Navy SEALs forgot to bring a tape measure
CBS Dan Farber 7 May 2011
The odds that Osama bin Laden was the mysterious figure seen walking around the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan were estimated by U.S. intelligence at between 60 and 80 percent. When the Navy SEALs shot the tall figure on the upper floor of the compound, fatally hitting him in the chest and near his right eye, the next step was to get a positive ID. They planned to use several reference points, including facial recognition and eventually DNA when the body was transported back to Bagram airbase in Afghanistan.
Another measurement was to determine the height of the corpse. Bin Laden is listed on his FBI most wanted poster as being between 6-feet 4-inches and 6-feet 6-inches and weighing about 160 pounds.
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Woodward also learned that bin Laden was named “the Pacer” as the intelligence gathering proceeded. Satellite imagery showed a person walking in the compound daily, but the face and exact height of the pacer were not identifiable.
Phi Beta Iota: We suppose a tape measure might have been required if there was no intent of bringing back the body, but this goes from the ridiculous to the sublimely insane. The remarks about not being able to tell the height of the “Pacer” or get a look at his face are inconsistent with what is known about high-resolution imagery, both from satellites today (3″ in 1994) and from air-breathing micro-drones. These people really do seem to be making this stuff up as they go. We also consider anything published by Bob Woodward, David Ignatius, or any of the usual suspects from the New York Times and Washington Post to be suspect. This operation cannot stand up to persistent structured scrutiny. It completes the circle back to the lies that led to Iraq and the lies and high crimes that allowed 9/11 to happen “with emphasis.”
