Watched an Astro documentary last night on how US planned the assault to kill Osama, which took six months of preparation (imagine the costs) and to some, ten years too late. A replica of the mansion in Pakistan was built in US to train the crack SEAL team so that they could familiarize with the real thing. But the actual mission was fraught with possible dangers like tripping wires, booby traps and even suicide bombs.
Highlights included the tight secrecy necessary to ensure success. It involved encroaching into Pakistan territory without prior permission. Even those taking part did not know who was the target (code-named 'Geronimo') until the last minute before action began. Meetings of high level officials in the White House which involved the arrival of many cars were downplayed to the extent of hiding the cars parked, away from public view. Even the order of pizzas were done to avoid suspicion! On the eve of the planned mission, President Obama even attended a function where Osama's name was mentioned by someone at the mic who did not know of the real situation and Obama just smiled. On the day itself, President Obama even played golf to avoid suspicion. But he played 9 holes instead of his usual 18. Imagine the white lies told to families of those involved in the top level discussion.
With modern technology, President Obama and his trusted aides could see live on a huge screen what actually went on with the mission in Pakistan, except for a few minutes when it was pitch dark. There was an unexpected accident which involved a helicopter just before the start of the attack on the ground which caused much anxiety to the President and his men. Towards the end of the mission, a decision was made to blow up the downed copter so that its high-tech equipment would not land in the wrong hands. The loud explosion actually alerted an internet user who tweeted about it!
The most unusual part was when a person who looked like Osama was shot dead, there was not even a tape measure to measure his height, which was believed to be 6ft. 4 in.! A SEAL member was asked to lie down next to the corpse in order to estimate his height!
Some background information...
Youtube: Target: Osama bin Laden
No comments:
Post a Comment