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One Osama killer pens book, identified
One of the SEALs who killed Osama bin Laden was named Thursday as author of the coming firsthand account of the raid.
One of the SEALs who killed Osama bin Laden was named Thursday as author of the coming firsthand account of the raid.
Matt Bissonnette, a 36-year-old Navy SEAL identified as the author of the book, was a member of the team that killed bin Laden on May 2, 2011.
He wrote the book under a pseudonym Mark Owen, with Kevin Maurer, author of many books on special operations. But his wish to remain anonymity was not honoured too long.
A cable TV news network, Fox News, named him in its afternoon broadcast that was picked up and flashed all over TV and net, forcing authorities to confirm his identity.
The SEALs who participated in the raid were supposed to have remained unidentified for ever for their own safety and of their families, among other reasons.
Passages from the book — No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden — released by the publisher said Bissonnette was among the first to enter the room where bin Laden died.
Bissonnette has not named any other member of the team.
Bin Laden’s killing has returned into headlines lately as an election issue. Republicans have charged Obama with claiming undue credit for the raid, arguing he only permitted it.
Bissonnette’s book is believed to be a part of the same effort to deny Obama the bump his campaign believes he deserves for taking out America’s Enemy No 1.
