Aaron and Della and the Quest for bin Laden
Della and Aaron had formed a tight partnership in their time at BU. Her eye through the viewfinder and his nose for news, made them a force to be reckoned with. Having graduated top of their respective classes from Boston University and moving on to freelancing with Today Magazine, based in New York City, they turned their attention to the world of foreign politics.
Al Qaeda was fast becoming a threat to the US. Founded by Osama bin laden, Abdullah Azzam and several other militants, with origins going back to the Soviet war in Afghanistan, it operated as a network, not defined by a particular state, but a multinational army, an Islamist extremist jihadist group. Al Qaeda had mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countries. Its attacks on the US escalated from the 1998 US embassy bombings to the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. It was just after the 911 attack that the Bush administration announced a $25 million reward for information leading to the capture or killing of Osama bin Laden.
By this time, Aaron and Della had become acquainted with Ryan Jamieson, a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Photojournalism, who had been recruited to the CIA right out of college. Although Della was unaware of Ryan’s connection to the force, Aaron, with his astute mind and powers of observation had figured out his secret identity and was taken into Ryan’s confidence. Theirs was a mutually convenient relationship with Aaron’s need for insider information and Ryan’s need to be able to leak select information through the media.
When news of the reward for bin Laden was released, Aaron was determined that he and Della would join the hunt and they had packed their bags and headed to Afghanistan.
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