How Obama et al screwed up the Osama mission...

[Oldgringo]

Hmm...It seems to me that Bush had a chance to catch Osama http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/magaz ... wanted=all but somehow that got screwed up. Obama gave the mission the OK to go into Pakistan and kill Osama. Seems to me that takes a focused President.

Yeah.... Bush carpetbombed an entire rugged mountainous region, destroying many of the caves in which the Taliban were hiding, but not destroying the one cave containing OBL, and that's a screwup. But when BHO authorizes a SEAL team to kill him after he has been living in a large house 1/4 mile from Pakistan's military college on the outskirts of Islamabad, when everybody in the neighborhood seemingly knew who it was who lived there, and when he has lived in that house for a year or more of BHO's presidency, in the open, and that's a focused president. OBL would have had to pee on his leg to get his attention if he were any less focused.

That's the same laser-like focus that just blew up the nation's political relationship with Israel.....at a pretty critical juncture. It's the same laser-like focus that flushed the nation's "special relationship" with Great Britain down the toilet within the first week of his presidency. That's the same laser-like focus that refuses to surrender any of the White House documents on Solyndra with the excuse that doing so would take too much of the president's time......when all he has to do is stick his head out of the oval office door and tell his chief of staff to get on it and make some phone calls. It's the same laser-like focus that can't speak off the cuff without the support of a teleprompter, and is incapable of improvising when the device fails. I wouldn't hire the guy to pick up the dog logs in my back yard. He's not focused enough to find all 4 of them, even though they are laying right out in the open as I write this. He would surely miss one of them. The only thing he was focused on leading up to the raid on OBL's compound was the TV he was watching it on. I'll give him credit for staying out of the way and letting better men than he is get the job done, because he's at his best when he doesn't step in and step on his own crank.

Other than that, I guess he's OK.....

I don't care much for Obama either. Who's next?

[Texas Dan Mosby]

Didn't Clinton pass on an oppotunity to nab UBL?

UBL was on the radar as far back as 91', but not a single administration had the intestinal fortitude to address the issue until he attacked the world trade center....for the SECOND time. Perhaps if he was dealing cocaine, ala Pablo Escobar, instead of just engineering violent attacks on civilian and government targets, our elected representatives would have treated him as the threat he was, and allowed our spear carriers to rid the world of him. Clinton shares the burden indeed, however, he is not alone.

As for Obama dorking up the UBL mission? I don't agree with that.

While his administration undoubtedly hindered the mission, they ALL do that. The LAST time we actually fought with BOTH hands was WWII, our elected representatives have forced us to fight hamstrung ever since. In the end, none of the political garbage matters as long as the target is ID'd and eliminated with the min possible casualties. The assaulters were given a mission, and they completed it without loss to the assault force. That's not only a success, but a resounding success. We can replace helicopters, but we can't replace assaulters.

The only thing that matters to me is that UBL was found, and a group of determined American men with rifles kicked in his door and shot him in the face while he cowered like the lowly cockroach he truly was. Many of those assaulters had been waiting YEARS for that opportunity. I know I was.

[punkndisorderly]

I'm waiting for Alex Jones or one of the other conspiracy fruitcakes to start claiming that Bin Laden is still alive and running an Extended Stay America in Boca Raton. Obama struck a deal in exchange for delaying any attacks until after he leaves office. The Seals didn't kill him, they just picked him up, and the planeload of seals was shot down later to ensure their silence. A year after Alex "exposes" this, the History channel will have a "Documentary" claiming alien involvement or that it was foretold in a hidden bible code.

[tbrown]

I see two possibilities. One is that Obama wanted immediate glory so much he wouldn't wait a month (or even 72 hours) and selfishly threw away the chance for the military to act on the intel gained in the raid. The other possibility is he did it to intentionally prevent the military from being able to act on the intel. Neither reflects well on him as a leader but at least the first possibility doesn't involve treason by the Commander in Chief.

[The Mad Moderate]

We have killed a number of high level targets on the intel from the OBL raid.

[74novaman]

We have killed a number of high level targets on the intel from the OBL raid.

And could have gotten more, had we not rushed out to say "HAY LOOK GUISE! WE GOT ALL THIS INTEL FROM BIN LADENS HOUSE!!!". Instead, when that was announced the rats started finding hidey holes.

We should have gotten him, spent a month doing clean up duty, then announced that we not only got OBL but eliminated 90% of the leadership of AL-qaeda.

[tallmike]

I am always amazed how partisan politics can spin even the most positive things into a negative.

[Carry-a-Kimber]

I am always amazed how partisan politics can spin even the most positive things into a negative.

This.

[bayouhazard]

We have killed a number of high level targets on the intel from the OBL raid.

And could have gotten more, had we not rushed out to say "HAY LOOK GUISE! WE GOT ALL THIS INTEL FROM BIN LADENS HOUSE!!!". Instead, when that was announced the rats started finding hidey holes.

We should have gotten him, spent a month doing clean up duty, then announced that we not only got OBL but eliminated 90% of the leadership of AL-qaeda.

This.

[The Mad Moderate]

We have killed a number of high level targets on the intel from the OBL raid.

And could have gotten more, had we not rushed out to say "HAY LOOK GUISE! WE GOT ALL THIS INTEL FROM BIN LADENS HOUSE!!!". Instead, when that was announced the rats started finding hidey holes.

We should have gotten him, spent a month doing clean up duty, then announced that we not only got OBL but eliminated 90% of the leadership of AL-qaeda.

This.

Do you really think that the raid was something that could of been denied by the US for any amount of time given that there was a piece of a helicopter left there also do you not think that al queda would know anyways no matter what makes it to the news.

[Pawpaw]

Do you really think that the raid was something that could of been denied by the US for any amount of time given that there was a piece of a helicopter left there also do you not think that al queda would know anyways no matter what makes it to the news.

Of course! It would be absolute child's play for the administration that continues to maintain silence in the face of the mountains of evidence about Fast & Furious.

[Lambda Force]

It looks like the partisan politics runs both ways in this thread.

[Dragonfighter]

Hmm...It seems to me that Bush had a chance to catch Osama http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/magaz ... wanted=all but somehow that got screwed up. Obama gave the mission the OK to go into Pakistan and kill Osama. Seems to me that takes a focused President.

Yeah.... Bush carpetbombed an entire rugged mountainous region, destroying many of the caves in which the Taliban were hiding, but not destroying the one cave containing OBL, and that's a screwup. But when BHO authorizes a SEAL team to kill him after he has been living in a large house 1/4 mile from Pakistan's military college on the outskirts of Islamabad, when everybody in the neighborhood seemingly knew who it was who lived there, and when he has lived in that house for a year or more of BHO's presidency, in the open, and that's a focused president. OBL would have had to pee on his leg to get his attention if he were any less focused.

Or the CIA safe house in the same neighborhood, some say next door.

[TDDude]

Yeah, I know I'm in the minority regarding my political views

Not only that but you do realize that you are on a Gun forum??? And that your guy is doing everything in his considerable power to restrict and eliminate gun rights in this country??

Anyone follow the logic of any forum member supporting the current president???

Of course there will be times when his right decision for the wrong reasons work out but even a blind hog catches an acorn now and then.

[OldCannon]

While I think that Obama's decision was politically motivated, and that I find Obama to be the WORST president to EVER sit in the oval office, I am obligated to state that he is the acting Commander in Chief, and that it's definitely his prerogative to decide when and where to announce the results of the mission.

That doesn't make him any less of an idiot in my book.