Similar raid planned in 2007,but called off

“We thought we had ‘No. 1’ on this side of the border,” said a senior US military officer involved in planning the operation. “It was the best intelligence we’d had on him in a long time.” The military set into motion one of the largest strike missions of its kind,with long-range bombers,attack helicopters,artillery and commandos all ready to pummel the rugged mountain valley along Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan,according to military officers and former government officials.

But just as the half dozen B-2 Stealth bombers were halfway on the 3,000-mile flight to their target,commanders ordered them to return to their secret base in the Indian Ocean,because of doubts about the intelligence on Osama and concerns about civilian casualties from the bombs.

A smaller,more precise raid was carried out by commandos and attack helicopters,killing several dozen militants in the episode,which has not been previously disclosed. But Osama was not there.

Inside the White House,the disappointment was palpable,according to senior aides to former President George W Bush.

Amid the national relief over the killing of Osama by a Navy Seal team in Abbottabad this secret chapter in the hunt for Osama is a reminder of the years of frustration and false hopes government officials endured in picking up his trail.

Lessons of the 2007 mission echoed through the White House in recent months,as a fresh stream of intelligence pointed to a compound in Abbottabad that appeared to house Osama. The options presented to President Obama for the raid were strikingly similar to those drawn up in 2007.ERIC SCHMITT & THOM SHANKER