As I wrote here, following the dastardly September 11 attacks, the U.S. State Department offered a $25 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Osama Bin Laden.
At the State Department’s “Rewards for Justice” web site, “Seeking Information Against International Terrorism,” one can still see “Usama bin Ladin’s” mug shot; one can still see the “Up to $25 Million reward” offer; one can still see the terrorist’s vital statistics; and one can still see why the villain is wanted.
On May 2, a very pertinent piece of information was added to the “wanted poster”: the single word “Deceased.”
I also commented that:
The State Department makes it sound quick and easy to claim and receive such an award: “Anyone who provides actionable information that will either help us prevent or favorably resolve acts of international terrorism against the U.S. anywhere in the world may potentially be eligible for a reward.”
But the actual collection process is anything but quick and easy:
Either a U.S. investigating agency, such as the Department of Defense or the FBI, or a U.S. embassy abroad, must first nominate a person for a reward. An interagency committee then carefully evaluates the information. If the Interagency Rewards Committee believes an individual is eligible for a reward, it recommends that the Secretary of State approve a reward.
The recommendation of the Committee, however, is not binding. The Secretary of State has complete discretion over whether or not to authorize a given reward, and can change the amount of the reward, within the terms of the law.
If there is a federal criminal jurisdiction in the matter, the Secretary requests the concurrence of the Attorney General before paying the reward.
And then:
Reward payment amounts are based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the threat posed by a given terrorist, the severity of the danger or injury to U.S. persons or property, the value of the information provided, the risk faced by a source and his/her family, and the degree of a source’s cooperation in an investigation or trial.
I concluded:
We may never know if a reward was claimed or made. But the one thing we know for sure tonight is that the man directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans is officially “Deceased.”
For this American, that is good enough.
Well, not only is it good enough for “this American,” but it will have to be good for everyone, because today U.S. officials announced that no one will receive the $25 million reward for the capture of Osama bin Laden.
The reason? U.S. officials say that the raid that killed bin Laden was “the result of electronic intelligence, not human informants.”
“We do not expect a reward to be paid,” said a senior U.S. official familiar with the bin Laden hunt, meaning that the $25 million bounty offered by the U.S. under the Rewards for Justice program after the 9/11 terror attacks will probably remain uncollected.
The reason is simple, say officials involved in or knowledgeable about the hunt for the world’s most wanted man: the CIA and the military never had an al Qaeda operative as an informer willing to give him up. Instead, what killed bin Laden was electronic surveillance, and an operational mistake by one of his closest associates…
Read more here.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.