(Image Source: Sarmaanyo)

BY LAURA DAVISON

ANCHOR ZACH TOOMBS

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The author of a book about Osama bin Laden’s death says he has the real story of what happened the night America’s arguably most wanted man died. Former Navy SEAL Commander Chuck Pfarrer says events leading up to bin Laden’s death have been misreported. 

Pfarrer’s account differs greatly from the detailed saga released by the New Yorker in August. Pfarrer says the team landed the helicopter on the roof of the building where bin Laden was hiding and he was killed almost instantly.

NBC affiliate WTHR reports.

“In particular his book claims bin Laden was shot dead within 90 seconds of the raid and not after a 45-minute firefight. Pfarrer claims to have interviewed several men who served on the mission.”

The New Yorker has received criticism for its account because no eye-witnesses were interviewed for its story. But The White House has denied that anyone involved with the mission has spoken to Pfarrer, with CNN reporting:

"'Neither USSOCOM nor any of its elements have provided access or given permission for any member or members of Special Operations Forces to be interviewed about the operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden,' said command spokesperson Ken McGraw" 

FOX and Friends’ Brian Kilmeade sat down with Pfarrer to ask him about it -- and expressed skepticism about his account.

“I’ve talked with people that are really involved with the operation, and they say you’re wrong, and they say even though you have a SEAL team background, the thing that’s closest to the actual account is the New Yorker Magazine.”


Pfarrer’s account also says Ayman Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s No. 2, betrayed bin Laden to the American forces, and that bin Laden died as he was reaching for a rifle. He says only 12 bullets were used during the entire mission. 

Fox also pressed Pfarrer to explain that discrepancy.

ANCHOR: “You’re telling me that the accounts that we read, even though the sources seemed strong, and there were so many feeds into the Pentagon and into Afghanistan and everything else. You’re saying that your account is right?” 

PFARRER: “Well, the sources for that article were actually political. They were all political sources, none of them were operational sources.”

Still, a writer for the Daily Beast says if anyone would know, it might be Pfarrer.

“Pfarrer certainly had access. A SEAL Team Six assault-element commander in the 1980s, he is known inside the intelligence community for his well-regarded first book, Warrior Soul ... He clearly had detailed conversations with senior officers in the SEALs’ chain of command ... and understands the vocabulary and the culture very well.”

Pfarrer says it could take more than three years for the government to declassify information that could settle this debate.