Following the military raid on the Bin Laden compound in 2011, the Pakistani government set up a commission of inquiry to find out exactly what happened, if there were any lapses in leadership, and what follow-on actions should be taken.
Today, Al Jazeera published the exclusive report from the "Abottobad Commission," which performed the investigation.
Inside their report were many interesting details, but we've managed to get it down to just five.
Bin Laden was once stopped by a cop for speeding in 2002, but nothing happened.
From the report:
"Maryam, of course had no occasion to speak to the tall Arab [bin Laden]. Once they were all (including the tall Arab) on a visit to the bazaar they were stopped for speeding by a policeman. But her husband very quickly settled the matter with the policeman and they drove on."
Bin Laden was a devoted dad.
From the report:
"The children of the OBL family led extremely regimented and secluded lives. OBL personally saw to the religious education of his grandchildren and supervised their play time, which included cultivating vegetable plots with simple prizes for best performances ... "
" ... [Navy SEALs] also took a purse that contained the will of OBL. Kairriyyeh had previously read the will but did not wish to divulge the details. She said it was not political and pertained only to personal and family related matters. Other reports suggested that the will said his children should not seek leadership of Al Qaeda ... "
Osama bin Laden loved wearing a cowboy hat.
Previous reports on Bin Laden never indicated that he was observed wearing a cowboy hat. Reports have mentioned that intelligence officials had dubbed him "the pacer," since he paced outside on his balcony quote a bit.
But there was never talk of a cowboy hat until now.
From the report:
"When OBL moved about the compound, he wore a cowboy hat to avoid detection from above."
"Poor Uncle" and how Ibrahim al Kuwaiti's wife found out she was living with Bin Laden.
From the report:
Maryam had four children. The eldest was her 9 year old daughter, Rahma. One day she asked her father why "the uncle who lives upstairs" in the main house never went to the bazzaar. Ibrahim invented a story that he was too poor to go out and buy anything. From that day Rahma referred to him as "miskeen kaka, ie poor uncle."
"The womenfolk in Abbottabad initially had access to TV. However, one day while watching Al Jazeera a picture of Osama came on the screen and Rahma immediately recognized him as her "miskeen kaka" who lived upstairs in the main house. Ibrahim panicked and was very upset with Maryam. He immediately stopped the ladies access to TV.
CIA Ground Assets:
It was no secret that the CIA had this house under surveillance, but the degree with which they had "ground assets" was never full disclosed.
Here, the commission reports that CIA presence in the area may have been a lot heavier than previously publicized:
The Pakistan Army Board of Inquiry Informed the Commission that the stealth helicopters were probably guided by ground operators who were already in place around the OBL compound. In this regard, there were reports of "suspicious activities" indicating CIA ground support for the planning and implementation of the raid. These included the cutting of trees to clear the approach of the helicopters, the hiring of a house in the vicinity of the OBL compound by supposed USAID employees, and the movement of four fo five Predo/land Druisers from the the US embassy in Islamabad toward Peshewar/Abbotabad. The US Embassy personnel coming from Islamabad and seen headed toward Abbottabad maybe have been CIA agents to assist the helicopters.