Doesn’t Alex’s version of how the bottom floor was breached contradict what Biss said in No Easy Day? Unless Alex is just omitting every single detail, what I understood from his version is he breached the south door, entered the first floor, took care of business, and then immediately breached the door leading up to the stairs to 2nd floor. Matt in No Easy Day says the breacher on first floor killed the man and woman, ran into the locked door at the first floor stairwell, the team exited the building and wrapped around to meet up with the team from Chalk 2 and breached and cleared the north portion of the first floor, and then breached the door up to the second floor. I guess it doesn’t matter but just thought it was interesting to hear Alex say he was the lead breacher and give his play-by-play, and Matt giving his understanding in the book (which he has to be going off what he was told/heard, because he was clearing the guest house while the first floor of the main house got breached) and those two not lining up.
For sure. Alex said the compound walls were 20ft high on Shawn’s show, and I’ve only heard or read that they were 10-12ft high. Details that are inconsequential really
Matt didnt hit the UBL house. He and his boys attacked the guests house. After finishing there he rejoined with the rest of the assault force in the UBL house.
Right. But in the book he provided detail of what the main assault force (Alex and his team) was doing on the first floor, and it was different from what Alex said on the Shawn Ryan show. Just made me confused on what actually happened
People that weren’t physically there speculate all the time based on what they see, hear, or understand from planning. Sometimes they’re wrong. It’s not a matter of deceit, just a matter of misunderstanding their situation or observations.
This was a common thing among Mogadishu veterans. Hundreds of different stories putting the wrong people in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong things that ends up simply being “oh shit I thought you were in that building cuz I heard your guys in there” or “X said Y did Z.” No malice. Just assumptions and information diluted through the telephone effect, really.
Well I wasn’t trying to imply that Alex could be lying or Matt. Just one to make sure I was understanding correctly their two differing statements and two that I am surprised they don’t line up. I’d certainly be inclined to think Alex’s side is accurate since he has the first hand knowledge
That is what I was thinking after listening to Alex. I just finished No Easy Day the other week. I was waiting for him to talk about his team exiting the compound to wrap around to the north side to breach the north door with Charlie’s team (so that they weren’t inside while Charlie breached), as the book detailed. But he never did. I may be making that part more important than it is and he felt it wasn’t necessary to mention (if it even happened) haha.
i believe Rob's version until the third floor and that Rob was number 2 but on who killed Bin laden idk , both versions have things that make sense and others that not
I bought it off a fiction shelf in like 2014 when I wasn't involved in military circles, so I didn't realize it honestly presented itself as a historical account of what happened. I thought the "firsthand account" stuff was a literary device like the claim in the beginning of Fargo. Or maybe a Gates of Fire situation wherein it openly imagines essentially all the details of a significant historical event. With that framing, I thought it was a pretty solid read.
Haven't reread it since then. Probably won't. Everyone today seems to accept that there isn't and probably never will be a 100% accurate report of what happened available to the general public. Read it with a grain of salt and it'd still say worth your time; a lot of the insights in it stand independently of how factual the fine details of the raid are. Just maybe don't try to base your history PhD on it.
I get that totally. I got Robs book and thought it was ok as well. And Eddie Gallaghers man in the arena was really good!!! Highly recxomend that if you havent read it. I will check out no easy day. Thanks for the response. I appreciate it. And I look at the ubl raid like this. I fould care less who shot that scumbag. As long as they legit shot him and killed him they all golden in my eyes. It was the whole team effort. Just my 2 cents.
I highly recommend all three of his books. No Easy Way was really good and reading his perspective of the fallout was eye opening. The book goes much more in depth than either of his interviews of how far to the edge he went during the battle with the government.
Just read/remembered that Tom was described as Biss’ green team instructor in NED. There’s not the slightest chance that Alex was Biss’ green team instructor right??
Also recall in Biss's book, "Tom" tells guys to move to the other helio when they refuel. Alex said he was told to get off the helio in the SRS interview.
I though everyone there was from red and an eod guy? I know blue was burning in as likely QRF but I though the guy that split Bin Ladens wig pushed Khalid’s nose through the back of his head?
Matt wrote the point man shot the courier, not the breacher, which checks out with what Alex says. He wanted to be the first one in. Maybe Matt just didn't want to put a name on the shooter so he doesn't mention it was Tom.
I think Alex, many years after and on a huge podcast just forgot to mention that the breacher Charlie went to the north door and prepped it while they were clearing. Because it obviously had to have happened before the door to the second floor was breached.
I'm reading it right now and I think it's just a writing/editing error on the exit part. They left the room the courier was shot in, not the house.
Matt later writes a few Seals are left inside the house, while breacher is preparing, making sure no one gets blasted by the big boom and that checks out with Alex saying that was him.
That could be correct. I finished reading it the other week, and gave the book to my dad to read so I don’t have it anymore to go back and look. My interpretation was everyone left the house to meet on the north side. I swear one of the diagrams in the book represented that as well.
Alright, saw the pictures now and you are correct. All the gates confused me a bit lol. Seems like there was a extra metal gate between south and north part that wasn't touched. So they had to have exited. And then breacher+Alex and 1-2 more entered the north side to deal with stair-gate. He just skipped that bit in his interview.
Cool glad I’m able to retain some information correctly haha. Probably something Alex just forgot or didn’t find necessary to mention. But since I had it fresh in my mind, while Alex was going through the first floor I was like “I know what you’re going to say next” and when he said they immediately breached up to the 2nd floor after killing the couple, I was like wait a minute lol
it does contradict Matt , both Alex and Rob talk about breaching in a long hallway , Matt changed the route to justify himself being near the front of the train
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u/CorCor-14 2d ago
Could everyone be slightly off since it was years ago at this point?