Bin Laden's executor in trouble: "Better I die"

The title above the profile article on the American commando who assassinated the leader of Al Qaeda, in the 'Esquire' magazine, says it all: "The man who killed bin Laden - screwed." The description of the assassination by the former commando, is fascinating, but amazing no less, maybe more, is his claim, which can be summed up in two sentences: The U.S. Army simply threw him to the dogs after completing his service. He has no pension and medical insurance and he fears for his life and the lives of his family from acts of revenge by Muslim fundamentalists.

The warrior, a man of the naval commando unit, Navy Seals, is not recognized, of course, by his name, because of the danger to his life. The writer, the veteran journalist Phil Bronstein, writes: "Enough people associated with Seals and the operation to eliminate Bin Laden confirmed to me that the assassin (interviewee) was 'No. 2' in the raid force on the residence of bin Laden in Abutbad, Pakistan. He was behind the force commander on the way up the stairs to the third floor in the building. The erminator went alone into the bedroom and confronted bin Laden. The terrorist pushed his young wife, Amal, in front of him in the dark room. The tall stature of bin Laden surprised the terminator. He raised the gun higher than expected.

The commander was not in the bedroom when Bin Laden was shot. He confronted the two women in the hall, a bold action in itself, because the raiders' working assumption was that all the people in the house are wearing explosive belts. The terminator was therefore the only fighter in the room. But his words about what happened in those seconds were confirmed by many sources later, and by all accounts is the last person who saw bin Laden alive. No doubt other fighters in the force claimed they shot Bin Laden after he died, and it seems that this is indeed what happened.

This is how the terminator described the last seconds of bin Laden's life: "I shot him twice in the forehead. Boom! Boom! After the second time he started to drop to the floor next to his bed. And then I shot him again. Boom! In the same place (forehead). This time I used the Eotech plans. He was dead. He didn't move. His tongue hung out. I saw him breathe his last breath, a breathing reflex.

"I remember when I watched him breathe for the last time, I thought: Is this the best thing I ever did, or, perhaps, the worst thing I ever did. It's true and it's him. His forehead was horrible. It was torn in a V shape. I could see his brain leaking on his face. The U.S. public does not need to know how it looked.

"Amal (wife of Bin Laden) turned around and started screaming, first at Bin Laden and then at me. Then she turned on me, as if she wanted to fight me, or maybe she wanted to die in his place. I put her on the bed and tied her up. Then I realized that Bin Laden's youngest son was also in the room, at the other end of the bed. I didn't want to hurt him because I'm not wild. There was lots of screaming and he was crying. He was just in shock. I didn't like the fact that he was so scared. He is just a child. He has no connection to it. I picked him up and placed him next to his mother. I poured some water on his face. "

The liquidator left the army three years before his contract expires, after almost 17 years of service, since he felt was finished, he's burned out. The reality of his life in citizenship raises serious questions about how the U.S. rewards its heroes. He claims that the army abandoned him in the lurch without any financial support, medical insurance or even protecting him and his family from the vengeance-seeking Muslim extremists.

"Because of early release, the medical insurance stopped for me and my family," he says. "I asked if there was any way to move me from Army Medical Insurance to Citizen Medical Insurance. They said, 'no, you're out of the military. Your insurance ends. Thanks for 16 years of service."

The liquidator says that if he was killed during his military service, his family would have been much better than the situation with him, when he is alive: "If I was killed, they would take good care of the family. The country would pay for my kids' college. They would be OK. Now, sad to say, but it was better that I died."

As to protecting him from avenging Muslims: the army is ready to enroll him in a program for state witnesses protection, the kind reserved for members of the Mafia who snitch on their friends and testify against them in court. He had to erase his identity, get a false identity and cut all ties with his relatives, his friends and his past. "I was told they could get me a new identity, as a truck driver for transporting bottles of beer in Wisconsin."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!