Laden…now he has been abandoned by the US government.One would think he would
be living in a hilltop mansion after the heroic act.So its not only in Nigeria
that we abandon our heroes…please read this interesting story….a must read!
The Navy SEAL who claims he killed Osama bin
Laden has spoken for the first time about the moment he shot the world’s most
wanted man three times in the head and watched him take his last breath.
In an interview to appear in the March edition
of Esquire magazine, The
Shooter describes in extraordinary detail the heart-stopping two minutes that
changed the course of history.
The Team Six member – who is referred to only as
‘The Shooter’ for the safety of his family – reveals how the unit prepared for
the daring mission, the moment he came face to face with the al-Qaeda leader
and the fallout from the successful raid.
In the Esquire interview The Shooter reveals
that once they were given their mission, the female CIA agent – portrayed by
Jessica Chastain’s Maya in Zero Dark Thirty – told the team that bin Laden was
‘100 per cent on the third floor’ of hiscompound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
‘We got him,’ she told us. ‘This is him. This is
my life’s work. I’m positive.’
Once he locked eyes on his target, the SEAL
remembers being surprised at his appearance. Bin Laden was much taller than he
expected him to be – taller than any of their guys, and skinny with a short
beard and shaved head.
though The Shooter could see exactly what was going on through night vision
goggles, bin Laden was in total darkness and could hear but not see.
‘And he’s moving forward. I don’t know if she’s got a vest and she’s being
pushed to martyr them both,’ he recalls. ‘He’s got a gun within reach. He’s a
threat. I need to get a head shot so he won’t have a chance to clack himself
off [blow himself up
‘In that second, I shot him, two times in the forehead. Bap! Bap! The second
time as he’s going down. He crumpled onto the floor in front of his bed and I
hit him again, Bap! Same place.
‘That time I used my EOTech red-dot holo sight. He was dead. Not moving. His
tongue was out. I watched him take his last breaths, just a reflex breath.
‘And I remember as I watched him breathe out the last part of air, I thought:
Is this the best thing I’ve ever done, or the worst thing I’ve ever done? This
is real and that’s him. Holy sh**.
‘His forehead was gruesome. It was split open in the shape of a V. I could see
his brains spilling out over his face.’
The Shooter, a father-of-two, then describes the moments after the shooting and
how the al Qaeda leader’s wife Amal launched herself at him
screaming.
After zip tying her to the bed, he then realized bin Laden’s youngest son, who
was about two or three years old at the time, had also witnessed his father
being shot.
‘He was standing there on the other side of the bed. I didn’t want to hurt him,
because I’m not a savage. There was a lot of screaming, he was crying, just in
shock.
‘I didn’t like that he was scared. I picked him up and put him next to his
mother.’
He said the third-floor action lasted for about 15 seconds. Afterwards, he
remembered that he had a bottle of urine in his pocket the whole time, after
having to relieve himself on the helicopter ride on the way in.
The Shooter’s interview in Esquire describes how the job led to the
breakdown of his marriage, and claims the U.S. government largely neglect their
veterans after they retire.
Journalist Phil Bronstein, Executive Chair of the Center for Investigative
Reporting,
spent a year with The Shooter, earning his trust and carefully constructing his
story for the 15,000-word piece for Esquire.
As well as never-before-heard details of the raid, the piece offers a sobering
portrait of life after the military and makes the case that the government
largely abandons its most elite and highly-trained soldiers after their service
is over.
He told Bronstein: ‘I left SEALs on Friday. My health care for me and my family
stopped at midnight Friday night. I asked if there was some transition from my
Tricare to Blue Cross Blue Shield. They said no.
‘You’re out of the service, your coverage is over. Thanks for your sixteen
years. Go f*** yourself.’
He reveals that, in the aftermath of the May 2011 raid, his marriage with his
wife ended yet they have been forced to live together to save money.
Because the U.S. government have given him nothing – no pension, no health
care, no protection for his wife, children or him – he has had to teach them
what to do if an attack should be made on their home.
He told his children in hide in their bathtub, as it is the safest, most
fortified place in their house and trained his wife how to use their shotgun,
with a ‘backup’ knife on the dresser.
Then there is the ‘bolt bag’ of clothes, food, and other provisions for the
family meant to last them two weeks in hiding.
