Why am I in the Pentagon report on Zero Dark Thirty?
My bit part in the secrecy wars is revealed
In late May of 2011, I received an unusual call from Doug Wilson, the undersecretary of defense for public affairs.
He wanted to introduce me to Mark Boal, the Oscar-winning writer of the Hurt Locker. Boal, he said, was working on a new film about the manhunt that led to the death of Osama bin Laden.
Why me?
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And yes, I asked that.
He told me it was because I had reported on the Joint Special Operations Command, and had written about the raid for National Journal, so Wilson thought the connection would be mutually beneficial.
Wilson sent me Boal's contact info.
I met him twice, once in Washington, and once in Los Angeles, later that summer.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
At no point did Wilson ask me to talk to Boal about the bin Laden raid, although I assumed that the Pentagon believed that, if I did discuss the subject, my perspective would be somewhat favorable to their point of view. It's a reasonable assumption, although, as I explained to Boal, pretty much everything I knew, with the exception of a few sensitive details, I had put in print.
(At least one detail I did report, about the presence of the RQ-170 drone above Abbottabad, earned me a rebuke from the director of national intelligence.)
I don't remember everything I discussed with Boal, but I'm pretty certain I did not reveal those details to him. (A few I remember have still not been made public.) He did not ask me to discuss any specific knowledge I had about the raid.
From what I recall, Boal and I discussed internal Pentagon and White House politics. He did not reveal to me the extent of his access at the CIA or the Pentagon.
At the time, I was a bit intimated by him. He was a reporter-turned-filmmaker, something I aspired to be, and so I didn't see our meeting as an exercise in pure journalism. After all, I had nothing to write about. Boal was under significant time constraints, having to rewrite a film that suddenly had a new ending. We spent a lot of time discussing filmmaking.
Whatever sources he did find were better than me: He did not ask me to be a consultant on the film.
The DoD report suggests that Boal was the one who asked Wilson to facilitate the introduction to me and Kim Dozier, the AP's intelligence reporter, who has magnificent access to that community. I assume that Boal had come across my articles when doing research.
Incidentally, I also asked Wilson for an interview with Mike Vickers, the undersecretary of defense in charge of special ops, for the purposes of reporting. Wilson endorsed my request, but it was turned down by Vickers' public affairs officer.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Marc Ambinder is TheWeek.com's editor-at-large. He is the author, with D.B. Grady, of The Command and Deep State: Inside the Government Secrecy Industry. Marc is also a contributing editor for The Atlantic and GQ. Formerly, he served as White House correspondent for National Journal, chief political consultant for CBS News, and politics editor at The Atlantic. Marc is a 2001 graduate of Harvard. He is married to Michael Park, a corporate strategy consultant, and lives in Los Angeles.
-
'Horror stories of women having to carry nonviable fetuses'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Haiti interim council, prime minister sworn in
Speed Read Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigns amid surging gang violence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 26, 2024
Cartoons Friday's cartoons - teleprompter troubles, presidential immunity, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Why Puerto Rico is starving
The Explainer Thanks to poor policy design, congressional dithering, and a hostile White House, hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable Puerto Ricans are about to go hungry
By Jeff Spross Published
-
China is now just another autocracy
The Explainer On the long-lasting consequences of Xi Jinping's power grab
By Noah Millman Published
-
Is America the main obstacle to peace in Korea?
The Explainer There's only one way Korea would unify — and the United States won't stand for it
By Noah Millman Published
-
Why on Earth does the Olympics still refer to hundreds of athletes as 'ladies'?
The Explainer Stop it. Just stop.
By Jeva Lange Last updated
-
Berlin's wall and ours
The Explainer What that signifier of the Cold War indicates about our unsettled historical moment
By Noah Millman Published
-
The catastrophe in Yemen
The Explainer A Saudi Arabian blockade has left millions of civilians starving, and without fuel or clean water. What is this conflict about?
By The Week Staff Published
-
China's strongman
The Explainer Xi Jinping is China's most powerful leader in decades. What are his plans for the country — and the world?
By The Week Staff Published
-
How to ride out the apocalypse in a big city
The Explainer So you live in a city and don't want to die a fiery death ...
By Eugene K. Chow Published