In which a gullible civilian reporter gets rolled by the Bin Laden “shooter”.
Last month, Esquire magazine published a long story about the post-SEAL life of the trigger man of the Bin Laden raid. The guy has not had it easy by this account, and now I’m very glad I didn’t rush to link to it when it first came out last month.
And boy, it was tempting. But something just didn’t ring true, not to mention that it’s hard to get too broken up about someone voluntarily giving up their benefits by checking out early. Sixteen years is a serious commitment to a very dangerous job that very few people can do. It’s certainly long enough to understand the ramifications of mustering out just four years shy of retirement. Really, dude?
I just had a really hard time getting my head around that story. Not having been Special Ops, their psyche is beyond my comprehension in just about every way imaginable. Perhaps being a SEAL was so important to him that finishing out his 20 in a different field was out of the question.
Yeah, yeah: everyone’s different. You can’t (and shouldn’t) pass judgment. But as I said, something just didn’t sound right. And sure enough, something wasn’t. SOFREP has done their own background work and describes how this writer got played:
Esquire Is Screwed: Duped by Fake UBL Shooter
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.
The Chiles Files 