Finding Bin Laden: Lessons for a New American Way of Intelligence

Abstract

MUCH OF THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE HUNT FOR and killing of Osama bin Laden has focused on the remarkable abilities of the U.S. Special Operations Forces who carried out the raid. Accounts by journalists and others revealed more than was previously known about the Navy SEALs who were involved, and sparked complaints by critics that the Barack Obama administration had leaked sensitive information in order to portray its own actions in a positive light. Terrorism experts have debated whether the killing would weaken al Qaeda, and what it would mean for the future of international terrorism. And other scholars and analysts have considered what the story of bin Laden’s death reveals about American national security and foreign policy decision making. Graham Allison, for example, writes that “this case demonstrates that the U.S.