Countdown bin Laden: The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt to Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 to Justice (Chris Wallace’s Countdown Series)

Countdown bin Laden follows the final eight months of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, from August 2010 through the raid that ended it. The account begins when three CIA officers brief CIA Director Leon Panetta on their discovery of a heavily fortified compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where they believe bin Laden may be hiding. Chris Wallace draws on in-depth interviews with more than a dozen key figures involved in the operation, including Admiral William H. McRaven, who led the mission; CIA Director Panetta; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; Defense Secretary Robert Gates; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; and the SEAL Team Six operator who killed bin Laden. The narrative covers the intelligence gathering, national security strategy, and military planning that preceded the operation. Beyond the operational details, Wallace includes accounts from families of 9/11 victims, relatives of SEAL Team Six members, and perspectives from inside the Situation Room during the raid itself. The book presents the events surrounding the mission to apprehend the mastermind of the September 11 attacks.