On May 2, 2011, a squad of elite U.S. Navy SEALs stormed the home where wanted al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was hiding. On Thursday, a member of the usually-secretive team stepped forward as “The Shooter” who killed Bin Laden although other SEALs have made the claim.
The Washington Post published the account of Robert James O’Neill, who was part of the the SEALs who performed the nighttime raid of the Bin Laden’s Abbottabad stronghold. The Post confirmed O’Neill account based on related accounts from two unnamed SEALs who were also involved. However, it appears that others are saying that O’Neill’s claims are false.
More from Raw Story:
NBC News quoted [former Navy SEAL] Bissonnette on Thursday as saying: “Two different people telling two different stories for two different reasons … Whatever he (O’Neill) says, he says. I don’t want to touch that.”
Last year, after Esquire Magazine published an interview with an anonymous SEAL member, now widely reported to have been O’Neill, who claimed to have shot bin Laden, other media outlets questioned the account.
An article entitled “Who really killed bin Laden,” by Peter Bergen, a CNN analyst and al Qaeda expert, quoted a then-serving SEAL team member saying the story as presented by Esquire was “complete B.S.”
A representative of a speaker’s organization which says it represents O’Neill said he was unavailable to comment. O’Neill’s page on the website of the organization describes his career as a SEAL, but makes no mention of a role in killing bin Laden.
Bissonnette released a 2012 book titled No Easy Day, and landed in legal hot water over not receiving proper clearance for certain chapters in the book. He is currently under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigation Service and the Justice Department.
Bissonette’s book, much like O’Neill’s online bio, does not name either man as the killer of Bin Laden.
—
Photo: United States Navy/Public Domain
