The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden

Mark Bowden

Atlantic Monthly Press, 2012 - Abbottābād (Pakistan) - 266 pages

From Mark Bowden, the preeminent chronicler of our military and special forces, comesThe Finish, a gripping account of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. With access to key sources, Bowden takes us inside the rooms where decisions were made and on the ground where the action unfolded.

After masterminding the attacks of September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden managed to vanish. Over the next ten years, as Bowden shows, America found that its war with al Qaeda--a scattered group of individuals who were almost impossible to track--demanded an innovative approach. Step by step, Bowden describes the development of a new tactical strategy to fight this war--the fusion of intel from various agencies and on-the-ground special ops. After thousands of special forces missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the right weapon to go after bin Laden had finally evolved. By Spring 2011, intelligence pointed to a compound in Abbottabad; it was estimated that there was a 50/50 chance that Osama was there. Bowden shows how three strategies were mooted: a drone strike, a precision bombing, or an assault by Navy SEALs. In the end, the President had to make the final decision. It was time for the finish.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - jcbrunner - LibraryThing

Mark Bowden knows how to do research and how to write good books, even stellar books. This is not one of them. This is a lazy, shoddy work filled with lies. The publisher is probably aware of the low ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - HistoryNutToo - LibraryThing

The Finish - The Killing of Osama Bin Laden - Mark Bowden This is another great book on the subject. One thing that set this book apart from the others I have read is that it gave a good account of ...

Contents

• A Definition of Evil: 1
• The Path of Jihad: 29
• Taking Up Arms: 55
• The Targeting Engine: 89
• Please Make Sure to Keep the Children and All of the Families Away from the Areas That Are Being Photographed and Bombed: 123
• Disguised Uncertainty: 141
• Adhering to These Precautions: 177
• The Finish: 209
• Glitter: 243
• Acknowledgments and Notes: 265

About the author

Mark Bowden is the author of nine books, including the #1 New York Times best seller Black Hawk Down. He reported at The Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty years and now writes for Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and other magazines. His most recent book is Worm: The First Digital World War.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden
• Author: Mark Bowden
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2012
• ISBN: 0802120342, 9780802120342
• Length: 266 pages