The JSOC planners, determined to keep the operation as secret as possible, had decided against using additional fighters or bombers.

NEWYORKER: Getting Bin Laden

He found a two-star Army general from JSOC headquarters seated at a conference table with Brian, James, Mark, and several analysts from the C.

NEWYORKER: Getting Bin Laden

Most were variations of either a JSOC raid or an airstrike.

NEWYORKER: Getting Bin Laden

Panetta contacted Vice-Admiral Bill McRaven, the SEAL in charge of JSOC.

NEWYORKER: Getting Bin Laden

The JSOC liaison, the military-police contingent, and several sailors placed the shrouded body on an open-air elevator, and rode down with it to the lower level, which functions as a hangar for airplanes.

NEWYORKER: Getting Bin Laden

He says he helped JSOC evolve from a disconnected organization that was slow to catch targets early on in Iraq, because the operators lacked the manpower or communications equipment to analyze intelligence they gathered quickly enough.

NPR: McChrystal Takes Blame For Rolling Stone Article