The Hunt For Bin Laden

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Holy War, Inc., this is the definitive account of the decade-long manhunt for the world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden. Al Qaeda expert and CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen paints a multidimensional picture of the hunt for Osama bin Laden over the past decade, including the operation that killed him. Other key elements of the book will include: - A careful account of Obama's decision-making process as the raid was planned - The fascinating story of a group of women CIA analysts who never gave up assembling the tiniest clues about bin Laden's whereabouts - The untold and action-packed history of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and the SEALs - An analysis of what the death of bin Laden means for Al Qaeda and for Obama's legacy Just as Hugh Trevor-Roper's The Last Days of Hitler was the definitive account of the death of the Nazi dictator, Manhunt is the authoritative, immersive account of the death of the man who organized the largest mass murder in American history.

Describes the campaigns of American Green Berets in Afghanistan in the period following the September 11 terrorist attacks as they overcame Taliban and Al-Quaeda forces and sent them fleeing.

Chronicles the final months of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

There are certain moments in history that are so significant that they become Turning Points, moments that put a bookmark in time and cause the events that follow to be measured by a different standard. From natural disasters caused by extreme climate changes to the rise of social media, from the War in Iraq to the current global refugee crisis, such times are often fraught with conflict and tension. This series puts each event in its historical context and follows the trajectory of its immediate aftermath and continuing global effects today. A timeline adds further historical context, while "Pointing Out" sidebars present related topics and perspectives. A historical account of the manhunt for Osama bin Laden, including the events leading up to his death in 2011, the people involved, and the ways al Qaeda and other terrorist groups have changed modern warfare.

This is the compelling graphic retelling of the hunt for Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden; from the initial order by President George W. Bush to the final fight between bin Laden and the U.S. Navy SEALs.

New York Times bestseller: The true behind-the-scenes story of the manhunt for the 9/11 mastermind is “a page-turner” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune). From the author of Black Hawk Down and Hue 1968, this is a gripping account of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. With access to key sources, Mark Bowden takes us inside the rooms where decisions were made and on the ground where the action unfolded. After masterminding the attacks of September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden managed to vanish. Over the next ten years, as Bowden shows, America found that its war with al Qaeda—a scattered group of individuals who were almost impossible to track—demanded an innovative approach. Step by step, Bowden describes the development of a new tactical strategy to fight this war—the fusion of intel from various agencies and on-the-ground special ops. After thousands of special forces missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the right weapon to go after bin Laden had finally evolved. By spring 2011, intelligence pointed to a compound in Abbottabad; it was estimated that there was a 50/50 chance that Osama was there. Bowden shows how three strategies were mooted: a drone strike, a precision bombing, or an assault by Navy SEALs. In the end, the president had to make the final decision. It was time for the finish. “In-depth interviews with Obama and other insiders reveal a White House on edge, facing top-secret options, white-knuckle decisions, and unforeseen obstacles . . . Bowden weaves together accounts from Obama and top decision-makers for the full story behind the daring operation.” —Vanity Fair “The most accessible and satisfying book yet written on the climactic event in the United States’ long war against al Qaeda.” —San Francisco Chronicle

The world’s leading expert on Osama bin Laden delivers for the first time the “riveting” (The New York Times) definitive biography of a man who set the course of American foreign policy for the 21st century and whose ideological heirs we continue to battle today. In The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden, Peter Bergan provides the first reevaluation of the man responsible for precipitating America’s long war with al-Qaeda and its decedents, capturing bin Laden in all the dimensions of his life: as a family man, as a zealot, as a battlefield commander, as a terrorist leader, and as a fugitive. The book sheds light on his many contradictions: he was the son of a billionaire yet insisted his family live like paupers. He adored his wives and children, depending on his two wives, both of whom had PhDs, to make critical strategic decisions. Yet, he also brought ruin to his family. He was fanatically religious but willing to kill thousands of civilians in the name of Islam. He inspired deep loyalty, yet, in the end, his bodyguards turned against him. And while he inflicted the most lethal act of mass murder in United States history, he failed to achieve any of his strategic goals. In his final years, the lasting image we have of bin Laden is of an aging man with a graying beard watching old footage of himself, just as another dad flipping through the channels with his remote. In the end, bin Laden died in a squalid suburban compound, far from the front lines of his holy war. And yet, despite that unheroic denouement, his ideology lives on. Thanks to exclusive interviews with family members and associates, and documents unearthed only recently, Bergen’s “comprehensive, authoritative, and compelling” (H.R. McMaster, author of Dereliction of Duty and Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World) portrait of Osama bin Laden reveals for the first time who he really was and why he continues to inspire a new generation of jihadists.

We all know how the story ends and think we know how it unfolded, but here, for the first time, is the official and authoritative story of the ten-year global search for Osama bin Laden, culminating in the May 2011 raid by U.S. Navy SEALs in Pakistan. Reading like the world's greatest action thriller, and with never-before-read first-person accounts and never-before-seen artifacts, this indispensable resource documents one of the most dramatic missions in American history. Based on the 9/11 Museum's special exhibition, Revealed draws on exclusive interviews with President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Admiral William McRaven, the mission commander, all woven together with oral histories from the SEALs who participated in the mission and the intelligence officers and analysts who tracked bin Laden down. Illustrations include surveillance imagery, maps, and the famous model of the Abbottabad compound--built to brief the president on options and used by the SEAL command to plan the raid--all being made public for the first time.