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==Operation Geronimo==
'''Operation Geronimo''' may refer to:
⚫
{{main|Operation Geronimo}}
===Planning and aims of the operation===
After an intelligence-gathering effort on the courier's Pakistan compound that began September 2010, President Obama met with his national security advisers on March 14 to create an action plan. They met four more times (March 29, April 12, April 19 and April 28) in the six weeks before the raid, including once on March 29, 2011 when Obama personally discussed the plan with Vice Admiral [[William McRaven]], the commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command.<ref name="MazzettiCooper" /><ref name="abcnews1">{{cite news|url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/05/president-obama-to-national-security-team-its-a-go-.html|title=President Obama to National Security Team: 'It’s a Go'}}</ref> [[Jake Tapper]] of [[ABC News]] reported that "many multiple possible courses of action" were presented to Obama in March and "refined over the course of the next several weeks."<ref>http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/05/president-obama-had-authorized-bombing-of-compound-in-march-but-wanting-evidence-of-obls-death-cance.html</ref>


* [[Operation Neptune Spear]], the May 2011 operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan
According to [[ABC News]], the first approach considered by U.S. officials was to bomb the house using [[Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit| B-2 Spirit]] [[Stealth aircraft | stealth]] [[bomber]]s, which could drop 2,000-pound [[Joint Direct Attack Munition]]s (JDAMs). Obama rejected this option, however, opting for a raid that would provide definitive proof that bin Laden was inside, and limit civilian casualties. Deploying drones was apparently not a feasible approach, in part because the compound's location was "within the Pakistan air defense intercept zone for the national capital."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/video-inside-bin-ladens-drone-proof-compound/|Video: Inside bin Laden’s Drone-Proof Compound}}</ref><ref>Declan Walsh, Esther Addley, and Ewen MacAskill, "[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/02/osama-bin-laden-killed-abbottabad-raid 40 minutes of battle, and two shots to the head]" (May 2, 2011). ''The Guardian''.</ref><ref>Rebecca Boyle, "[http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-05/video-inside-bin-laden%E2%80%99s-compound-and-how-raid-went-down Before the Raid, SEALs Rehearsed in a Full-Scale Replica of the Bin Laden Compound]" (May 2, 2011). ''Popular Science''.</ref>
** [[Operation Geronimo name controversy]], concerning the use of "Geronimo" in the hunt for Osama bin Laden
⚫
* [[Operation Geronimo Strike]]
** [[Operation Geronimo Strike I]], the 2007 counterinsurgency operation in Kalsu's Fish Farms, Iraq
** [[Operation Geronimo Strike II]], the 2007 counterinsurgency operation in Iraq
** [[Operation Geronimo Strike III]], the 2007 strike against Al-Qaeda in Iraq, northwest of Iskandariyah, Iraq
* [[Task Force 1 Geronimo]], the 2009–2010 operation of [[501st Infantry Regiment (United States)]] in Afghanistan, during Operation Enduring Freedom
* [[Operation Geronimo (Vietnam)]], a 101st Airborne Division search operation
* The military expedition to capture or kill Chief Geronimo, during the Indian Wars, see [[Geronimo]]


{{disambiguation}}
During the month leading up to the raid, members of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group trained on a one-acre replica of the "Waziristan Mansion" compound, practicing rappelling down into it from helicopters, among other tactical approaches.<ref name="ref-25"/><ref name="ref-26"/><ref name="blogs.abcnews.com" /> The replica was built at Camp Alpha, a restricted section of the [[Bagram Airfield|Bagram military base]] in [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="ref-27" /> According to ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 24 Navy SEALs carried out practice runs on April 7 and April 13.<ref>Gordon Rayner and Toby Harnden, "[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8488398/Osama-bin-Laden-killed-by-special-forces-after-aerial-bombing-ruled-out-by-Obama.html Osama bin Laden killed by special forces after aerial bombing ruled out by Obama]" (May 2, 2011), ''The Telegraph''.</ref>

White House Homeland Security Adviser [[John O. Brennan]] stated after the raid that "If we had the opportunity to take bin Laden alive, if he didn't present any threat, the individuals involved were able and prepared to do that."<ref>{{citation | publisher = Sun Times | url = http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2011/05/bin_laden_raid_us_had_plan_to.html | date = 2011-5 | title = Bin Laden raid: US had plan to capture Osama}}</ref> However, another U.S. national security official, who was not named, told [[Reuters]] that "'This was a kill operation,' making clear there was no desire to try to capture bin Laden alive in Pakistan."<ref name = "HuffPost">{{cite news| publisher = Huffington Post | date = 2011-5-2 | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/02/osama-bin-laden-dead-kill_n_856211.html | title = Osama bin Laden dead}}</ref> Another source referencing a ''kill'' (rather than ''capture'' order) states, "Officials described the reaction of the special operators when they were told a number of weeks ago that they had been chosen to train for the mission. 'They were told, "We think we found Osama bin Laden, and your job is to kill him,"' an official recalled. The SEALs started to cheer."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54151.html}}</ref>

On April 29, at 8:20 a.m., Obama convened with [[Thomas Donilon]], [[John O. Brennan]], and other security advisers in the [[Diplomatic Reception Room (White House)| Diplomatic Reception Room]] and gave the final order to raid the Abbottābad compound. A senior administration official told reporters after the operation was completed that the [[government of Pakistan]] had not been informed of the operation in advance.<ref>{{citation | publisher = NPR | place = USA | date = 2011-5-2 | url = http://www.npr.org/2011/05/02/135913008/osama-bin-laden-killed-while-hiding-in-pakistan | title = Osama bin Laden killed while hiding in Pakistan}}</ref>

The raid planned for that day was postponed until the following day due to cloudy weather.<ref>{{cite news| publisher = ABC | date = 2011-5 | work = News | section = Blogs | chapter = Political punch | URL = http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/05/president-obama-to-national-security-team-its-a-go-.html | title = President Obama to national security team: it’s a go}}</ref>

===Execution of the operation===
[[File:Osama bin Laden hideout.jpg|thumb|This diagram of Osama bin Laden's hideout shows the high concrete walls that surrounded the compound]]
The raid was carried out jointly by 20 to 25 helicopter-borne [[United States Navy SEALs]] from the [[United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group]] (DEVGRU) under the command of the [[Joint Special Operations Command]]. The U.S. [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) led the operation; it was given the go-ahead at midday on May 1 by the CIA's outgoing director, [[Leon Panetta]], after President Obama had authorized it.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-osama-bin-laden-cia-20110502,0,6466214.story|title=CIA led U.S. special forces mission against Osama bin Laden|last=Dilanian|first=Ken|work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 2, 2011}}</ref> Additional personnel on the mission included "tactical signals, intelligence collectors, and navigators using highly classified [[Hyperspectral imaging|hyperspectral imagers]]."<ref name="nationaljournal.com"/> According to ''The New York Times'', "79 commandos and a dog were involved."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/world/asia/osama-bin-laden-dead.html|title=Obama Calls World 'Safer' After Pakistan Raid}}</ref>

The SEALs flew from [[Bagram Airbase]] in [[Afghanistan]] to [[Tarbela Ghazi Airbase]] in northwest Pakistan<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1382860/Osama-Bin-Laden-dead-How-Navy-Seals-killed-Al-Qaeda-chief-near-Islamabad.html}}</ref>; from there they were transported to the compound in [[MH-60 helicopter|Black Hawk helicopters]] ([[Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk]]).<ref name = "nationaljournal.com" /><ref name="ref-23"/> Four helicopters were provided by the [[160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment]], two of which were intended to be backups.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54151.html#ixzz1LGAWCA29}}</ref><ref name="blogs.abcnews.com"/> The raid was scheduled for a time with little moon [[Stellar luminosity| luminosity]] so the helicopters could enter Pakistan "low to the ground and undetected."<ref name="http"/>

Two helicopters carrying the primary assault team hovered over the compound and the SEALs [[fast-rope]]d to the ground.{{citeneeded}} One of the helicopters stalled, perhaps from its own [[prop wash]], and was forced to make an emergency landing in the compound. At approximately 1 a.m. local time (20:00, May&nbsp;1 UTC)<ref name="ref-19"/><ref name="Ross" />, the compound's guards opened fire as the SEALS attacked the compound's structures<ref>Katie Couric, ''[[CBS Evening News]]'', 2 May 2011.</ref>.

The SEALs neutralized the compound's guards, then cleared the main building room-to-room.<ref>''[[NBC News]]'', May 2, 2011.</ref> Fighting occurred on the first floor, where two adult males lived, and on the second and third floors, where bin Laden lived with his family; the second and third floors were the last section of the compound to be cleared.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/02/bin.laden.raid/index.html?hpt=T1}}</ref>

Osama bin Laden was shot twice, once in the head, and once in the chest, during "the last five or 10 minutes" of the raid.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/02/bin.laden.raid/index.html?hpt=T1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54151.html}}</ref><ref>Landay, Jonathan S., "[http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/02/113556/after-firefight-bin-laden-shot.html Months of planning led U.S. team to Pakistan, and Osama bin Laden]", ''[[The McClatchy Company]]'', 3 May 2011.</ref><ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/osama-bin-laden-operation-code-geronimo/story?id=13507836 Osama Bin Laden Operation Ended With Coded Message 'Geronimo-E KIA'] ''abc news'' - Retrieved 3 May 2011.</ref><ref name="ref-28"/><ref>{{cite news|author=Canada |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/white-house-bin-laden-tried-to-hide-behind-women-during-battle/article2007004/ |title=White House: Bin Laden tried to hide behind women during battle |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date= |accessdate=2011-05-03}}</ref> The ''[[National Journal]]'' reported somewhat contradictory information that he was "done in by a [[double tap]]—boom, boom—to the left side of his face."<ref name="nationaljournal.com"/><ref>Roggio, Bill, "[http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/05/osama_bin_ladens_son_1.php Osama bin Laden's son, wife, also killed during raid in Pakistan]", ''[[Public Multimedia]]'', May 2, 2011.</ref> "The encounter with bin Laden lasted only seconds," according to Politico.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54151.html#ixzz1LGDE5vLB}}</ref>

Three other men present at the compound were also reportedly killed in the operation, including bin Laden's adult son, the courier and the courier's brother.<ref name = "ref-29" /> Also killed was a woman, Amal al Ahmed Sadah, reportedly bin Laden's fourth wife.<ref name = "washingtonpost" /><ref name = "ref-30" /> Two other women were injured.<ref name="ref-31" /> It remains unclear which of bin Laden's adult sons was killed in the raid. The ''New York Times'' reported that U.S. authorities have determined that the man was [[Hamza bin Laden]].<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/world/asia/03intel.html</ref> The Associated Press cited [[John O. Brennan]] as giving the man's identity as [[Khaled bin Laden]].<ref>http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Bin-Laden-s-demise-Long-pursuit-burst-of-gunfire-1362725.php#page-2</ref> The bodies of the four non-Osama KIAs were left behind at the site of the raid.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-bin-laden-raid-20110503,0,7245803.story?track=rss|title=LA Times story}}</ref>

The ''National Journal'' reported that 22 people were counted in the compound.<ref name = "nationaljournal.com"/> However, a U.S. official told the Associated Press that in addition to the five adults who were killed during the operation, 23 children and nine women were in the compound. The children and women were turned over to Pakistani authorities.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/05/02/national/w192252D60.DTL]</ref> According to the British ''Daily Mail'', "four children and two women, including Bin Laden's daughter Safia, were taken away in an ambulance."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1382860/Osama-Bin-Laden-dead-How-Navy-Seals-killed-Al-Qaeda-chief-near-Islamabad.html}}</ref>

The raid was intended to take 30 minutes, all told the team was in and out of the compound in 38 minutes<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54151.html}}</ref>; the work of the raid was split into exchanging gunfire with the defenders<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/02/bin.laden.raid/index.html?hpt=T1}}</ref> and scrubbing the compound for information.<ref name="ref-21" /> U.S. personnel removed computer hard drives, documents, DVDs, thumb drives and "electronic equipment" from the compound for later analysis.<ref name="APGoldman">Adam Goldman and Chris Brummitt, "[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_bin_laden Bin Laden's demise: Long pursuit, burst of gunfire]" (May 3, 2011). Associated Press.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54151.html}}</ref>

The helicopter that had made the emergency landing was damaged<ref name="blogs.abcnews.com"/> and could not fly the team out. It was consequently destroyed to safeguard its classified equipment; U.S. forces "improvise[d] by packing the helicopter with explosives and blowing it up."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54080.html}}</ref><ref name="Dedman"/> The assault team "called in one of two backup [helicopters]" to ferry them back to their base.<ref name="nytimes1"/>

The SEAL team helicopters were supported by multiple other aircraft, including fixed-wing fighter jets and [[Unmanned aerial vehicle|drones]]. According to CNN, "The [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] also had a full team of combat search-and-rescue helicopters available."<ref name="ref-24"/>

===Diplomatic cooperation===
[[File:Obama and Biden await updates on bin Laden.jpg|thumb|The U.S. national security team gathered in the [[White House Situation Room|Situation Room]] to await the outcome of Operation Geronimo.]]
According to Obama administration officials, U.S. officials did not share information about the raid with the government of Pakistan before the operation<ref name="ref-5"/> but did notify Pakistan after its successful completion.<ref name="dawn20110502"/> According to the Pakistani foreign ministry, the operation was conducted entirely by the U.S. forces;<ref name="ref-32"/> however, Pakistan [[Inter-Services Intelligence]] (ISI) officials stated that they were also present at what they called a joint operation,<ref name="LAT20110502"/> President Asif Ali Zardari has flatly denied this.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/pakistan-did-its-part/2011/05/02/AFHxmybF_story.html Pakistan did its part - The Washington Post<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Reasons for not alerting Pakistan have not yet been provided.

According to ABC News, "at the end of the operation, Pakistan's military scrambled fighter jets looking for the U.S. helicopters."<ref name="blogs.abcnews.com"/>

===Local accounts of raid===
Details of the raid, albeit fortuitously observed from a distance, were [[Twitter|tweeted]] by Abbottābad resident [[Sohaib Athar]], who initially did not know what was happening; he had begun tweeting by complaining about the unaccustomed noise of low-flying helicopters.<ref name="ref-36"/><ref name="ref-37"/><ref name="ref-38" /> [[Karachi]]'s [[Geo News]] described a helicopter crash and "heavy firing" on the evening of May 1 "near the [[Pakistan Military Academy|PMA]] Kakul Road".<ref name="ref-39"/>

The UK ''Telegraph'' quoted a resident of the area who said, "We saw four helicopters at around 2 a.m. We were told to switch off lights of our homes and stay inside."<ref name="ref-40"/>

===Aftermath===
Whatever the Pakistani involvement prior to the raid, they seem to have been heavily involved in the cleanup. There are reports of a wide perimeter being established around the compound<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8487630/Osama-Bin-Laden-Dead-as-seen-by-local-residents.html</ref> and photos of the downed U.S. helicopter being removed from the scene by tractor.<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1382860/Osama-Bin-Laden-dead-How-Navy-Seals-killed-Al-Qaeda-chief-near-Islamabad.html</ref>

Latest revision as of 21:45, 2 November 2019

Operation Geronimo may refer to:

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