The Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden, by Mark Bowden (of Black Hawk Down fame) provides an extraordinary soup to nuts account of the rise and fall of bin Ladin. Bowden understands the broad sweep of terrorist Islamic movements, beginning in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, coalescing in the formation of Al Qaeda in the 90s, to culminating, we hope, in 9-11.
President Obama set the agenda of capturing or killing bin Laden as a candidate, and made it a priority of his presidency. Bowden gives him this accomplishment, especially the monthly reports Obama demanded from the CIA on the hunt. The hunt was always on, but Obama's reporting structure kept people on task.
But Bowden shows how this was not the only factor in finding and killing bin Laden. Nearly a decade of intelligence work went into finding of the house, hidden in plain sight, in Abbottabad; both old fashioned spy-craft and new technology led to this mass murderer.
President Obama set the agenda of capturing or killing bin Laden as a candidate, and made it a priority of his presidency. Bowden gives him this accomplishment, especially the monthly reports Obama demanded from the CIA on the hunt. The hunt was always on, but Obama's reporting structure kept people on task.
But Bowden shows how this was not the only factor in finding and killing bin Laden. Nearly a decade of intelligence work went into finding of the house, hidden in plain sight, in Abbottabad; both old fashioned spy-craft and new technology led to this mass murderer.
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