World / Osama bin Laden In bin Laden Compound, US Watched 'the Pacer' Bob Woodward fleshes out details of Osama bin Laden takedown By Polly Davis Doig, Newser Staff Posted May 7, 2011 10:28 AM CDT Copied In this May 2, 2011 file photo, taken by a local resident, shows the wreckage of a helicopter in the compound where Osama bin Laden was shot and killed in a firefight with US forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zubair, File) See 3 more photos A mundane phone call led to the downfall of the world's most elusive terrorist: “I’m back with the people I was with before," Osama bin Laden's courier told a friend as US ears perked up. Bob Woodward fleshes out the takedown in today's Washington Post; among the details: When US officials tracked the courier to bin Laden's compound, they observed a tall man who walked the grounds for an hour or two each day. They dubbed him "the pacer," Woodward notes. "His routine suggested he was not just a shut-in but almost a prisoner." One adviser put the odds that the pacer was bin Laden at 40%: Even so, he said, that's "38% better than we have ever had before.” Bin Laden was known to be taller that 6-foot-4; US intel could only narrow the pacer's height to between 5-foot-8 and 6-foot-8. Navy Vice Adm. William McRaven was given the task of developing a "boots-on-the-ground" plan, and ultimately turned to the SEALs, who are known for quick strikes. The operation became known as the McRaven Plan. A 6-foot SEAL stretched out next to bin Laden's corpse to approximate his height, which was several inches taller. When that got relayed to Obama, he said, “We donated a $60 million helicopter to this operation. Could we not afford to buy a tape measure?” (More Osama bin Laden stories.) See 3 more photos Report an error