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Page 3 Profile: Matt Bissonette, soldier and author

 

Chris Stevenson
Tuesday 04 September 2012 04:18 EDT
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Who is this? I don't recognise him...

There is a reason for that. This is former Navy SEAL Team 6 member Matt Bissonnette. The 36-year-old from Alaska was a member of the team ordered to killed Osama bin Laden. He has now written a book about the raid – which is released in the US today.

But I thought he was supposed to be remaining anonymous?

He had a pseudonym, but we had already learned his real name. Now Bissonnette has given an interview in the US for which his voice was disguised and heavy make-up was used to alter his appearance – the interviewer, who had met the former SEAL three times, reportedly did not recognise him.

So why did he need the disguise?

The book reveals minute details about the mission, with information said to include the fact that the entry strategy had to be revised after one of the two helicopters carrying the men crash-landed in the Pakistani compound. The Pentagon says Bissonnette was in breach of non-disclosure agreements and has threatened legal action. Bissonnette's original plan was to release the book on 11 September to coincide with the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, but he told CBS News – perhaps a little dubiously – that "we specifically chose 11 September to keep it out of the politics".

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