Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I te tau 1998, kua arotahi atu a O'Neill ki a Osama bin Laden, ā, kua waihangahia e ia tētahi tēpu al-Qaeda i roto i tana wehenga. I te marama o Akuhata 1998,
E rua nga whare rangatira o te United States i whakaekehia i roto i nga whakaeke kotahi i Nairobi, Kenya, me Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I tūmanako a O'Neill kia uru atu ia ki te rangahau nā te mea he nui te mōhio ki te whatunga kaiwhakatuma a Osama bin Laden, a al-Qaeda. I whakatenatena ia i te Tumuaki o te FBI a Freeh kia tukua tana tari ki te whakahaere i te take, ā, ka mea te kaiwhakawā, a Mary Jo White, "I roto i te rangahau i ngā whakaeke i ō mātou whare karere i Awherika ki te Rāwhiti, i waihangahia e John O'Neill te tauira mō ngā rangahau angitu o te whakatumatuma ā-ao huri noa i te ao".