Shot in the head when he peeked out the door

IN HOLLYWOOD movies, the terrorist usually dies a gruesome death.
Either he is cornered by the cops and shot dead as he tries to run for his life or he meets his terrible end directly battling with the forces of good. But when the quintessential terrorist of real life, Osama bin Laden, was killed, it was a completely anti-climactic show. One day out of the blue, we were given the shocking news that a CIA-led operation killed Osama bin Laden in his compound in Pakistan.

While many Americans were quick to run to the streets and raucously celebrate the death of the world’s most wanted man, others were perplexed by the mystery surrounding his death. So how did he actually die?  Why was his body disposed off in the sea so soon? Where is the photographic evidence of the operation?

The official information relayed by the White House to the media was scant, contradictory and left many questions unanswered. All we got to know was that the Saudi-born terrorist was shot dead when he apparently tried to get hold of a weapon. And after he died, his body was disposed off in the ocean according to Islamic rituals.



However, a forthcoming book written by a US Navy SEAL, Matt Bissonnette, who has been directly involved in the operation, contradicts even these scant details about the terrorist’s death. In his book titled No Easy Day, Bissonette under the pseudonym Mark Owen, reveals that the Al Qaeda leader did not pose a direct threat to the SEALs, when he was shot dead. In fact, the account implies that he was shot in his head, when he peeked outside the door of his bedroom.

Bissonnette also divulges that one of the SEALs was sitting on bin Laden’s chest in the cramped helicopter that carried his dead body to the sea— a claim that implies that the body was not disposed off according to Islamic rites.
The book is generating a great buzz in the media and has been scheduled for early release due to a spate of orders online. Bissonnette’s account is sure to create more doubts about the events surrounding bin Laden’s death. He might even get into trouble if there’s classified information in the book, since the publishers did not get it cleared from the Pentagon.

The book might prove to be as embarrassing as the Wikileaks for the US government. But that’s the price it will have to pay for deliberately being unclear about such an important operation. After all, when the spectators are kept away from the climax of a real life terrorist killing, curiosity is sure to breed controversies.
Khaleej Times