SEAL who shot bin Laden speaks out

[citanon]

Yep...and it's a risk he obviously regrets...and as as risk taker, he knew the consequences. It's the same decision every US military member makes around the 15 or 16 year mark. The Navy gave him options...and he opted not to take any of them.

It's not clear to me what he thinks about the risk or his current prospect. In fact throughout the article it's difficult to separate how he feels from how the reporter feels on his behalf, and even with his quotes it's hard to tell whether they are transitory expressions of frustration versus true regret. Myself, for example, am surrounded by scientists who constantly bitch about the financial consequences of a career in science, but would never ever go back on their decision.

At any rate I feel that some here perhaps are too quick to judge.

[Albany Rifles]

At any rate I feel that some here perhaps are too quick to judge.

Sorry, but I am calling bullshit on that statement.

To have been so totally oblivious to all that is available upon separation from service these days someone is either lying or a total idiot....and idiots don't get into DEVGRU.

[citanon]

At any rate I feel that some here perhaps are too quick to judge.

Sorry, but I am calling bullshit on that statement.

To have been so totally oblivious to all that is available upon separation from service these days someone is either lying or a total idiot....and idiots don't get into DEVGRU.

Unless you misread the article, there was nothing there to suggest that the "Shooter" wasn't well aware of his choices. The reporter wrote some comments that were inaccurate, which were later corrected, but it was the reporter's lines not the "Shooter's". The "Shooter" specifically talked about the VA benefits, but what he said was that the same was not available for his family.

If you read the article carefully, there is nothing there to suggest that the "Shooter" wasn't well aware of his transition options, or the benefits he was forfeiting by quitting early. He just didn't like the options.

There was also nothing there to suggest that he isn't "getting his act together" or doing what he needs to do to "overcome", and there wasn't much to suggest that he regrets any part of his leaving. Just a bit grumpy at times and a little nervous given nothing's settled.

One might have gotten the idea that it was something else from reading the Cliff Notes version of the article on Yahoo, maybe.

[S2]

citanon Reply

He was unemployed and complaining about it. Is this incorrect?

"The "Shooter" specifically talked about the VA benefits, but what he said was that the same was not available for his family....there is nothing there to suggest that the "Shooter" wasn't well aware of his transition options, or the benefits he was forfeiting by quitting early. He just didn't like the options."

Sooo..., well aware but displeased with his options, not for himself but his family, he chose to exercise leaving in any case.

"...There was also nothing there to suggest that he isn't "getting his act together" or doing what he needs to do to "overcome", and there wasn't much to suggest that he regrets any part of his leaving. Just a bit grumpy at times and a little nervous given nothing's settled."

Great. No regrets. So why express his grumpiness?

Oh well...killing OBL gave him the vehicle to whine. Not sure what's caught him by surprise after-the-fact of separation. Glad unemployment, an absence of benefits and nervous concerns for family constitute a well-adjusted man with a balanced view of the future to you.

Not me though.

[doppelganger]

I think it is the greatness of the American civilization and the maturity of its foundations that they do not even lionize someone who put their enemy No. 1 to death.

[troung]

Ymmv

esquire is screwed: Duped by fake ubl “shooter”
by brandon webb · march 25, 2013 · posted in: Sof news
screen shot 2013-03-22 at 1.18.08 pm

as much as i like to dodge the seal drama train these days, there are still a couple of big stories that have left the station before naval special warfare’s warcom could put the brakes on. First female navy seal? It’s coming, and in a way you’d never expect…
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one story coming out of joint special operations command is that the esquire “shooter” isn’t the shooter after all. To be clear, he wasn’t the point man that put the well placed rounds into ubl’s head that ended the terrorist leaders life. Sure he was there, and deserves credit but he wasn’t the man who shot ubl, and ended his life. And this is an important fact that must be clarified.

The actual shooter at naval special warfare development group (nsw devgru or seal team 6) has continued to maintain his professional integrity and has not come forward with the story, and most likely never will. Looks like esquire and bronstein are the ones who are really screwed, not their interviewee; our sources say he’s off cashing large checks from unsuspecting donors who bought the esquire pity piece.

Here are some interesting insider facts:

The “shooter” was removed from his devgru squadron for talking about the operation openly after being warned to “can it’
he was encouraged by leadership to remain in the seal community to finish out his career and gain his full retirement benefits
apparently against his concerns about personal security he has been very active on the public speaking circuit

one anonymous jsoc seal we spoke with says…

there was a discussion among all the seals before the raid that none of them wanted to shoot ubl in the head in order to preserve his face for the pictures that we would need to take to help identify the body.

Ok, according to “the shooter,” he was the second man in the stack behind the point man. They had no backup, and so, because they were in a hurry, it was just him and the point man that assaulted up the stairs. I don’t know a single seal who would be in a rush to assault the third floor with just two men, there is no hostage so there is no need to hurry. Also, all the people waiting on the third deck had the most time to prepare a defense, so why would you only assault the third floor with just two seals. This makes no sense and is simply not what happened.

The shooter claims that the point man took a few shots as the man sticks his head out the door…. Ok we all agree on that. But here is where is story goes sideways again. The shooter claims that the point man, after taking his shots towards the adult male standing in the door, that he then turned his attention towards the women in the hallway. There were zero women in the hallway. Also, zero shooters are going to take shots at an unidentified adult male, and then simply peal off without following up to see if he hit that target, to go deal with unarmed women. After the point man engaged toward the unknown male (ubl), he did follow his shots and entered the room. When he saw that ubl was on the floor and no longer a threat, he dropped his weapon, and then at that point dealt with the unarmed females. Even the shooter and no easy day say that the point man handled the women.

My point is, the point man would have never dropped his cover on the adult male had he not been 200% sure he was no longer a threat. According to the shooter, the point man stayed in the hallway to deal with the women. Simply not true, because no seal i know would have dropped the cover on the male in the room that he had just shot at. The shooter now claims that he enters the room and looks at ubl and shoots him twice in the face as ubl was going for his gun. There was no weapon found in ubls room until about 5 min into the search, and was found above the door on a shelf. Again, this has never been disputed by anybody, so if the shooter was so sure he was going for his gun….how could he see it???

His story is complete bull shit, and he is covering his ass for the why he would have shot ubl at this point. If the shooter is correct and is looking at an unarmed ubl, according to the roe’s, he should have simply detained ubl. Not shot him in the head.

The shooter goes on to explain that he shot him twice in the head… why did he do this when we discussed before the op not to shoot him in the head for identification purposes? The fact is that the point man did connect and hit ubl in the head. The head shot was the only thing that presented a target for the point man to shoot at….so that’s what he shot at!!!! The point man, after shooting at the mans head, entered the room….saw that ubl was no longer a threat and then pushed the women back. The shooter was the 3 man into the room, and he just re-engaged into the body laying on the floor.

I’ve seen an article from berghain (an author that actually was at the compound after the raid). He talks about blood splatter on the ceiling. While i don’t think that he is a csi crime scene investigator, he’s made comments that he thinks the blood splatter backs up the shooter’s story. Well, the shooter is approx 6’4″ and ubl was approx the same height. That would mean the shots were level and not aimed up. The real shooter and point man is about 5’5,” and was shooting up the stairs toward the head exposed through the doorway. That would create the angle that is needed to splatter blood on the ceiling.

Everybody within jsoc knows the shooter is full of it. Shortly after the raid, he was fired from devgru because of his mouth and talking too much. This is something that is not told in the article either. He’s the stereotypical guy who was running around at the bar telling all the chicks that he was the shooter. While indeed he did shoot, he shot the body as it was 99.9% dead and dying on the floor. The point man up the stairs landed his shots to the head, which is why he changed his focus to the women.

Interesting. Sorry to rain on your parade, phil, but your guy is not the actual shooter.


Read more: Esquire Is Screwed: Duped By Fake UBL "Shooter" | SOFREP

[dalem]

Maybe he's a jerk and no one likes him.

-dale

Looks like I might've been right. :)

-dale