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Popular ScienceThe Navy SEAL team that offed the 21st century’s most wanted man Sunday was so concerned about preparation and accuracy that they re-created the one-acre compound where their target was living, “Ocean’s Eleven” style. The SEALS ran trial runs there in early April until they were ready to take down Osama bin Laden.This snippet, mentioned in a depiction of the raid posted at the Atlantic, highlights one particularly interesting facet of this operation: It centered on people. Certainly, the specialized Black Hawk helicopters, hyperspectral imagers and other tactical technology were key — but in the end, bin Laden met his demise at the hands of ultra-trained human warriors, not machines. Here’s how it went down.
Back in August, American officials received a tip that bin Laden was hiding in Waziristan Mansion, a suburban compound with walls up to 18 feet whose residents burned their trash and employed various other security measures. Over the next few months, CIA analysts studied whether the chief resident could be anyone else, and decided it was almost certainly him.
In March, President Obama authorized a plan to bomb the compound using B2 stealth planes carrying 2,000-pound ordnance. But ABC News reports the president learned the compound would be reduced to rubble and changed his mind, partly because of the risk of civilian casualties and partly because the destruction would mean there was no proof the leader of al Qaeda was dead. Then he ordered in the SEALs instead.
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http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-05/video-inside-bin-laden%E2%80%99s-compound-and-how-raid-went-down
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