"The C.I.A. surveillance team in the rented house near Bin Laden’s hide-out took pains to avoid detection..."

"... not only by the suspected Qaeda operatives they were watching but by Pakistani intelligence and the local police."

Observing from behind mirrored glass, C.I.A. officers used cameras with telephoto lenses and infrared imaging equipment to study the compound, and they used sensitive eavesdropping equipment to try to pick up voices from inside the house and to intercept cellphone calls. A satellite used radar to search for possible escape tunnels.

Still, the spying operation had its limits: the American surveillance team would see a tall man take regular walks through the compound’s courtyard — they called him “the pacer” — but they were never able to confirm the man was Bin Laden.

And from the same NYT article: Documents indicate that it wasn't true that bin Laden "had been relegated to an inspirational figure with little role in current and future Qaeda operations."

[There is] a handwritten notebook from February 2010 that discusses tampering with tracks to derail a train on a bridge, possibly on Christmas, New Year’s Day, the day of the State of the Union address or the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks...