant’s last position; quickly disposed of 2 enemy soldiers about to overrun the position, and succeeded in removing the seriously wounded and unconscious Senior Naval Advisor to the water’s edge. He then inflated the lieutenant’s lifejacket and towed him seaward for approximately 2 hours until picked up by support craft.

By his extraordinary courage and perseverance, PO Thornton was directly responsible for saving the life of his superior officer and enabling the safe extraction of all patrol members, thereby upholding the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service

Photos: Michael Thornton (right) and LT Tom Norris, US Navy

Two Marines May Have Been Present at the Murder of Green Beret in Mali

The murder investigation of Green Beret SSG Logan Melgar has taken another twist. Military investigators are now stating that two Marine Raiders from the Special Operations Command may have been present. Two Navy SEALs are already under investigation for the strangling death of Melgar last June.

Melgar died from asphyxiation after the SEALs claimed that they engaged in “horseplay” at 4 a.m. that the apartment that the men shared in Bamako while assigned to the embassy in Mali.

The military is investigating whether two special forces Marines played a role in the choking death of a Green Beret in Mali last year and the possible cover-up of how it occurred, according to five U.S. defense officials.
September 2017 Army Criminal Investigative Division report about the incident quotes Navy SEAL Tony DeDolph saying he and Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar were wrestling at 4 a.m. when a fellow SEAL Adamcranston Matthew came in and joined in the horseplay. According to the SEALS, the men fell down together and when they stood up Melgar wasn’t breathing.
The SEALs say they attempted CPR and tried to open an airway, but Melgar died of asphyxiation.
The same report, however, says a witness told investigators that DeDolph and Matthews were among a group of people angry at Melgar, and had made comments about getting back at him.
According to that witness, “DeDolph admitted … that he ‘choked [Melgar] out.’ ” and had used duct tape on him.
Now forensic evidence uncovered during a Navy investigation indicates two Marines may have been present at some point during the night, say five U.S. defense officials.

While military investigators refuse to comment on an ongoing investigation, the more information that is learned about this incident, the more it is clear that there was no horseplay involved. The military is dragging its feet on this, it has been nearly a year since Melgar’s death and questions are now growing about how this happened and why there is no moving forward with it.

To read the entire article from NBC News, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Navy SEALs Rescue Captain of the Maersk Alabama, April 12, 2009

The coast of Somalia was a dangerous place in the spring of 2009. Over 50 vessels had been attacked by pirates.The U.S. flagged ship, MV Maersk Alabama was then attacked, the sixth such attack in less than a week of the Somali coast.

Alabama was taken by pirates, the first successful pirate attack on a United States vessel since the early nineteenth century. Phillips was held by pirates until he was freed by U.S. Navy SEALs a few days later. The incident was portrayed in the film, “Captain Phillips” which starred Tom Hanks.

There was a bit of controversy after the fact as many of the ship’s crew didn’t see the events as they unfolded on film as they actually depicted and characterized Phillips as an ego-driven, man who took too many risks and didn’t pay heed to his crewmen or their warnings about pirates in the area.

Background: The Alabama sailed from Salalah, Oman and was bound for Mombasa, Kenya after a brief stop in Djibouti with a crew of 23, loaded with 17,000 metric tons of cargo. On 8 April 2009, they were attacked by four pirates who closed from seven miles away. Phillips ordered the speed increased while Chief Engineer Mike Perry, following their established anti-piracy routine that the crew had trained for, gathered the crew into a “secure” room the crew had prepared.

When the pirates’ skiff neared the Alabama, Perry and 1st Assistant Engineer Matt Fisher swung the ship’s rudder over hard, the resultant wake then swamped the pirate ’s small skiff. The plan was for Perry to disable the bridge control away from the ship’s engines and steering. The ship was then to be shut down so the pirates couldn’t sail her to Somalia.

Captain Phillips with the skipper of the USS Bainbridge

However, the pirates still succeeded in boarding and capturing the ship, Captain Richard Phillips and several other crew members. Much to their chagrin, the pirates learned that they couldn’t control the ship. The head pirate Abduwali Muse only 18 years old, started below deck to find the rest of the crew to force them to repower the ship, take them hostage and sail to Somalia.

In the darkened engine room, Muse was tackled and taken down by Perry who held a knife to the pirate’s throat. He had his hand gashed by Perry while trying to grab the knife away from him. After several hours in the stifling engine room where temperatures reached nearly 130 degrees, Alabama’s crew offered to swap their crew members for the head pirate.

But the plan went to hell in a handbasket when the pirates refused to release Phillips when their chief was released. Phillips offered to show them how to use Alabama’s lifeboat, and then the pirates took him hostage.

The U.S. Navy was alerted to the situation and the frigate, USS Halyburton FFG-40 as well as the guided-missile destroyer, USS Bainbridge DDG-96 were dispatched to the area in the response of the hostage-taking. They reached the Alabama the next day, on April 9 and arranged for her to be escorted to her original destination at Mombasa.

The two Navy ships shadowed the Alabama’s lifeboat, just out of range of their weapons. But via satellite phone, the pirates had contacted some of their fellow pirates in Somalia and they were racing out to sea with other ships loaded with 54 other hostages from China, Germany, Russia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan. The plan was to ransom off Phillips and the rest of the hostages. They wanted to get close to shore to make it harder for the Americans to attempt a rescue. A third American warship joined the expedition, the Amphibious assault ship, USS Boxer LHD-4.

The Americans negotiated with the pirates via satellite phone and arranged to drop food, water, and fuel for the pirates. The pirate with the cut hand, Muse asked for medical attention and was taken to the Bainbridge where he was treated and placed under arrest. This continued for awhile but after a few days the negotiations were breaking down. The pirates fired a single shot on the Bainbridge from a hatch on the lifeboat.

The SEALs Arrive: Meanwhile, Six U.S. Navy SEALs from DEVGRU (SEAL Team Six) were flown out to the site in near the ships. The parachuted into the ocean with an inflatable boat and were taken aboard the Bambridge. They took up positions on the Bambridge’s fantail but were forbidden to engage the pirates by order of the President unless the Captain’s life was in danger.

The Defense Department had asked for permission from President Obama to use deadly force to rescue Phillips. But the President stated only if the Captain’s life was in danger.

With their food, water, and fuel gone, the pirates accepted a tow from the Bainbridge. Initially, there was a 200-foot tow rope attached. But as it grew dark, the Navy shortened it to 100 feet unbeknownst to the pirates.

The shot from the lifeboat ratcheted up the tension. The SEALs with night vision scopes attached to their Mk 11 Mod 0 (SR-25) 7.62mm sniper rifles and kept the lifeboat under tight watch. There was movement on the lifeboat, two pirates emerged on the back of the lifeboat, and the third was visible through a porthole, with his rifle pointed at the back of Captain Phillips.

This was the opening that the SEALs were waiting for. Once the order was given, showing an incredible amount of marksmanship, on a boat in the ocean, the SEALs fired and killed all three pirates. Phillips was rescued. And shortly afterward, was reunited with his family.

Abduwali Muse was flown to New York City where he was charged with piracy, conspiracy to seize a ship by force, and conspiracy to commit hostage-taking. His lawyers tried to have him tried as a juvenile, but he admitted to being 18. Muse pleaded guilty to hijacking, kidnapping, and hostage-taking charges in lieu of piracy charges. He received a prison sentence of 33 years and nine months.

The lifeboat that held the Somali pirates and Captain Phillips is now located at the Navy’s UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Photos: US Navy

Daily Beast: Green Beret Murdered After Discovering SEALs Stealing Cash

The story about the Green Beret found murdered in his apartment in Mali has taken an ominous twist. A recent piece penned by the Daily Beast, says SSG Logan Melgar of the 3^rd Special Forces Group was murdered by two Navy SEALs from SEAL Team Six after he found out about the pair’s stealing of cash designed to pay informants involved in intelligence gathering operations.

The story, which claims that they got from official sources says Melgar found out about the SEALs illegal activity and was concerned. He told his wife over the phone his concerns and said that he’d explain more after he returned home.

This account is based on five members of the special-operations community who were not cleared to speak publicly. Representatives of both U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) declined comment for this story, as the Navy Criminal Investigative Service(NCIS) has an active investigation into Melgar’s death. NCIS would not comment beyond confirming the investigation is underway.
As the elite troops do in so many countries, they operate in the shadows, with comparatively little oversight—and what their actions actually look like on the ground can be much dirtier than the heroic image the Pentagon prefers to portray.
For example, part of the intelligence gathering operation in Mali involved a fund used to pay informants.
Melgar, two special operations sources say, discovered the SEALs were pocketing some of the money from the informant fund. The SEALS offered to cut him in, but Melgar declined, these sources said.
It is unknown what specifically started the June 4 altercation at 5 a.m. but it escalated. Melgar lost consciousness—and, worse, stopped breathing. The SEALs attempted to open an airway in Melgar’s throat, officials said. It is unknown whether Melgar died immediately. The SEALs and another Green Beret, according to former AFRICOM officials, drove to a nearby French clinic seeking help. Melgar was dead when he arrived at the clinic, the official said. Asphyxiation was the cause of death.

The SEALs story was that Melgar was drunk and was killed in a combatives exercise. One of the SEALs was a mixed martial arts fighter. Except that no alcohol was found in Melgar’s system. One of the sources used in the story told the authors that Melgar didn’t drink at all. That sent red flags up in the community and General David Bolduc, the then commander of the Special Operations Command Africa alerted the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division.

To read the entire article from The Daily Beast, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

The Achille Lauro Hijacking Comes to a Close October 10, 1985

From its very beginning the cruise liner Achille Lauro seemed to live a cursed existence. The keel for the ship was laid in 1939. It suffered an onboard explosion in 1965, the ship caught fire in 1972 and then collided with a cargo ship in 1975, the ship caught fire once again in 1981. And she caught fire one last time in 1994 off the coast of Somalia, where, she finally went to the bottom of the ocean. But for a few days in October 1985, the Achille Lauro was well-known around the world because she was hijacked.

The Achille Lauro left Genoa, Italy on October 3, 1985, with an itinerary for an eleven-day cruise with ports of call in Naples and Syracuse in Italy; Alexandria and Port Said in Egypt; Ashdod in Israel; Limassol in Cyprus; Rhodes and Piraeus in Greece; and returning to Italy for a stop at Capri before finishing back in Genoa. On-board were 748 passengers as well as the crew. Security both on the ship and in checking passengers bags was extremely lax.

Four young Palestinian men were on-board disguising themselves as wealthy Latin American travelers. They claimed to be Argentinian but when other passengers spoke to them in Spanish, they couldn’t understand anything said to them. They carried passports that identified them from Portugal, Norway, and Argentina. Passengers were curious but did not report them to ship’s authorities.

They had smuggled weapons on the ship from a gas tank of a car in Italy and the gasoline smell permeated both the weapons and the men. Both passengers and ship’s crew noticed this but once again did nothing. The four men were representing the Palestine Liberation Front, conducting a mission masterminded by Muhammad “Abu” Abbas. They were supposed to attack Israeli soldiers once the ship docked at Ashdod.

But soon things would go terribly awry.

The ship is Hijacked: The ship docked in Alexandria on October 7, and 651 of the passengers disembarked to go on a tour of the pyramids. They were to meet the ship fourteen hours later in Port Said, Egypt at the mouth of the Suez Canal.

A ship steward surprised the terrorists while delivering a bowl of complimentary fruit to their room via an unlocked door only to see the four men using a hairdryer to clean the excess gasoline off of their weapons. The four men decided to seize the entire ship.

They stormed the dining room and fired automatic weapons at the ceiling to frighten the passengers and after herding them together, they then moved to the bridge. The Italian crew had sent off an SOS message that the ship had been hijacked and the message was picked up by authorities in Sweden. The terrorists then ordered the ship’s captain to set sail for Tartus, Syria.

Only 97 passengers remained onboard along with the full complement of the ship’s crew. The terrorists told the captain that they had 20 armed men on the ship which at the time was believed. The passengers who had gone to the pyramids arrived at the dock at 10:30 p.m. and were told the ship was held up in traffic in the canal. It was only at 1:30 a.m. on October 8, would they be told the truth.

The US responded immediately, General Carl Steiner, Command of SOCOM immediately dispatched Navy SEALs from SEAL Team Six and Army Delta Force Operators to a British base in Cypress in case the ship needed to be assaulted to rescue the hostages.

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat denounced the hijacking and offered to assist in negotiating for a peaceful conclusion to the incident. He sent two of his advisers to assist in the peaceful solution to this incident. One of his men was Abu Abbas who planned the operation.

Early in the morning on October 8, the terrorists began to separate the hostages, looking for Jews. The passengers refused to identify themselves as such so they checked their passports. When confirming with an elderly couple that they were Jewish, they clubbed the man with the butt of a rifle knocking him to the floor. Leon Klinghoffer was confined to a wheelchair and when the hostages were moved to another location, his wheelchair wouldn’t allow him to go. His wife Marilyn wanted to stay by his side by the men put a gun to her head and ordered her to leave, saying that they would take care of him.

Arrival in Syria: The Achille Lauro arrived in Syria around 11:00 a.m., the leader of the hijackers, Youssef Majed Molqi radioed to Syrian authorities to alert the International Red Cross as well as the British and Americans. He then demanded that Israel release 50 Palestinians being held. They threatened to start killing hostages at 3:00 p.m. sharp.

At precisely that time, they pushed Klinghoffer in his wheelchair to the rear of the ship. The hijackers were annoyed by his slurring speech, because of a stroke and the fact that he wouldn’t cow to them.

Molqi shot Klinghoffer twice, once in the head and once in the chest and ordered two of the ship’s crew to throw Klinghoffer’s body and wheelchair overboard. The Syrians told Molqi to “go back where you came from.” The ship began to sail to Libya.

But before they got far, Abbas, using the name Abu Khaled got hold of Molqi on the ship’s radio and ordered him to return to Port Said. He then said to treat the passengers kindly.

The PLF then issued a statement, apologizing to the hostages, the Italian government and to the ship stating that they never wanted to take control of the ship but were on a mission against Israel. President Reagan then had SEAL Team Six move to the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima and gave the go-ahead to assault the ship if it was still in international waters.

Back to Egypt: The negotiations between all of the parties carried on for more than a day. The agreement was reached (still under the assumption that no one was hurt) that the hijackers would turn themselves over to the Egyptian authorities and be flown to Tunis. As the hijackers went ashore in an Egyptian tugboat, the Egyptian people cheered them as heroes. It was only then that it was learned that Leon Klinghoffer was murdered. A British journalist on shore, reported seeing his blood, smeared down the side of the ship.

The Americans angrily called the Egyptians and wanted them arrested and prosecuted.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was caught in a web, not of his doing. Because the hijackers had surrendered in his country, he had conflicting interests. Wanting to maintain Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel, the 1978 Camp David Accords, but also keep good relations with his fellow Arab states in the Middle East. He also wanted to maintain good relations with the US to not jeopardize billions of dollars in foreign aid.

PLO official Farouk Kaddoumi told the UN that the claim that Klinghoffer had been murdered was “a big lie fabricated by the intelligence service of the United States.” He suggested to the UN that Klinghoffer might have died naturally, “Is there any evidence that those hijackers had killed the civilian? Where is the evidence?”

US Response: On October 10, 1985, the four hijackers boarded an EgyptAir Boeing 737 accompanied by Abu Abbas, Ozzuddin Badrakkan (also called Mohammed Oza), and several members of Egypt’s counterterrorism unit Force 777. The flight was set to fly to Tunisia, which was where the PLF headquarters were located. But the US was waiting.

President Reagan gave orders to the Navy, specifically the aircraft carrier Saratoga to send fighters out over the ocean to intercept the airliner and force it to the US air base to Sigonella, Sicily. The US scrambled F-14 Tomcats and they located and shadowed the Egypt airliner. The pilot of the airliner requested permission to land in Tunis but was denied. He then tried Athens. It was then that the Navy pilots contacted the Egyptian pilot on a VHF frequency and demanded he fly to Sicily. He refused.

It was then the pilots turned on their lights and the pilot of the 737 realized he was surrounded by warplanes who threatened to shoot him down unless he complied. The Americans were incensed that the murder had taken place and one of the negotiators (Abbas) was the mastermind behind the entire operation.The 737 touched down in Sigonella at 6:45 p.m.

Standoff: SEAL Team Six was already on the ground and surrounded the aircraft. Delta landed moments later. General Stiner went on-board the 737 to tell the hijackers that they were now in custody of the American Special Ops community. The Italians then surrounded the Americans with a force of Italian police (Carabinieri) and military police claiming jurisdiction, being it was on Italian soil. A tense standoff ensued.

The 80 SEALs and Delta operators were being surrounded with 300 or more Italian forces who also blocked the runways. After five hours of negotiations, at 4:30 a.m.the US eventually conceded to the Italian claim of jurisdiction but only after receiving assurances that the hijackers would be tried for murder.

The Italians wanted to fly the hijackers to Rome, but Steiner sent troops on a plane to shadow the airliner. The Italians responded with fighter aircraft, the Americans did the same and then proceeded to jam the Italian radars with E-6 Prowlers.

The Italians then despite the US demands that Abbas be turned over to them, allowed him to leave. The political fallout for Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi was quick. Days later his administration was replaced by a US-friendly coalition over his allowing Abbas to walk free.

The hijackers received sentences between 15-30 years, Abbas was sentenced to life in prison in absentia for planning the operation. The hijackers got lighter sentences because, in the eyes of the Italian courts, they had acted on “patriotic motives.”

Epilogue: Abbas moved around, always staying a step ahead of US and Israeli attempts to track him down. But eventually, his luck ran out. He was captured outside Baghdad by US Special Operations troops acting on good intelligence. He was caught with other operatives along with a treasure trove of intelligence.

He died in US custody of “natural causes” on March 4, 2004, 11 months after being captured.

Photo: Wikipedia

On This Day in 2011, Navy SEALs Eliminate Osama bin Laden

In one of the most daring raids in US Special Operations history, during the early spring of 2011, US Navy SEALs of SEAL Team 6 or DEVGRU raided the compound of Osama bin Laden in Abbottobad, Pakistan and killed the terrorist leader, who was living less than a mile from the Pakistani military academy.

The raid took place at 1:00 a.m. on May 2 in Pakistan but in the US, it was mid-afternoon on May 1^st. The operation called “Neptune Spear” was a joint CIA, JSOC operation with SEALs and aviators from the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (The Night Stalkers) flying specially designed stealth helicopters on the mission.

But the operation was actually in the works for several years before it was finally unleashed by President Obama.

The Intelligence Prep: The CIA found out the name of bin Laden’s courier as early as 2007. This was considered a high-value intelligence coup because the CIA learned thru their Black sites and thru interrogations at Guantanamo Bay that bin Laden communicated only via couriers. He stopped using phones since the US tracked a cell phone of one of his subordinates and the US launched a missile strike on the location in Afghanistan back in 1998.

The courier named Ibrahim Saeed Ahmed according to Pakistani officials and his brother lived at the Abbottobad compound with bin Laden. The CIA picked up a wiretap of another individual and the courier and CIA paramilitary operatives tracked the man back to the compound.

The compound then became a focus of intense scrutiny. The CIA had a female analyst that had been on bin Laden’s trail for nearly five years. She earned the team’s and superiors’ respect and she believed with 100 percent certainty, that bin Laden was living there with his youngest wife and children. It was built in the 2004-2005 timeframe and was at the end of a long, narrow dirt road. It was outside of the main area of Abbottobad and about 100 miles from Afghanistan.

The compound cost about a million dollars to build and was constructed on a plot of land much larger than the surrounding properties. Walls 12-18 feet high surrounded it and were topped with 2 feet of barbed wire. There were two security gates and the property had no telephone or internet service. Unlike their neighbors, the inhabitants didn’t put their trash out for collection but burned it inside the compound.

The family lived on the second and third floors of the structure and the third-floor balcony had a seven-foot-high privacy wall installed to conceal the tall (6’4’’) bin Laden. The “principal” was seen in intelligence photos every day pacing in the garden that was partially covered with a tarp. The CIA analysts called him ‘the Pacer”. But the photos couldn’t positively identify the target.

In trying to gather more intelligence, the CIA used a fake polio vaccination program to gain entrance to the compound and rented a home nearby where they could keep up surveillance on the potential target.

Despite intense efforts, the CIA was never able to get a picture of the third-floor inhabitant or get a recording of his voice. But after exhaustive intelligence analysis, the CIA deemed that only bin Laden could be living there.

Planning the Operation: The job of planning this fell to Adm. William McRaven of JSOC. He assigned a Navy captain from DEVGRU to set up the plan of a raid with the help of the agency at the CIA HQs in Langley, VA.

There was also talk in using B-2 Stealth bombers but the problems that arose from that plan was that they’d have no way of confirming the death of bin Laden after the raid and the use of the 2000-pound radar-guided JDAM munitions was sure to cause civilian casualties in the area.

The idea of using the Pakistanis in a joint operation was quickly discounted as everyone up the chain of command believed that the leaks that would quickly follow would compromise the mission.

Therefore, since the US isn’t at war with Pakistan, the members of the team were taken off military roles and placed as civilians under the CIA control for the duration of the mission.

The agency and DEVGRU built a mockup of the compound in Harvey Point Defense Testing facility in North Carolina, and another in Nevada. The SEALs still were not told what their target was or its location. Nevada was chosen because, at 4000-foot altitude, it would be close to the actual altitude of the target and test the helicopters’ capabilities.

A full-scale replica was built in Afghanistan at Bagram Air Base. The raid team arrived on the 27^th of April at Jalalabad where the operation would base out of. A CH-47 Chinook helicopter with a quick reaction force would be placed nearby in case the unit had to fight their way out of Pakistan. The entire operation was to last 40 minutes.

The order was given at 1:22 p.m. EST on May 1 for Adm. McRaven to proceed with the raid. The President and members of his Cabinet watched the events unfold from the Situation Room at the White House via a Drone flying overhead.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011.

The Operation: The raid force consisted of 79 operators and a dog. The dog team was to be used if there were hidden rooms or compartments that needed to be searched. The Chinook with the QRF of 24 SEAL operators was landed in a deserted field about halfway to Abbottobad in case they were needed on the ground. Another QRF in Chinooks with an addition 25 SEALs would be waiting just over the border in Afghanistan.

After a 90-minute flight, the first of the Blackhawks deployed over the compound where the SEALs were to fast rope to the ground. A second was to land in the compound with the dog team and interpreter. However, due to a weather phenomenon, the first Blackhawk crashed into the compound sliding up onto the security wall. No one was seriously hurt. The second landed outside the compound where the operators scaled it and began the operation.

Using an assortment of breaching tools and explosives the teams began clearing the compound in a methodical, dance of death. The SEALs cleared the guest house and the ground floor of the main building where two men and woman were dispatched quickly. Numerous other women and children were encountered and they were flex-cuffed and moved outside where they’d be found and questioned by the Pakistanis.

The SEALs moved to the second level of the main building where they killed bin Laden’s son on the staircase before moving up to the top floor. There they found bin Laden, wearing the traditional loose-fitting garb of the region. Later it was found out that he carried 500 Euros and two phone numbers sewn into the lining of his clothes.

Nearly 15 minutes had elapsed since the SEALs crash-landed in the compound until they came face-to-face with him on the third floor. The killing of bin Laden is described in detail by Navy SEAL Mark Bisonette who was later reprimanded by the Navy and forced to give up his $6.8 million dollars in royalties from the book he wrote of the incident. But his first-hand account was riveting.

When the team reached the top, bin Laden was behind his wife, with his hands on her shoulders and was pushing her towards the SEALs. The SEAL who shot bin Laden Robert O’Neill has also written a book about the incident. He was the first in the room. Bisonnette’s book describes in detail what happened next.

“We were less than five steps from getting to the top when I heard suppressed shots.”
BOP. BOP. “The point man had seen a man peeking out of the door on the right side of the hallway about 10 feet in front of him. I couldn’t tell from my position if the rounds hit the target or not. The man disappeared into the dark room.”
“In his death throes, he was still twitching and convulsing. Another assaulter and I trained our lasers on his chest and fired several rounds. The bullets tore into him, slamming his body into the floor until he was motionless.”

Bissonette’s role called for him to photograph the body to positively identify it as bin Laden and confirm for the government that they had indeed got their man.

“It was strange to see such an infamous face up close. Lying in front of me was the reason we had been fighting for the last decade. It was surreal trying to clean blood off the most wanted man in the world so that I could shoot his photo. I had to focus on the mission, right now we needed some good quality photos.”

One of the SEALs (pseudonym Will) spoke Arabic and asked one of the children on the third floor who the dead man was. She replied that it was indeed Osama bin Laden a fact that was confirmed by his wife who was lightly wounded in the foot.

“Will knelt down and asked the girls, ‘Who is the man?’
The girl didn’t know to lie.
‘Osama bin Laden.’
Will smiled.
‘Are you sure that is Osama bin Laden?’
‘Yes,’ the girl said.”

The SEAL team leader had a satellite phone and immediately call Adm. McRaven to relay the code phrase that bin Laden was dead.

“‘For God and country, I pass Geronimo,’ Jay said. Geronimo E.K.I.A.’ “

The entire assault took just 15 minutes. Now the team set about finding intelligence that they could bring back with them to Afghanistan. The SEALS recovered three AK-47s and two pistols, ten computer hard drives, documents, DVDs, almost a hundred thumb drives, a dozen cell phones, and “electronic equipment” for later analysis as well as a large stash of opium.

The crashed helicopter was stripped of classified material and then blown in place, with the team placing enough explosives to completely demolish the crashed Blackhawk. Down one chopper, the team brought in one of the Chinooks to exfil the team back to Afghanistan.

After arriving in Afghanistan, bin Laden was positively identified via facial recognition and DNA analysis and his body was transferred to the USS Carl Vinson where he was buried at sea. The US had contacted Saudi contacts offered to turn bin Laden’s body over to them for burial in Saudi Arabia. But they didn’t want him in death any more than they did in life. They agreed with the burial at sea option.

Aftermath: Reports were being leaked out about bin Laden’s death so President Obama addressed the nation at 11:35 p.m. and confirmed the news.

“Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, and a terrorist who was responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.”

The President decided not to release the photos of bin Laden’s body stating that “we don’t have to spike the football here.” And despite the DNA evidence and confirmation from his wife and daughter at the scene, the non-release of the photos created a conspiracy theory that he wasn’t dead.

The Pakistanis then began to do damage control and arrested the owner of the CIA’s safe house and five Pakistani informants. The doctor who helped the CIA with the fake polio inoculation ruse was arrested and sentenced to 33 years in prison.

Some of bin Laden’s correspondence was released but very little of it has come to light. One interesting tidbit was that bin Laden stated that both General David Petraeus and President Obama should be assassinated if the opportunity availed itself but that VP Joe Biden should remain untouched. Why?

In bin Laden’s own words, “Biden is totally unprepared for that post [of president], which will lead the US into a crisis.”

The tail boom from the crashed and destroyed Blackhawk was eventually returned to the US but not until the Pakistanis allowed Chinese scientists to study the stealth technology in the boom as well as in the paint.

This was one of the better-executed raids in US Special Operations history. The detailed planning, outstanding execution, and professionalism of all of the operators involved, even when things went wrong as they invariably do is a testament to their dedication to their craft and level of training.

In doing so, they rid the world of one of the worst terrorists in history.

Photo courtesy of DOD

Bin Laden’s Head Had to Be Reconstructed After Take Down, Book Says

The former Navy SEAL that had reportedly killed Osama bin Laden in the raid on the terrorist leader’s house in Abbottabad, Pakistan has said that the dead terrorist’s head was so disfigured by the shooting that it had to be pressed back together for proper identification.

Robert O’Neill, the SEAL Team 6 commando penned, ‘The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Bin Laden’, in which he claims that it was he, who pumped three shots into bin Laden and that it disfigured his head to be almost unrecognizable.

Much of criticism leveled at O’Neill has been centered around the Special Operations Forces strict code of silence. But the events that unfolded in May 2011 in taking out the world’s most wanted terrorist needed to be told.

O’Neill, in his book, makes the gruesome claim that Osama’s head was so severely destroyed by his gunfire that it had to be pressed back together for identification photographs.

In O’Neill’s version, he was trailing five or six other SEALs climbing the stairs to the compound’s second floor when Osama’s son Khalid appeared on the half-landing with an AK-47.

O’Neill kept his hand on the point man’s shoulder. The two were alone on the stairway, convinced that whoever was on the third floor was strapping on a suicide vest for an explosive last stand.

O’Neill recounts that finally, he decided to take action.

He squeezed the point man’s shoulder, the signal to charge and then burst past the curtain.

The point man tackled two screaming women to the floor.

Bin Laden stood near the bed, his hands on the shoulders of the woman in front of him. She was later identified as Amal, the youngest of his four wives, the report said.

“In less than a second, I aimed above the woman’s right shoulder and pulled the trigger twice,” O’Neill writes.

“Bin Laden’s head split open, and he dropped. I put another bullet in his head. Insurance,” he writes.

After the flight back to Afghanistan, the team positively identified bin Laden and the US government released the information from the raid. O’Neill’s book differs from an earlier one written by Mark Bissonnette called “No Easy Day”

To read the entire article from NDTV click here:

Photo courtesy Reuters