2 Books on 'The Osama bin Laden manhunt'

The search for Osama bin Laden could probably be said to be the most extensive manhunt ever conducted by the United States of America in modern history. Named as the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks on US soil and other previous attacks on America assets, he was the leader of Al Qaeda. Osama had lived his life by evading capture for almost 10 years. He was the most notorious fugitive on the hunt by the most powerful country in the world.

 For lovers of true account books, the 2 books which were written to tell the stories of this enduring and challenging manhunt  belong to the 'must read' category. The first book- No Easy Day : The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden  by Mark Owen,  an operator with the Navy Seal team that participated in the military operation that killed Osama. The second  -The Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden, written by experienced and acclaimed writer Mark Bowden who previously had written bestsellers including Black Hawk Down and Killing Pablo.

 No Easy Day was written as an autobiographical narration by Owen, a former Navy Seal and comprises the authoritative account on what happened during the raid. Owen managed to provide a clear and detailed account of how the mission was carried out in Pakistan from the view of a soldier who had actually participated in the mission. Readers are presented with detailed explanations of how the operation was conceived and carried out professionally; combining meticulous planning, implementation of tactics and strategies, foreseeing contingencies and countless hours of training. The trainings, skills and experience possessed by every operator of the special force team paid off in success although initially they met with a drawback   when one of the modified Blackhawk helicopter crashed.

While No Easy Day provides a detailed account of the raid itself, The Finish on the other hand is centered upon the decision making process within President Obama’s closest decision-making circle. Readers are provided with a glimpse of how US intelligence community, military complex and Obama’s administration interact and react with each other during the period of the manhunt. For those who are already familiar with Bowen’s books such as Killing Pablo  and Black Hawk Down, this book may appear to be  a little bit of a disappointment as it focused too much on the manhunt from the eyes of the US administration. However, it is still a useful  reference  for those who are looking for insights, intimate glimpse and knowledge on how the  Commander in Chief,  after presented with every intel  available and  taking all factors for consideration   finally came to the decision  to authorize the raid.