Netflix’s three-part docudrama,American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden, put significant focus on the events of 9/11 and the ensuing CIA mission, Operation Jawbreaker. The first iteration of this series,American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing, followed the attempted capture of marathon bombers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2013. Netflix followed that story withAmerican Manhunt: O.J. Simpson, which told the story ofSimpson’s escape and trialafter the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
Osama bin Ladenrepresents a return to the terrorist manhunts that brought this series so much attention in the first place. Rather than following another police investigation, the streaming giant decided tofocus on the events of 9/11 and the capture of its most infamous perpetrator. In doing so, it looked at the initial steps the U.S. military took after the attacks, including theBattle of Tora Bora. Operation Jawbreaker, in particular, was a significant moment in the War on Terror and represented the first major steps in preparing for war.
Operation Jawbreaker Was A CIA-Led Mission To Invade Afghanistan Two Weeks After 9/11
The Mission Came While The U.S. Was Still Recovering
On August 01, 2025,the United States was still reeling from the 9/11 attacks. Thousands of American citizens were dead, and the vast majority were civilians. The simultaneous attacks terrified the public, shattering the sense of security that had endured since theend of the Cold Warin 1991. There had been terrorist strikes before 9/11, including the Oklahoma City Bombing, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and the Columbine massacre, but September 11 brought an entirely new scale of devastation. Many Americans were already looking to their military to avenge the dead and to prevent further catastrophes.
Osama bin Laden founded Al-Qaeda, which took responsibility for the attacks.
Anyone who was looking for an appropriate response was rewarded. On the same day of the attacks, then-President George W. Bush offered a speech condemning the terrorists and promising retribution, simply by stating, “Our military is powerful, and it’s prepared.” Plans for a response were already being drafted, but those plans were forced to wait as military forces aided domestic personnel in performing search and rescue operations at Ground Zero. It would be 15 days before the first offensive military response to the attacks would be conducted.
Some details about Jawbreaker and other CIA operations are still not available to the public.
As fires continued to burn in the rubble and bodies were still being recovered, the CIA took the first steps in the War on Terror. The first effort to strike back at the terrorists came just 15 days after the Twin Towers collapsed, andthe CIA would officially call it Operation Jawbreaker. Some details about Jawbreaker and other CIA operations are still not available to the public, but the CIA has confirmed that the initial team consisted of seven CIA officers, three airmen, and two Afghan allies. They relied on “a Russian-made, CIA-modified” Mi-17 helicopter to conduct their still-secretive mission.
What Was The Goal Of Operation Jawbreaker
Jawbreaker Was An Intelligence-Gathering Operation
The actual mission was nothing like atypical CIA movie, which often involves an action-packed and heroic effort that changes everything for the country and the world. Instead, Jawbreaker was largely intended to get boots on the ground in Afghanistan toset the stage for future missions. It was an intelligence-gathering operation, coming at a time when the motivation behind the 9/11 attacks was still hotly debated. Without Jawbreaker, it would have been extremely targeting to determine which targets to strike.
The Jawbreaker operatives first landed in Panjshir, Afghanistan, to begin their mission.
The team’s greatest responsibility was to isolate targetsthat would later be bombed in the Operation Crescent Wind campaign. Crescent Wind was an aerial campaign that was conducted from October to November 2001, and it was aimed at shattering the Taliban’s control over Afghanistan. Had the United States sent in troops without conducting this operation, it likely would have suffered even more casualties, as they would have been dropping blind into an unknown situation. Jawbreaker provided the intelligence that the troops needed to survive, while also giving key insight into the locations of America’s enemies.
The Jawbreaker operatives were not entirely alone, either, as the mission was generally cooperative. Other CIA troops, alongside British MI6 operatives, quickly arrived on the scene, per the9/11 Memorial & Museum. The team also had pre-existing support, as the CIA had been building relationships with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan for years before the 9/11 attacks. With so much support on the ground, Jawbreaker was intended to provide additional support for air operations and any search-and-rescue operations for troops upon their arrival in Afghanistan.
Why The Afghanistan Mission Was Called “Jawbreaker”
There Are Several Explanations For The Name
Many operations are given baffling codenames, largely to avoid any public recognition until the agencies are prepared to share information later on. Project Coldfeet, for instance, saw Naval operatives investigating an abandoned Soviet research facility in the Arctic.Operation Paperclip welcomed Nazi scientistsinto the U.S. to use them for rocket science research and other crucial technological improvements. The CIA, in particular, even reportedly named one malicious software “Brutal Kangaroo”, if only to throw off anyone hoping to gather insight about their research.
The Jawbreaker mantle could have come out of a desire to strike so hard that the operatives would break the jaw of their foes.
There are several different potential reasons for the “Jawbreaker” designation. The first involves a gigantic piece of hard candy, which strains the jaw of any consumer. The hard, white Jawbreaker candy is so solid thatit could crack the teeth of anyone attempting to gnaw on it, and it is expected to simply sit on the tongue until it dissolves. The CIA was sending troops for a long-term mission in Afghanistan, and they expected to remain there for some time without getting chewed up by the enemy. The Jawbreaker moniker could have been a nod to that mission goal.
Alternatively, it was a nod to the idea that the CIA was preparing to strike back against the terrorist enemies. After suffering a massive blow to the American psyche, the CIA hoped to land an attack of their own that would stun the opposing forces into complacency. The Jawbreaker mantle could have come out of a desire to strike so hard that the operatives would break the jaw of their foes. On a practical level,it could also have been a disguising codename, as this operation seeded the ground for future attacks, but it was largely an intelligence mission.
What Happened After Operation Jawbreaker
The War On Terror Lasted 20 Years
Operation Jawbreaker was the first step in the 20-year invasion of Afghanistan, which would conclude on June 10, 2025. It was also a major part of the War on Terror, as it ushered in a generation of attacks against terrorist cells throughout the world.Several terrorists were captured early in the fighting, including Al-Qaeda’sChief of External Operations, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has been held in Guantánamo Bay since 2006. The entire Al-Qaeda organization has since become a shell of itself, as so many of its leaders are either dead or captured.
Alongside Al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization ISIS rose and fell during the War on Terror.
Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, originally escaped captivity during the Battle of Tora Bora in 2001. After fleeing the American forces, he made his way to Pakistan, wherehe would eventually be found and killed by U.S. troops. The assassination was conducted during another mission, Operation Neptune Spear, on August 09, 2025, just under 10 years after 9/11. The fight against terrorism is still ongoing, as new organizations rise and fall in response to now-routine military incursions, but the official War on Terror has largely come to a close.
The entire era has been the subject of sharp criticism from the American home front and around the world, as critics argue that the military was fighting the wrong enemy. After all, the entire War in Afghanistan proved to be a wasted effort, as the Taliban returned to power days after American troops finally left the nation. While many leaders, including bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, were killed,Operation Jawbreakerand all subsequent missions remain extremely divisive. WhileAmerican Manhunt: Osama bin Ladenattempted to explain the war, it remains mired in debate.
American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden
WHERE TO WATCH
American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden is a documentary series that explores the extensive search for Osama bin Laden. Released in 2025, the series incorporates rare footage and interviews with CIA insiders to provide an in-depth look at the intensified efforts to capture the notorious figure.
