3.3 Afghanistan & Osama bin Laden

WHO? Osama bin Laden, leader of al Qaeda, perpetrator of 9/11.

WHAT? Was located and brought to justice through diligent intelligence and daring military action.

WHEN? Operation NEPTUNE SPEAR was executed overnight on May 2, 2011.

WHERE? Abbottabad Pakistan, less than a mile from the Pakistan Military Academy.

WHY? Deterrence. A warning to others that you cannot escape US justice.

As Congress and the White House worked to close the security gaps exposed by 9/11, the President began working with his Cabinet to bring the culprits to justice. A cross check of the 9/11 flight manifests implicated al Qaeda in the attacks. Osama bin Laden was known to be in Afghanistan, protected by the Taliban government. The National Security Council spent the next ten days preparing diplomatic and military options. On September 22, in a speech before Congress, President Bush sent an ultimatum to the Taliban: Give up al Qaeda or share their fate. “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” The Taliban refused to give up bin Laden. On October 7, the US launched Operation ENDURING FREEDOM to remove the Taliban, eliminate al Qaeda, and capture or kill Osama bin Laden. CIA units infiltrated Afghanistan and joined up with the Northern Alliance, enemies of the Taliban. Supported by special operations ground forces and US airpower, they began their campaign. With US military backing, the Northern Alliance advanced on the Afghan capital of Kabul. On November 9 they took Mazar-i-Sharif, after which a cascade of provinces fell with minimal resistance. On November 12, the Taliban gave up Kabul and began to retreat south. The Northern Alliance continued in pursuit. Finally, in early December the Taliban gave up Kandahar, their last stronghold. In two months the Taliban were swept from power and an Islamic Republic set up in their place. But al Qaeda forces continued to fight from the caves of Tora Bora where bin Laden was last seen. A military push the following March succeeded in shutting down al Qaeda, but bin Laden escaped. Although freed from the Taliban, Afghanistan had only a fleeting hold on democracy. The country was divided into tribal factions. Each vied for power for themselves. There was little national allegiance. The central government held only nominal sway over continually shifting alliances. Not only threatened from within, the government was also threatened from without as remaining vestiges of the Taliban and al Qaeda regrouped to form an insurgency from mountain outposts. To preclude the Taliban from regaining power and Afghanistan reverting back to a terrorist safe haven, the US military remains to protect the fledgling democracy from armed insurgency. Despite various attempts to withdraw, seventeen years later, the US forces remain in Afghanistan, constituting the longest running military engagement in US history. Meanwhile, the hunt for Osama bin Laden continued. The FBI issued a $25M bounty for information leading to bin Laden’s capture. When nobody came forward to claim the reward, some thought he must be dead. After bin Laden fled Tora Bora in 2002, numerous speculative press reports placed him in various locations. Pakistan was regularly identified as a suspected hiding place. In April 2011, US intelligence began to suspect bin Laden was in Abbottabad. Agents eventually pinpointed his home to a three-story mansion only a mile away from the Pakistan Military Academy. On April 29, 2011, President Obama authorized a team of Navy SEALs to raid the compound. Without consulting Pakistan, on May 2, 2011, stealth helicopters flew the SEALs into Abbottabad. One helicopter crash landed inside the compound. The other landed outside the wall. Nobody was seriously injured. The wall was breached and the teams advanced together towards the house. They broke in and made their way upstairs. They wore night vision goggles to see in the pitch dark. Bin Laden peered from his door. The SEALs fired, then leapt into his room and shot twice again. The SEALs reported “Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo”, confirming that bin Laden was killed. The SEALs evacuated the body with them back to Afghanistan. There, it was flown to the carrier Carl Vinson. After final confirmation of identity, religious rites were performed and the body buried at sea. Although Osama bin Laden’s death brought justice to 9/11, it did not end the threat to the US. Our nation remained at risk so long as our forces remained in Saudi Arabia. There was only one way out.