The Military's Code Name of Bin Laden

 

The Military's Code Name for Bin Laden Was Actually 'Cakebread'

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Though the Navy SEAL team storming into bin Laden's Pakistan compound referred to the Al Qaeda leader as "Geronimo," Pentagon and CIA analysts knew him by a more culinary nickname: "Cakebread." The quirky piece of bin Laden death trivia comes from excerpts from a new book published by ABC News called Target: Bin Laden—The Death and Life of Public Enemy Number One. This morning, the network sent us a preview of the book with a conveniently bulleted list of its latest scoops:

• President Obama wanted to wait until DNA Results Came Back on OBL Before Telling the World of His Death
• Bin Laden’s code name: Cakebread
• The code name for his Abbottabad compound: AC-1...
• CIA Director Panetta’s last call to Special Forces: "Go in and find bin Laden, and if he's not there, get the hell out"
• The breed of the SEAL dog – a Belgian Malinois

First of all, this is going to bring delight to Belgian Malinois breeders, who have been hoping for a month to claim genetic ownership of the dog accompanying the SEAL team. But there's still more information from this early release. Here are some of the more interesting revelations.
The first guesses about who was living in the Abbottabad compound
How Obama had to be persuaded to announce bin Laden's death before getting DNA evidence
President Obama's instinct was to wait. Yes, this looked like it was a successful operation. But there was no need to rush out tonight to tell the world. Let's wait until we get that DNA evidence back. Let's tell the Pakistanis, make sure they understand our perspective, he said. Let's get all of our ducks in a row.
Mullen was told to call Kayani. Panetta called ISI Chief Ahmad Shuja Pasha.
The story is going to get out, the president's advisers said.
The president didn't care. It wouldn't be official until it came from the White House.
You can't contain this, they told him. This is the biggest story of the decade.
The president was calm, serene. He eventually was convinced. They would make the announcement that night.