Share this page!

Garrett M. Graff Profile picture
Twitter logo
30 Apr, 6 tweets, 3 min read
THREAD: In reporting my new oral history of the bin Laden raid, I was struck again & again about the incredible cloak of secrecy thrown around this operation. Five remarkable details of just how secret—and important—OPERATION NEPTUNE'S SPEAR truly was: politico.com/news/magazine/…
1) The precision model-builders at @NGA_GEOINT who constructed the mock-up of bin Laden's Abbottabad compound didn't know what they had built or what it was for until they opened the New York Times the day after the raid and saw a picture of the house. politico.com/news/magazine/…
2) The NSA paused all software updates for weeks ahead of the raid, to avoid any risk of disrupting intelligence collection. NSA exec estimates just *50* people across the agency knew of the op; only after did he told the teams that had provided overwatch. politico.com/news/magazine/…
3) Admiral McRaven's own staff didn't know why he was traveling to DC so frequently. The circle of who was "read in" was so tight that FBI Director Robert Mueller and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano weren't told of the raid until the day before. politico.com/news/magazine/…
4) The high-level meetings in the White House Situation Room during the months leading up to the raid were listed on calendars without a topic—known only as "Mickey Mouse" meetings—and all planning material was hand-carried or couriered around DC. politico.com/news/magazine/…
5) The day of the raid, the Situation Room was still so wrapped in secrecy that they didn't even tell the White House Mess to have food available, so a staffer went to Costco for veggie plates and they ordered pizza for the president and Cabinet. politico.com/news/magazine/…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Garrett M. Graff

Garrett M. Graff Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @vermontgmg

Garrett M. Graff Profile picture
24 Mar
THREAD: Since January, I've been cooking up with @vivian, @C_C_Krebs, and the @AspenDigital team a phenomenal diverse, multi-disciplinary commission to tackle the nation's rising challenges to truth, journalism, and democracy and disrupt the flood of mis- and disinformation....
Today, we announced the full, six-month "Commission on Information Disorder," including its three co-chairs — @katiecouric, @C_C_Krebs and @rashadrobinson — and 15 commissioners. Here's the powerhouse lineup of thinkers, tech leaders, journalists, and gov officials:
Our founding co-chair is @C_C_Krebs, who battled disinformation first-hand at @CISAgov and helped ensure that the 2020 elections were the safest and most secure ever.
Read 22 tweets
Garrett M. Graff Profile picture
20 Feb
A thread of personal privilege: Last month, my @aspendigital colleagues and I lost one of my absolute favorite people @SavillaPitt to pancreatic cancer. She was just 36—far far far too young—and had just begun her career in tech policy. She was just the greatest.
To honor her legacy, the @AspenPolicyHub is now recruiting for our inaugural Savilla Pitt Memorial Fellowship, looking for techies who want to make a difference in DC or specifically interested in issues of tech and the environment.
The @AspenInstitute Savilla Pitt Fellowship is a paid fellowship or exec ed opportunity. If you're keen to make a difference in DC, APPLY before March 1.

@BetsOnTech, @vivian, @David4C1, me, & our @AspenCyber team will make it special. More details here: aspentechpolicyhub.org/savilla-pitt-m…
Read 4 tweets
Garrett M. Graff Profile picture
1 Jan
LAST NIGHTLY READING THREAD OF 2020: As a final #GMGReads for this generally awful year, here's the pile of books of I've gathered this fall that I'm excited to read in 2021... :
1) EL JEFE by @alanfeuer, about the hunt for El Chapo: bookshop.org/books/el-jefe-…
2) IF THEN by Jill Lepore: bookshop.org/books/if-then-…
Read 11 tweets
Garrett M. Graff Profile picture
31 Dec 20
THREAD: As 2020 winds down, I wanted to share a #GMGReads list of my favorite books I read this year; it's an odd list, as I've read almost nothing for pleasure since June—I've been consumed my own book research—and I've struggled to read fiction concentration-wise this year...
This year's list is oddly filled by books about science and the history of science—paleontology, ichthyology, epidemiology, and more—but I guess it's a good year to be interested in (and trust!) science. So here's my (unordered) list of the top books I read this year:
1) George Packer's rakish biography of Richard Holbrooke OUR MAN is hands-down one of the best biographies I've ever read: bookshop.org/books/our-man-…
Read 14 tweets
Garrett M. Graff Profile picture
30 Dec 20
THREAD: Every death from Covid-19 is a tragedy—all 340,000 Americans so far—but it's hard to ignore that the Republican Party has become a literal death cult, all to assuage Trump's ego. Every state and federal elected official to die so far from Covid-19 is a Republican....
According to @ballotpedia, Republican Congressman-Elect Letlow is the first congressional member or member-elect to die from Covid-19, but there have been numerous state legislators to die too, all Republican....
Republican Rep. Bob Glanzer, of the South Dakota House of Representatives, died in April: ballotpedia.org/Bob_Glanzer
Read 10 tweets
Garrett M. Graff Profile picture
28 Nov 20
If you're looking for some book ideas for your local indie today on Small Business Saturday, here are five of my favorite #GMGReads lists from earlier this year:
1) "biographies about people you'll wish you knew" :
2) "short novels":
Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @vermontgmg has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @vermontgmg!

Read all threads by @vermontgmg