Chapter 28: Successes, and a Failure

1 On April 8 … orange lifeboat. A Captain’s Duty, by Richard Phillips with Stephen Talty (New York: Hyperion, 2010), pp. 106–76.… four teenage Somali pirates … “Somalian Pirate Suspect Arrives in New York to Be Tried in U.S. Court,” by the Associated Press, April 20, 2009, accessed at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/somalian-pirate-suspect-arrives-in-new-york-to-be-tried-in-u-s-court-1.777441.

2 In 2008 … seizing forty-two. “Pirates Hijack Two Tankers Within 24 Hours Off Somali Shore,” Associated Press, March 26, 2009, accessed on FoxNews.com at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/2009/03/26/pirates-hijack-two-tankers-within-24-hours-off-somali-shore/.

3 Around late 2004 … respectively. A TF Brown source.

4 Plans were soon … off the Somali coast. Team 6 sources.

5 In a desire … beside the Bainbridge. Team 6 sources. One of the SEALs was Lieutenant Commander Jonas Kelsall, who died on Extortion 17.

6 … night of April 8 … No Easy Day, p. 89.

7 A little more … catch up with him. A Captain’s Duty, pp. 200–205.

8 Meanwhile, in … Lightning Dawn. Team 6 sources.

9 After an almost twenty-hour … to the Bainbridge. Team 6 sources; No Easy Day, pp. 89–94.

10 Once on the destroyer … in that direction. Team 6 sources.

11 On the morning … of his ordeal. A Captain’s Duty, p. 255.

12 Meanwhile, the lifeboat … “don’t fuck it up.” Team 6 sources.

13 Half a dozen … as possible. A Captain’s Duty, pp. 261–63; No Easy Day, pp. 96–97.

14 The snipers had … with plaudits. Team 6 sources.

15 It was also … told the admiral. Manhunt, p. 148.

16 For several months … isolated area. Team 6 sources; military intelligence source.

17 In the second week … strike that night. Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency, by Daniel Klaidman (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), pp. 122–26; The Way of the Knife, pp. 246–47; a White House source; a Team 6 source; two Task Force Brown sources.

18 The next day … buried at sea. A Team 6 source; two Task Force Brown sources; a White House source. Other JSOC sources said that there were two destroyers involved, and that the AH-6s also fired into the vehicle, disabling it.… Baraawe … “U.S. Kills Top Qaeda Militant in Southern Somalia,” by Jeffrey Gettleman and Eric Schmitt, The New York Times, September 14, 2009, accessed at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/world/africa/15raid.html?hp.… U-28A … The U-28A is the Air Force Special Operations variant of the Pilatus PC-12.

19 The incident … February 19. “Pirates Brutally End Yachting Dream,” by Adam Nagourney and Jeffrey Gettleman, The New York Times, February 22, 2011, accessed at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/world/africa/23pirates.html?pagewanted=all; “Four American Hostages Killed by Somali Pirates,” nbcnews.com, accessed at: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/41715530/ns/world_news-africa/t/four-american-hostages-killed-somali-pirates/#.U3VX6HYglwI.

20 Meanwhile JSOC … Lightning Dawn. Team 6 sources.

21 U.S. intelligence had … with his interrogators. Kill or Capture, pp. 237–39, 251, 262; a Team 6 source; a SEAL officer.

22 Playing a role … signals intelligence. Two Team 6 sources.

23 With JSOC’s operations … and Internet cafés. Two JSOC sources.

24 Into this … charismatic terrorist. Kill or Capture, pp. 261–63.

25 JSOC had a golden … Awlaki escaped. Dirty Wars, pp. 454–56; “U.S. Missiles Missed Awlaki by Inches in Yemen,” by Martha Raddatz, ABC News, July 19, 2011, accessed at: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-missed-awlaki-inches-yemen/story?id=14108686.

26 By the time … northeast of Sana’a. Kill or Capture, p. 263; Dirty Wars, pp. 498–500.… Objective Troy … “Al-Awlaki Strike Plan Included Jets, Special Ops,” by David Martin, cbsnews.com, September 30, 2011, accessed at: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/al-awlaki-strike-plan-included-jets-special-ops/.

27 This time the United States … in midflight. JSOC sources.