The Washington Times published my On Crime column on Countdown Bin Laden: The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt To Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 To Justice.
Fox
News anchor Chris Wallace and Mitch Weiss have
written an exciting book about the 247-day build-up to the Navy SEALs’ historic
raid on the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was
hiding.
I
reached out to Chris Wallace and asked him why he wrote this book.
“When
I wrote “Countdown 1945,’ along with Mitch Weiss,
I wanted to create a history thriller, giving the reader the sense of all the
tension, all the doubts and unanswered questions, as President Truman, the
scientists at Los Alamos, and the crew of the Enola Gay came together to drop
the atomic bomb on Hiroshima,” Mr. Wallace replied. “I was looking for a
similar story — that lent itself to the Countdown format and the dramatic
narrative. The hunt for and ultimate decision to launch the raid to take down bin
Laden seemed like the perfect follow-up. By this 10th anniversary of the raid,
a number of key details were no longer classified. The central characters were
all justifiably proud of their roles in the operation and were happy to talk
about it.”
Do you
consider the hunt and takedown of bin Laden to
be one of the most important stories in recent history?
“Yes,
I do. Remember — 9/11 was the worst attack on the US homeland in our
history. Osama bin Laden was
the mastermind. The trail for bin Laden had
gone cold after 9 years. How the CIA was able to find a solid lead — how
President Obama and his team came to launch the raid even though they still
didn’t know whether bin Laden was in the compound — how Admiral McRaven put
together the team of Navy SEALs and planned the operation — all of that shows
what our government can do when various branches come together,” Mr. Wallace replied.
Who
were the principal people you interviewed?
“Almost
everyone involved in the operation — CIA director Panetta, Secretary of State
Clinton, Secretary of Defense Gates, Admiral William McRaven — head of Joint
Special Operations Command, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, 2 members of
SEAL Team 6 who participated on the raid, and more than a dozen other key
players in the CIA, White House, and military,” said Mr. Wallace.
You can read the rest of the
column via the below link:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/nov/18/book-review-countdown-bin-laden/
Note: Below is an FBI Wanted Poster of bin Laden, a photo of Chris Wallace and a photo of Mitch Weiss:
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