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Retired Army Gen. Hugh Shelton, who oversaw all U.S. military operations as the nation embarked on its pursuit of Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said Friday that he expected forces would eventually catch up to the al-Qaida leader.

<b>RALEIGH, N.C.</b> — Retired Army Gen. Hugh Shelton, who oversaw all U.S. military operations as the nation embarked on its pursuit of Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said Friday that he expected forces would eventually catch up to the al-Qaida leader.

"It happened almost like I would have envisioned it unfolding – in the dead of night, small force, right on top of him and get him before he knows what's happening," Shelton told WRAL News in an exclusive interview.

Retired Army Gen. Hugh Shelton, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 9/11, discusses the mission that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and the future of the war on terrorism.

General Shelton, Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us. You were nearing the end of your assignment as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 9 11 but the name Osama bin laden And Al Qaeda was the name you were familiar with. Had been pursuing him long before that. In fact, for the two years before I became chairman while I was Commander in chief of Special Operations Command, we have been very active in looking at the modus operandi of the uh the uh organization Al Qaeda tracking their sources of money and where they were, what their distribution was. Of that money. And in fact I carried that knowledge with me up to D. C. When I went to become the chairman and we continue to track and try to get our hands on bin laden. Hey, It took a while. It took 10 years. Was there ever any doubt in your mind that he would be captured? None whatsoever. And I said that on a number of occasions it isn't a matter of if we did him, it's when we did it. And the way it went down, I've been asked many times, you know, were you surprised? The answer is no. It happened almost like I would have envisioned it unfolding in the dead of night, small force right on top of him and get him before you notice what's happening. President Obama said on 60 minutes last Sunday night that going in with the best information. Best intelligence he had, He raided it still 55 45 55 positive 45 pretty close call. Um, those odds to a layperson sound close with your perspective, are they as close as they sound? Not at all. Not to me, I mean if we had a uh if we had a 70 30 that we could get in with a with a special Ops team the way we did, uh that would have been good enough. Now if you're gonna fire a missile, that's a different story because if you're firing a missile now, you stand the chance of killing a group of people that may not even be related to bin laden. If you hit the compound. Everybody there obviously had had some association with him in the past, but you still are going to be accused of killing women and Children and not getting bin laden himself, you look bad perception wise, you are bad. So, uh, but with the team going in there, you have the man in the loop, so to speak. They're going to be decisions made by those special ops guys and they're not gonna kill innocent civilians. So if it's a 30% chance we can get in, then I'd have recommended we go for him. So and on top of that, I think given the length of time that we have been tracking him, the only way we would have missed him is if at the last if he had a tunnel or some means that we didn't know about that he could have escaped otherwise, I think we knew we were going to either get him or it was going to be a failed operation from a standpoint of not getting but not leaving devastation behind In general. Look at these bookends. On one hand, He was a 9-11 mastermind. I mean, we look at this plan and think how could someone have come up with this and have these people so dedicated to carry it through their own suicide, so on and so forth. 10 years later, we find him in a compound where this treasure trove of information to just lying around. There was nothing to make it self destruct. There was no real heavy security. It maybe it's our own lens of the way we think of things. But there seemed to be a great disconnect there. What am I missing in the way he lived? I think two things that you're not missing, but I think I think that intuitively obvious to me is that is I think he had grown over confident in his level of two continuing to avoid detection. That he had, he had evaded us for so long that now and he's in Pakistan, another country That we're not going to find him. # two, his Korea's the people around him were family members that he didn't envision betraying him, even if a $25 million etc. And how loyal did he think they were to him? It's hard for me to imagine that he didn't think that he lived right in the middle of a group of people that would be willing to defend him if he were to come under attack. Special Ops very near and dear to you. Very much so. As we look at new technology, advancing technology and we look at also our military all volunteer being spread thinly around the world, longer engagements, our special operations going to become more and more of the way resolutions are achieved in military warfare. Well, David, I think the answer that is, is an unequivocal. Yes, it is the issue that we face is is that the caliber of people that we're talking about that comprises Special Operations force. See the seals that went in to get bin laden were not just ju vanilla navy seals. Although there are they are navy seals. But they went through an assessment and selection to join this special team. That is a part of the Special Operations Command, just like the Special forces guys that are in Delta at Fort Bragg are a different breed of cats, so to speak than your normal special forces guys. They've been through the assessment and selection process. There are small percentage that can make that cup. So as we look at who we bring into special operations when we have that bar set high and we have these great men and women that serve in Special Ops. You don't want to lure that bar ready because if you do, you dilute the force and now you're no longer, you know, you confuse enthusiasm with capability And we never want to do that. That's what happened back in Tehran when we tried to go in in 75, which is why we formed Special Ops. But the way of the world says, we're going to have more ethnic, ethnic, religious and tribal warfare and those are the types of things where special operations are worth their weight in gold. It's a matter of whether or not we can grow the force now, it is growing, but it's growing at a very measured pace to make sure we maintain the standards. Let's be a great honor for someone who has volunteered for the military to make it to that level. Well, I think it's the, it is the ultimate uh when you, when you become a member of Special Operations Command, you wanted the chosen few so to speak and that includes all services because each of the services has a feed into the various elements of Special Ops Army, Navy Air Force and Marine Corps now report out, I think either yesterday or this morning General that mentioned that General Petraeus, I was not aware of this operation. That surprise you. That's true. Uh it would surprise me that, that he wasn't aware that given an opportunity to get bin laden, that the Joint Special Operations Command, the element within within the region that was tasked with trying to track down bin laden would be prepared to go after it. Uh, not having a fully coordinated, having to move very fast for a specific target would not surprise me. But I think in the broader scheme of things, I think Dave Petraeus knew that they were there and were ready to do that given the opportunity. Just a couple of more things. What was your first thought when you heard the news? Well, I really wasn't surprised when I heard it. I just said, thank God we finally got him because I think it was important for us to get bin laden because he was the mastermind and over, you know, over 100 nations law, citizens in that attack on the World Trade Center and the pentagon and end up in pennsylvania. And so it was a great relief to me to know that we finally got the guy, but I did not, I did not view that, nor do I view it now as a panacea. Uh, there are others out there that are just as bad or worse than he is that are now vying to take his place. And so we've got to be relentless in our pursuit of these individuals. And I thought, you know, this is just another step if you will, that we're taking to try to go after these terrorists that would bring harm to our citizens. General Shelton. I lived That's 20 years ago, 25 years ago now. I lived in Israel for almost a year and I learned there that you always live on alert. You have to in that country. You do. Are we at that point in this country now where we need to live on alert? You know, I don't think are american citizens are at the point now that we need to live on alert in our day to day living. I mean, that's what the terrorists want to do. If they can make us do that, they win because your whole lifestyle has to change when that happens. But I think our armed forces, our counterterrorist forces, our C. I A. FBI, the two primaries in the intelligence area along with our Special Operations Command. Have you got to live on alert? And they've got to be relentless in their pursuit of these individuals and these organizations that try to plan these dastardly things against the United States. Those are the people that really have to stay on alert and keep pursuing. General Hugh Shelton is always we are deeply grateful for your time this morning. Thank you very much, David. Great to be with you. Thank you sir.

David Crabtree

Terry Cantrell

Web only: Shelton discusses bin Laden mission

Gen. Hugh Shelton

The Edgecombe County native was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1997 to 2001, and his four-year term ended weeks after 9/11.

"I think he had grown overconfident in his level of continuing to avoid detection," he said of bin Laden. "He had evaded us for so long, and he's in Pakistan – another country – that we were not going to find him."

As intelligence analysts review the information that the Navy SEALs collected from bin Laden's compound during the May 1 raid that killed him, the U.S. will learn more about al-Qaida operations and who betrayed the terror mastermind, Shelton said.

"Who was it (who) actually lived in those surrounding villas?" he said. "How loyal did he think they were to him? It's hard for me to imagine that he didn't think that he lived right in the middle of a group of people (who) would be willing to defend him if he came under attack."

Shelton was post commander at Fort Bragg before heading the Joint Chiefs, and he oversaw the Special Operations Command there. With the war on terror dragging on, he believes those elite teams will be used even more, even if the odds of success on missions appear small.

"The Special Forces guys that are in Delta (Force) at Fort Bragg are a different breed of cat, so to speak, than your normal Special Forces guys," he said. "With a team going on, there you have the man in the loop. There are going to be decisions made by those Special Ops guys, and they're not going to kill innocent civilians."

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