Cold Open

It’s 11:15 PM, on May 1st, 2011, in the airspace above Pakistan.

On board a heavily modified Black Hawk helicopter, U.S. Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette grips his assault rifle and glances through the window at the countryside hurtling past below.

Matt is one of a dozen highly trained and heavily armed Navy SEALS squeezed onto the helicopter. Another twelve men are on board a second Black Hawk, flying through the darkness next to them in close formation.

Matt has been a Navy SEAL for twelve years. He’s served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But this is his most important mission yet. It’s so critical that it’s a secret even from the Pakistani government, and the two helicopters are flying fast and low to avoid radar detection.

That makes for a bumpy ride though, and Matt holds on tight to his safety harness as the helicopter shudders.

The pilot calls out that there’s one minute to the target, and Matt feels a spike of adrenaline surge through him.

He connects his special fast descent rope to the helicopter's iron T-bar. The plan is for the helicopter to hover over the target, which is a compound surrounded by a 12-foot-high concrete wall. Then the SEALs will rappel out of the helicopter into the courtyard and storm the building.

Matt and his fellow SEALS have trained for this for months using almost exact replica of the compound. But there was a flaw in their planning, and it’s about to jeopardize the entire mission.

As the helicopter moves into position over the target, it suffers a sudden loss of lift. Matt’s stomach lurches in his throat as the helicopter drops sharply.

The pilot fights to regain control, but the helicopter is losing altitude fast. Matt braces for impact.

As the helicopter plunges downward, its tail rotor clips the compound wall, and the aircraft tips onto its side.

The pilot knows he cannot keep the helicopter in the air now, so he executes a controlled crash, putting the helicopter's nose first into the dirt. The pilot’s quick thinking saves lives - Matt and the SEALs are jostled, but unharmed.

But as Matt gets to his feet, he’s frustrated. The mission has only just started and already something has gone wrong. The SEALs have lost the element of surprise. But Matt draws on his years of training and quickly refocuses. He and the other men, still have a job to do.

The Black Hawk helicopter crash will be investigated after this mission. And it will be determined that the chain link fences surrounding the replica training compound allowed for the air displaced by the helicopters to blow away freely - but during the raid, the solid concrete walls of the real compound created an updraft that destabilized Matt Bissonnette’s helicopter. It was an inauspicious beginning to one of the most important covert missions ever mounted by the CIA: the operation to kill Osama Bin Laden on May 2nd, 2011.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is May 2nd, 2011: Osama Bin Laden Is Killed By U.S. Special Forces.

Act One

It’s 8:29 PM, in Washington D.C. on September 11th, 2001, ten years before the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

The hot TV lights shine down brightly on George W. Bush. He’s been chief executive for just nine months, and his head and heart are swimming with outrage and grief. But in under a minute, he will deliver one of the most important speeches of his life - and he must remain calm and project an aura of strength, in order to lead a nation that has spent the day in shock.

Only twelve hours ago, two hijacked passenger planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, causing them to collapse. Two other planes were also hijacked: one flown into the Pentagon in Washington DC, and the other crashed in rural Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against their hijackers. Nearly 3,000 people have died in the most horrific terrorist attack in America’s history.

And at 8:30 PM, that same day, in the Oval Office, the light on the television camera glows red, the Tele-Prompter begins to spool out a hastily written speech, and President Bush does his best to reassure a worried nation.

BUSH: "The search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts. I’ve directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice." 

After his speech, Bush meets privately with top CIA officials. They report to him that the attacks were carried out by the militant group Al-Qaeda, led by the terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden. Before today, that name was not widely known outside the intelligence community. But now, he is public enemy number one.

44-year-old Saudi Arabian Osama Bin Laden is an extremist Islamic fundamentalist. For years, he and Al Qaeda have been executing small-scale, targeted attacks across the globe. Eight years prior in 1993, an Al-Qaeda terrorist detonated a bomb beneath the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring many many more. But Bin Laden considered this a failure, as it did not destroy the building. So, he continued his war against America and now, eight years later, Bin Laden has finally succeeded in bringing down the World Trade Center.

In the days following 9/11, the CIA and the FBI start an international manhunt. Bin Laden’s sanctuary is in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, where the equally fundamentalist Taliban rule. The Taliban refuse to extradite Bin Laden to America. So, the US and its NATO allies invade.

During the final stages of the invasion, a small team of U.S. forces almost captures Bin Laden at the Battle of Tora Bora, but he manages to escape into neighboring Pakistan and disappears. For frustrated Americans, it feels like justice for the 9/11 attacks may never come. 

But the CIA continues to search for Bin Laden for years. Its agents round up and imprison dozens of suspects. But they don’t get any meaningful leads, even after the use of controversial, enhanced interrogation techniques, more commonly known as torture.

So, American officials are left to guess. Many believe Bin Laden is hiding in an unknown cave in the wilderness somewhere. Others come to think he’s already dead.

But the CIA counterterrorism unit keeps looking for their number one fugitive. And in 2010, they make a breakthrough. A detainee reveals the name of a courier supposedly taking messages to and from Bin Laden. That courier’s cell phone is traced, and he is secretly tracked through Pakistan until he stops at a large house in the northern city of Abbottabad.

Using spy satellites, CIA operatives quickly note that this is not just any house - it’s more like a fortress. The thick-walled buildings have reinforced steel doors and very few windows. The entire compound is surrounded by 12-foot-high concrete walls, topped with barbed wire. What can be seen of the residents inside is suspicious as well. Unlike their neighbors, those living in the compound carefully burn all their trash. Still, these high security measures aren’t proof that Bin Laden is there, and the new American president Barack Obama won’t sanction a covert attack in another country without assurance the intelligence is correct.

So, before anything else can be done, the CIA must somehow confirm that this house belongs to Bin Laden. Because his sister died in an American hospital a year ago, the CIA has access to Bin Laden’s DNA profile. If they can find matching DNA at this house in Pakistan, that would be confirmation enough. So, the CIA comes up with a ruse - a child vaccination program. Agents know there are several children living in the compound - the suspicion is that some of them are Bin Laden’s children. The CIA hope that these children will get a shot as part of the vaccination drive and the needles used will then test positive for Bin Laden’s DNA. But the ruse doesn’t work - the children in the compound are not allowed to get vaccinated.

So, without this confirmation, CIA experts tell President Obama it’s only a fifty-fifty shot that Bin Laden is in the house.

So, in the end, it comes down to a hunch and a gut decision. On April 29th, 2011, President Obama will tell his military chiefs that the mission is a go, and, just 72 hours later, two dozen Navy SEALs will embark on a dangerous effort to finally get justice for the victims of 9/11 and kill Osama Bin Laden.

Act Two

It’s just after midnight on May 2nd, 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, 72 hours after President Barack Obama gave the green light for the attack on Osama Bin Laden’s hideout.

Matt Bissonnette and his team of Navy SEALs move quickly and quietly through the darkness of the compound. It’s a moonless night and the SEALS have cut power to the whole neighborhood. But the Americans have no trouble finding their way - they are equipped with night vision goggles, giving them a crucial advantage in the deadly firefight that's to come.

After the first Black Hawk helicopter crashed in the compound, the second helicopter didn’t attempt to fly directly over the target. It landed safely outside the walls instead. Matt and the other SEALs from the first helicopter helped the rest of their team into the compound and then the mission began for real.

Despite the crash, the night is quiet and calm as the SEALs approach the main house. Everything Matt sees is in fuzzy night-vision green. And the sweat on his forehead makes the goggles slip, so he ratchets the straps tighter. Matt and a few other SEALS split off to try to enter the house through a side entrance. But they’re met by a heavy steel door. Matt calls for a sledgehammer from one of the other SEALs, but after trying to smash the handle, the steel door still doesn’t budge.

They decide they’ll have to detonate the lock with an explosive, but it’ll cost them time and further compromise their element of surprise. It’s now very likely that when the SEAL team gets through the steel door, whoever is inside the house will be ready for them.

Matt starts to set the explosive charges. But as he does, there’s the crack of machine gun fire. Someone is firing an AK-47 at them from inside the house. Matt ducks out of the way. He and the other SEALs fire back through a window, and after a short firefight, the shooting stops. Matt starts to crawl back toward the steel door, but before he reaches it, it opens from the other side. Surprised, Matt quickly raises his gun – but it’s a woman, with four small children in tow. She says her husband is dead. The SEALs hustle the family away from danger, and move inside, where they find the body of the woman’s husband, with an AK-47 at his side.

Matt is now on the first floor of the compound. Intelligence suggests that Bin Laden’s bedroom is at the top of the house, and his 23-year-old son, Khalid, sleeps on the second floor. But as Matt creeps up the staircase, another SEAL hears someone coming down. He whispers the name “Khalid”, and Khalid peeks his head around the corner. When he does, the SEALs shoot and kill him. Then they proceed upstairs to the third floor. There, in the hallway, stands their target - Osama Bin Laden.

He is at the entrance to his bedroom, but when he sees men in the darkness, he hurries inside, slamming the door behind him but not locking it. The SEALs follow him, throwing open the door to find Bin Laden hiding behind his screaming, terrified wife.

One SEAL shoots her in the leg, and another pushes her aside onto the bed. Then a SEAL shoots Osama Bin Laden in the head. After he falls to the ground, he is shot again five more times in the chest to confirm the kill. With the room is secure, though, the SEALs need to be absolutely sure they got the right guy. So, they take out photos of Osama Bin Laden to compare to the dead man, but it’s hard to tell now after the gunshots. So, an interpreter is summoned to talk to the women and children and ask for this man’s name. Through tears, they confirm it’s Osama. Another SEAL swabs Bin Laden’s blood with a Q-tip to be DNA tested later. But the team feels confident enough to radio to the White House “EKIA” - Enemy Killed In Action.

After searching and securing the rest of the house, the SEALs retreat. They take bags full of intelligence material with them - as well as Bin Laden’s body. Before leaving the compound, they blow up the Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the courtyard so it doesn’t fall into enemy hands. Half the SEAL team then load up in the one remaining Black Hawk, while the others are picked up by another, reserve helicopter sent in after the crash.

On the ride back to the airbase, reality sinks in for Matt Bissonnette and the rest of the SEAL Team - no Americans were seriously injured or killed, and they’ve accomplished their mission.

Nearly ten years after masterminding the 9/11 attacks, Osama Bin Laden is dead. At the moment, the news is still top secret, but President Obama’s speechwriters back in Washington get to work on a national address he will make in just a few hours. The only thing left to do then will be to dispose of Bin Laden’s body in a remote and secret location where no memorial or shrine by his followers will ever be possible.

Act Three

It’s May 2nd, 2010, somewhere in the North Indian Ocean just a few hours after Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden.

Officials from the U.S. Military and CIA gather on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson for an unusual funeral. Out of respect for Islamic traditions, the body of Osama Bin Laden is wrapped in a white cloth. A short prayer is said in Arabic. Then, Bin Laden's body is placed in a heavy black bag, along with about 300 pounds of metal chain. The body bag is placed on a wooden table near the deck's railing. Navy officers tip the table, and the body slides off over the side of the ship. The plan was for just the body to fall, but the metal chains are so heavy that the table flips over too and follows Bin Laden into the churning water below. As those on the aircraft carrier watch on, Bin Laden’s body quickly disappears into the depths, leaving the wooden table bobbing in the waves, the only grave marker the terrorist will ever have.

A few hours later, The White House announces that President Obama will be making a surprise address to the nation. The media and the public begin speculating what it could be about. But they don’t have to wait long for an answer. At 9 PM, that evening, President Obama makes his way into the East Room of the White House and begins his announcement.

OBAMA: "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’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children." 

56 million Americans tune in, and the country breathes a collective sigh of relief. Bin Laden’s death punctuates a dark period in American history. Four months later, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Obama dedicate the National September 11th Memorial. Built on the site of the formal World Trade Center and featuring two large reflecting pools, this memorial is a lasting testament to the lives lost on that horrible day. But while a memorial rises in America, in Pakistan, the last physical remnants of Osama Bin Laden will be wiped away. The following February, the Pakistani government will tear down and bulldoze the compound in Abbottabad, where the notorious terrorist responsible for 9/11 had hidden and evaded justice until he was killed by U.S. Special Forces on May 2nd, 2011.

Outro

Next on History Daily. May 3rd, 1921. the Government of Ireland Act comes into force, officially partitioning Ireland into two separate countries, split North and South.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Gabriel Gould.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Jack O’Brien.

Edited by Dorian Merina.

Managing producer Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser