'No Easy Day': Bin Laden Book Author Defends Decision To Write

Joshua Hersh and Marcus Baram
Updated
FILE - This is an undated file photo of al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan. Say you’re sorry. That’s what the Pakistani government says it wants from the United States in order to jump-start a number of initiatives between the two countries that would help the hunt for al-Qaida in Pakistan and smooth the end of the war in Afghanistan. Pakistan wants the U.S. to apologize for a border incident in November 2011 in which the U.S. killed 24 Pakistani troops in an airstrike. The Pakistanis have put the apology at the top of a long list of demands to address what they see as insults to national pride and sovereignty _ from the Navy SEAL raid onto Pakistani territory last year that killed Osama bin Laden to the steady U.S. drone strikes on Pakistani territory. (AP Photo, File) (Photo: )

The author of a new book on the commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden included a defense of his decision to publish his insider account in the final pages of the text, saying that the White House's willingness to publicize details of the operation opened the door to other versions of the story.

"Since May 1, 2011, everyone from President Obama to [the special operations commander] Admiral [William] McRaven has given interviews about the operation," writes the author, who was one of the Navy SEALs who took part in the raid, and published the book under the pseudonym Mark Owen. "If my commander in chief is willing to talk, then I feel comfortable doing the same."

The Huffington Post acquired an early copy of the book, which is scheduled to be released on Sept. 4, from a local bookstore. Fox News first revealed the book's author's identity.

The book reveals that bin Laden was unarmed at the time he was killed, but in many other ways hews closely to some of the previously published accounts of the operation.

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In the days and weeks after the bin Laden raid's completion, numerous detailed accounts of the operation were pushed out by the White House and the defense establishment, culminating in a lengthy narrative published in the New Yorker last August.

Indeed, in just the first 24 hours after the raid, national security reporters in Washington were treated to three long briefings -- one from the C.I.A., one from the Pentagon and one from John Brennan, Obama's counterterrorism czar -- that detailed how the operation occurred.

Owen, who makes no secret of his general disdain for Obama, says that as details about the raid poured out of official Washington, he and his fellow commandos were called into a briefing at their home base in Virginia and told to keep a "low profile."

"I was astonished," Owen writes. "We'd kept this whole thing under wraps for weeks. Now, Washington was leaking everything, and we were going to get the lecture for it."

Many SEALs worried at the time that if their names or location were publicized, they or their homes would immediately become top targets for terrorist attacks.

Indeed, in the weeks since Owen was outed as the author of the book, his true name and a purported picture of him have reportedly circulated on jihadi websites, along with a call to assassinate him.

More than anything else, however, Owen seems to have been irked by the "speculation" in the media about SEALs, and the many misrepresentations of how they operated during the raid.

He saves particular pique for the public appearances of Richard Marcinko -- the founder of the DEVGRU, or Team Six, the specialized unit that carried out the raid -- who told ABC at one point that SEALs all have "big egos" and "gazelle legs."

"We laughed our asses off," Owen says. "I knew he was a founder of DEVGRU, but he was hopelessly out of touch with the modern force."

Marijuana

A stroll around the 20-foot-tall, barbed wire led CNN's Nic Robertson to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/05/osama-bin-laden-marijuana-crop_n_858301.html" target="_hplink">discover</a> a crop of marijuana plants just yards from the home. But whether or not bin Laden and his family were growing the weed for recreational purposes remains a mystery, and it has long been speculated that the Al Qaeda leader suffered from kidney failure, which would allow him to get a prescription for medical marijuana in many U.S. states.

Pornography

As Reuters is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/13/osama-bin-laden-porn_n_861664.html" target="_hplink">reporting</a>, a "fairly extensive" stash of "modern, electronically recorded" pornography was found in the compound, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

'Natural Viagra'

The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/09/osama-bin-laden-avena-sativa-syrup-natura_n_859436.html" target="_hplink">discovery</a> of Avena syrup -- a botanical product often used as "natural Viagra" -- at bin Laden's compound has raised questions about whether or not the Al Qaeda leader or his associates were trying to boost their libidos. Also known by the nickname "wild oats," Avena Sativa syrup has two potential uses: to increase sexual desire, and as artificial sweetener used for a sour stomach.

Diary

Navy SEALs <a href="http://theweek.com/article/index/215259/top-5-revelations-from-bin-ladens-diary" target="_hplink">reportedly</a> swiped the terrorist's short journal from his Pakistani compound. The al Qaeda leader is said to have mused about mass murder, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/13/osama-bin-laden-obama-_n_861598.html" target="_hplink">naming </a>his number one target as President Obama, followed by U.S. military leaders including the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Interestingly, bin Laden noted that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden "was not an important target because that position has less weight."

No Internet Access

As the <em>Washington Post</em> is <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/osama-bin-ladens-doting-wives-secret-e-mail-system-and-other-secrets-revealed/2011/05/13/AFTdOX2G_blog.html" target="_hplink">reporting</a>, the compound lacked Internet access, so bin Laden would communicate though an "elaborate pass-the-buck" system by typing a message on his computer which would then be saved to a flash drive and given to a trusted courier, who would drive it to far-off Internet cafes and return with incoming e-mail.

Soft Drinks

Bin Laden may have hated the United States, but that didn't stop him from <a href=" Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1383429/Osama-Bin-Laden-dead-Marijuana-grew-near-luxury-compound-Abbottabad.html#ixzz1MG1HF265" target="_hplink">reportedly </a>indulging in plenty of Coca-Cola and Pepsi -- products that are often associated with the Western commercialism the al Qaeda leader is said to have despised.
Bin Laden may have hated the United States, but that didn't stop him from reportedly indulging in plenty of Coca-Cola and Pepsi -- products that are often associated with the Western commercialism the al Qaeda leader is said to have despised.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.