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SEAL Team 6 in action and in pop culture The celebrated Navy SEAL squad that killed Osama bin Laden has been the focus of a series of books, films and video games, raising questions about release of secret information on its missions. Here is a look at the team’s recent highlights and its portrayals in pop culture.
Agent portrayed in 'Zero Dark Thirty' passed over
The female CIA ''spotter'' behind the SEAL team's Osama bin Laden raid has been passed over for promotion, shocking her colleagues. At left, ''Maya,'' as portrayed by Jessica Chastain in the movie. Read the story.
Jonathan Olley
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AP
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Rescue of a captured American doctor
On Dec. 8, SEAL Team 6 rescued Dilip Joseph, an American doctor abducted by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, after intelligence showed he was in danger. Killed in the mission was SEAL team member Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas D. Checque, 28, shown at left in this photo released by the Navy. Read the story.
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AP
‘Medal of Honor: Warfighter’
Seven members of the Navy SEAL Team 6 were disciplined by the Navy in October for disclosing classified information to developers for Electronic Arts Inc.'s video game "Medal of Honor: Warfighter."
AP
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AP
'Zero Dark Thirty'
This film about the bin Laden raid, by the director and writer-producer of the Oscar-winning film “The Hurt Locker,” was originally scheduled to open before the election. It is now set for Dec. 19. One reason for the delay: controversy. The watchdog group Judicial Watch documented cooperation between the filmmakers and the Obama administration, which was criticized by congressional overseers for providing access to information about the bin raid. See the trailer.
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Columbia Pictures Industries
‘Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden’
The 90-minute film debuted on National Geographic Channel on Nov. 4. It has generated controversy because it was recut and reedited after Harvey Weinstein, one of President Obama's strongest backers, bought it in May. The new edit strengthened Obama's role. Weinstein and director John Stockwell told the New York Times that the changes were not politically motivated. See the trailer.
Ursula Coyote
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AP
'The Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden'
The Obama administration gave broad access to Mark Bowden, who wrote "Black Hawk Down" and "Guests of the Ayatollah." In the book, Obama tells Bowden he thought it was ''50/50'' that bin Laden was in the compound when he authorized the raid. Bowden also wrote that Washington considered killing the al-Qaeda leader via a sniper drone. Read the review.
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Atlantic Monthly
'No Easy Day'
The unauthorized account of the bin Laden raid by Matt Bissonnette (pen name: Mark Owen) was a sensation, displacing "Fifty Shades of Grey'' from the top of Amazon.com's bestseller list in late summer. The writer was on the helicopter that crashed within the first seconds of the SEAL team's arrival at bin Laden's compound. Bissonnette said bin Laden was shot peeking from a room; then, in his death throes on the floor, finished with several more rounds. Read the review.
Jewel Samad
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AFP/Getty Images
Geronimo EKIA
Hours before the world knew of the raid, Obama and other senior officials followed on-site updates. "No Easy Day'' says the on-site SEAL commander used bin Laden's code name when telling Adm. William McRaven on satellite radio: "For God and country, I pass Geronimo . . . Geronimo EKIA'' — enemy killed in action. Bissonnette, contradicting official accounts, said bin Laden did not defend himself.
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The White House via Getty Images
'SEAL Target Geronimo'
The "One Easy Day'' account of the raid also disputes the November 2011 bestseller by Chuck Pfarrer, a SEAL who retired two decades ago. Pfarrer had asserted that the SEAL team fast-roped into the roof of the compound and killed him within two minutes. Bissonnette said that it took 15 minutes before bin Laden was tracked down and that the fast-rope plan was abandoned when the SEAL's third helicopter crashed on landing. (Left, an image of the room in the complex.)
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ABC News via Reuters
'Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden'
What was the strategy to track down the promoter of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks? Find the couriers who relayed his messages and supplies, writes Peter L. Bergen in this book. Then track family members, communications and his media outreach. Read the review.
Faisal Mahmood
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Reuters
The deadliest day
Twenty-two SEALs, most of them from Team 6 on a nighttime mission, were among 30 U.S. service members killed when their helicopter was shot down by Afghan insurgents Aug. 6, 2011. It was the deadliest day in the 11-year Afghan war. (At left, Obama salutes the men’s remains three days later at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.) Read the article.
Pete Souza
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The White House
A daring success in Somalia
On Jan. 25, members of SEAL Team 6 rescued kidnapped American aid worker Jessica Buchanan and her Danish colleague. Landing two miles away, the SEALs walked through the darkness and surprised the armed Somali captors, killing at least eight of them. Obama ordered the raid after learning that Buchanan, 32, left, was in failing health.
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AFP/Getty Images
'Act of Valor'
This hit action movie, released in February, was the first to use active-duty SEALs as actors, showing training exercises such as this jump. The portrayal was said to be more realistic than Hollywood's cartoonlike “Navy Seals” and “G.I. Jane.” But critics questioned whether “Valor” crossed a line from entertainment to propaganda. Read the article.
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Courtesy of IATM
'The Heart and the Fist'
Eric Geiten's 2011 memoir explored the Duke graduate’s journey from Rhodes Scholar to Navy SEAL. In between, Greitens worked with orphans in Bosnia and genocide survivors in Rwanda, but he became frustrated. "If we really care about these people,'' Greitens wrote, "we have to be willing to protect them from harm.'' (At left, Americans celebrating outside the White House after learning of bin Laden's death.)
Linda Davidson
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The Washington Post
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