According to reports, the most recent Navy Seal who claims to have shot Osama bin Laden is now under investigation by military police for leaking secrets. Robert O’Neill, 38, could face criminal charges from the elite federal bureau depending on how the investigation goes.
“The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is in receipt of an allegation that Mr. O’Neill may have revealed classified information to persons not authorized to receive such information,” US Navy spokesman, Ryan Perry, told AFP. “In response, the NCIS has initiated an investigation to determine the merit of the allegations.”
O’Neil has faced quite a bit of criticism from former comrades, not only for claiming publicly that he delivered the killing shot (breaking a code of silence for the purpose of glory), but by his disputed version of events within Bin Laden’s compound. It is reported that it was extremely dark within, and there’s really no way of telling who actually killed Bin Laden.
There are now three different versions of events circulating about who was responsible for the kill, including one by fellow Seal, Matt Bissonnette, who is also trying to claim glory in his book, No Easy Day. Bissonnette is under investigation as well for revealing technical aspects of special operations.
“Two different people telling two different stories for two different reasons,” Bissonnette told AFP. “Whatever he says, he says. I don’t want to touch that.”
O’Neill stated to the Washington Post that his decision to go public was in support of the relatives of the victims of 9/11, however it was also reported that his decision to speak out was prompted by losing some of his benefits when he quit the Seals after 16 years instead of completing the full 20 years. There’s obviously a price to secrecy.
Either way, O’Neill seems to be enjoying the attention.
It should be noted that O’Neill is a co-founder of the group, Your Grateful Nation, an initiative that is devoted to helping Special Operations Troops transition out of the military.
“The companies, once they’re aware of it, they’re getting a 34-year-old, very experienced person who is used to working under stress, and not just thinking but making decisions under stress, “ O’Neill said. “People that know how to lead, and know how to follow. They know how to work as a team. They show up on time. They’re winners.”
Charity organizations are good, and what a lucky coincidence for O’Neill that interest in his organization skyrocketed after his new-found celebrity status, even though New York Times reported that Pentagon officials say they are uncertain as to whose shots actually killed Bin Laden.
Sources:
Ensor, Josie. The Telegraph. Dec 23, 2014. (http://www.businessinsider.com/navy-seal-oneill-reportedly-under-investigation-2014-12)
Lamothe, Dan. The Washington Post. Jan 22, 2015. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/01/22/how-the-bin-laden-shooting-helped-launch-navy-seal-robert-oneills-charity/)
- RT. Dec 24, 2014. (http://rt.com/usa/217351-navy-seal-terrorism-laden/)
Actually I’ve read Matt Bissonett’s No Easy Day and never did he claim to shoot Osama bin Laden. Matt claimed to have been directly behind the point-man who shot Osama. Please make sure your facts are correct, thanks.
Regardless of weather or not he made the kill shot his blatant glory-mongering over killing other human beings is despicable. Even though Bin Laden deserved it a real civilized society puts aside emotion to make sure they approach justice from an intellectual and logic driven position. 911 was a criminal act not a declaration of war (no one nation or demographic of people were responsible) and thus the criminals suspected needed to be put on trial. Not because they deserve that but because we as a society want to make sure we know what happened right down to the bare bones naked truth (or as close as we can get).
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I think people are just jealous that they aren’t the ones who shot Bin Ladin. The media specticle that these guys are making is just embarassing if you ask me.
Everyone was happy when Dorothy killed the wicked witch. Js.
I don’t care if he took him out personally or not. I worked in Navy Intel (computer analyst) and met a few seals along the way. Secrecy was the most important thing taught to us and the seals were even more secretive. And the few special ops guys I met always talked about working together and getting things done through trust and working together. It was just ingrained in them. I think this guy needs to cool off. The mission was a success and the end result was the one that was desired. That should be the end of it. Saying “I shot the target” after swearing secrecy pretty much steps all over the “trust and working together” ideals that I’m sure he was taught. And I’m sure the guy standing next to him that did all the same work but was laying fire in another direction according to the plan wouldn’t appreciate this guy saying this. Truth is the plan was good, the mission was a success, and dumb luck put Osama in this guy’s cross hairs instead of the other guy.
Daniel, Good point, however whilst urban mythology might have you believe that Dorothy, or even Glenda, may have appeared responsible for the timely demise of the Wicked Witch, it was in fact a highly covert operation by the British Mi27 lead by myself. The decision to have us intervene was taken after the judgement was made that Dorothy’s outfit was considered to be either too stupid, too scared or potentially inflammable. Please keep this above top secret information to yourself. (M)