The U.S. Navy SEALs on the hunt for Usama bin Laden killed the Al Qaeda leader within 2 minutes of entering his fortress-like home in Pakistan, a new book reveals.
Chuck Pfarrer, a former SEAL Team Six assault-element commander, says it only took the SEALs 90 to 120 seconds – from landing to firing the fatal shot – to take out bin Laden, according to his new book, “Seal Target Geronimo,” the New York Post reports.
Pfarrer insists that the SEALs were not on a “kill mission,” and that the team would have captured bin Laden had he surrendered.
Pfarrer’s book reveals that the Seals’ nickname for bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, were Bert and Ernie, the Courier Mail reports.
When they were first told they were going to Pakistan to pick up a high-value person who was holed up in a high-walled compound, they asked, “So is this Bert or Ernie?”
According to an extract from a Sunday Times report, two Seals kicked in bin Laden’s bedroom door. Bin Laden then popped out and then slammed the door shut.
The room, the Navy Seals recalled, “smelt like old clothing, like a guest bedroom in a grandmother’s house”.
Inside was the Al Qaeda leader and his youngest wife, Amal, who was screaming as he pushed her in front of him.
“No, no, don’t do this!” she shouted as her husband reached across the bed for his AK-47 assault rifle,” the extract read.
The SEALs reacted instantly, firing in the same second. One round thudded into the mattress. The other aimed at Bin Laden’s head, grazed Amal in the calf.
As Bin Laden’s hand reached for the gun, the Seals fired again, killing the Al Qaeda leader.
Pfarrer’s book, according to the Post, also reveals that the SEALs were angry with President Obama for announcing bin Laden’s death on TV just hours after they completed the mission on May 1.
(Source: Fox News)