In bin Laden Compound, US Watched 'the Pacer'

A mundane phone call led to the downfall of the world's most elusive terrorist: “I’m back with the people I was with before," Osama bin Laden's courier told a friend as US ears perked up. Bob Woodward fleshes out the takedown in today's Washington Post; among the details:

• When US officials tracked the courier to bin Laden's compound, they observed a tall man who walked the grounds for an hour or two each day. They dubbed him "the pacer," Woodward notes. "His routine suggested he was not just a shut-in but almost a prisoner."

• One adviser put the odds that the pacer was bin Laden at 40%: Even so, he said, that's "38% better than we have ever had before.”
• Bin Laden was known to be taller that 6-foot-4; US intel could only narrow the pacer's height to between 5-foot-8 and 6-foot-8.
• Navy Vice Adm. William McRaven was given the task of developing a "boots-on-the-ground" plan, and ultimately turned to the SEALs, who are known for quick strikes. The operation became known as the McRaven Plan.
• A 6-foot SEAL stretched out next to bin Laden's corpse to approximate his height, which was several inches taller. When that got relayed to Obama, he said, “We donated a $60 million helicopter to this operation. Could we not afford to buy a tape measure?”

(More Osama bin Laden stories.)