The Bin Laden Plot

“Khalila, have you accessed this file and watched the video?”

“I have not. The file was encrypted.”

“Have you made a copy of this file?”

“No.”

“You may leave.”

Khalila rose from her chair as Harrison intervened. “Khalila is my partner, assigned to track down Mixell. It appears that whatever Mixell is involved in, and the reason he killed McNeil, may have had something to do with the Abbottabad raid. Khalila should be privy to all relevant information.”

“She’s not read into the program,” Rolow replied.

“Then read her in.”

There was a strained silence in the conference room until McFarland spoke. “The CIA is the original classification authority for this operation. We can authorize Khalila access to the information.” She pulled a form from one of her folders. “I brought a nondisclosure agreement for this program, just in case.” She looked to Christine for direction.

“Read her in,” Christine said.

Khalila dropped back into her chair as McFarland pushed the agreement across the table to Khalila, who read and signed it. As McFarland retrieved the document, she said, “Like the other Top Secret, SCI programs, you cannot disclose protected information to unauthorized personnel.” She slid a sheet of paper, containing the names of those read into the program, to Khalila.

After Khalila reviewed the list, McFarland asked Christine, “Shall I play the video now?”

Christine nodded.

McFarland activated a display at the front of the conference room with a remote control, then clicked on a computer file. A video began playing.

Harrison realized they were watching a video of the Abbottabad raid from a night vision camera built into a SEAL’s gear, most likely Commander McNeil’s. He was aboard the second of two stealth Black Hawk helicopters speeding just above the treetops in the darkness. Both helicopters hugged the hilly ground, hoping to avoid detection by Pakistani military radar during their approach to Abbottabad.

Bin Laden’s compound came into view: a three-story concrete structure surrounded by a stone wall. The lead helicopter, barely audible, slowed to a hover inside the compound walls and began its descent. Harrison watched from a distance what he had experienced firsthand — he’d been aboard the lead Black Hawk.

The helicopter got caught in a vortex ring state, an airflow condition that prevented the rotor downwash from diffusing. The pilot lost control of the helicopter and its tail grazed the compound wall, damaging the tail rotor. The helicopter tilted to one side and the pilot performed an emergency landing, burying the Black Hawk’s nose in the ground to prevent it from tipping over. Harrison recalled those perilous seconds as the helicopter’s main rotor churned into the dirt as the aircraft tilted. But the vehicle held together as the rotor ground to a halt.

McNeil’s helicopter landed nearby and the other SEALs joined those from the first Black Hawk, who had egressed from the damaged helicopter without injuries. After clearing the smaller building inside the compound, SEAL breachers — demolition experts — placed explosives on the main building’s doors, gaining access. McNeil entered the house after several SEAL fire teams entered the building, with each unit assigned to clear and control a specific floor.

The video moved through each level of the house, recording the greenish images. By the time the video reached the third floor, they had passed four motionless persons lying on the floor — three men and one woman — each with several bloodstains, plus several groups of women and children sequestered along the walls.

On the third floor was another group of women and children with a SEAL watching over them, and a tall man lying supine on the ground, with several gunshot wounds to his head and torso. His face was a bloody mess, making visual identification impossible.

Normal lighting flicked on, illuminating the room in yellow, incandescent light.

The video abruptly ended.

McFarland shifted her gaze to Harrison. “This video raises several questions. The first issue is that this video isn’t in our archives; there’s no record of it even being recorded. It appears that McNeil took it upon himself to record the raid, then never turned the video in.

“The second issue is — why did he want his wife to give this to you if something happened to him?” She stared at Harrison, waiting for a response.

“I don’t know. There isn’t anything on the video that I wasn’t already aware of, and I assume it’s the same for you.”

McFarland replied, “Correct. Which makes this a puzzling issue. What about McNeil’s note. Do you have it?”

Harrison pulled it from his back pocket and tossed the index card across the table to McFarland. She read the message aloud, confirming Harrison’s earlier report.

“3rd floor desk. Find him.”

McFarland picked the note up with tweezers and placed it into a small plastic bag she pulled from one of her folders. Then she rewound the video to when McNeil reached the third floor.

“Let’s take a look at the desk.”