WH pushes back on report Obama hesitated to rescue Foley

The Hill ^ | August 29, 2014 | Jesse Byrnes

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The White House is pushing back on a report that the military operation to rescue captured American journalist James Foley was delayed by President Obama's "hesitation."

U.S. forces conducted the rescue operation "as soon as the president" and his national security team "were confident it could be carried out successfully," according to a tweet sent Friday from the National Security Council's account.

The comment was in response to a senior Pentagon official who reportedly confirmed to The Sunday Times of London that "hesitation" on the part of Obama delayed the July 4 operation to rescue Foley.

Foley, who went missing in Syria in 2012, was executed by fighters with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria who posted a video of his decapitation online earlier this month. U.S. officials confirmed the video as authentic.

One day after the video released, the administration disclosed that it had made an unsuccessful attempt over the summer to rescue Foley and other hostages held by ISIS in Syria.

"The President authorized action at this time because it was the national security team’s assessment that these hostages were in danger with each passing day in [ISIS] custody," Obama Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco said in a statement.

“The U.S. Government had what we believed was sufficient intelligence, and when the opportunity presented itself, the President authorized the Department of Defense to move aggressively to recover our citizens,” she added. “Unfortunately, that mission was ultimately not successful because the hostages were not present.”

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called the operation "flawless," adding simply "the hostages were not there."

The Sunday Times reported earlier this week that Pentagon sources said Obama took too long to authorize the rescue because he was concerned about U.S. troops getting killed or captured.

On Friday, Obama's National Security Council called the claim Obama hesitated "not true."

[txrefugee]

Another CYA bulletin from the White Hut. Even their “push backs” are delayed.

[Baynative]

I wish there was someone with the power to just declare that Obama is perfect and let him go on permanent vacation so we could get on with the business of preserving the republic?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The NSC brain trust:

August 28, 2014

Readout of the President’s Meeting with the National Security Council on Iraq and ISIL

This afternoon the President met with his National Security Council to discuss the situation in Iraq, our ongoing efforts to support the Iraqi government, and our comprehensive strategy to counter the threat posed by ISIL in Iraq and Syria. The President will continue to consult with his national security team in the days to come.

Participants in today’s meeting included:

The Vice President (via secure video)

Secretary of State John Kerry (via secure video)

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (via secure video)

Attorney General Eric Holder

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson (via secure video)

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough

National Security Advisor Susan Rice

U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Samantha Power (via secure video)

White House Counsel Neil Eggleston

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey (via secure video)

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff James Winnefeld

Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Matthew Olsen

U.S. Central Command Commander Lloyd Austin (via secure video)

Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shaun Donovan

Deputy National Security Advisor Antony Blinken

Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco

Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Caroline Atkinson

Deputy Secretary of State William Burns

White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and Gulf Region Philip Gordon

Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs Katie Fallon

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran Brett McGurk

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Robert Stephen Beecroft (via secure video)

Suzanne George, Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff of the National Security Council

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/08/28/readout-president-s-meeting-national-security-council-iraq-and-isil

[Starstruck]

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called the operation "flawless," adding simply "the hostages were not there."

Hostages being there seems like a pretty important part of a flawless operation.

[capydick]

according to a tweet sent Friday from the National Security Council's account.

Hashtag National Security.....

Any bets as to what the document dump, bad information or EO will occur around 5:00 pm EDT today?

[C210N]

My main issue is not about what happened way back when with a rescue mission, but the more recent issue - USING publicity of the failure to bolster low PR. Amazing situation where negative PR is used to try to negate even worse PR, but that is where we are today.

[darkwing104]

Translation...someone told the truth

[Tennessee Nana]

Heck Obama is hesitating to rescue the whole country from the Islamics...

[Qiviut]

You can keep your head. Period.

************************************

And we would believe anything coming out of President Tee Time’s mouth or his regime because why???

[fatnotlazy]

Yeah, the operation was flawless, but it failed.

Sort of like the documents were fake, but accurate.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

You can keep your head. Period

Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert: 'Barney Fife is in charge'

[colorado tanker]

We’re supposed to do this a day after Zero held a press conference to announce he is clueless what to do about ISIS???

[DoughtyOne]

Nine year old on the loose...


Ramirez's latest political cartoon LARGE VERSION 08/29/2014: LINK  LINK to regular sized version of Ramirez's latest, and an archive of his political cartoons.
In this political cartoon, Ramirez presents, "The Evil Empire."

NINETY-TWO PRECENT OF THE FREEPATHON GOAL HAS BEEN MET.  Lets end this FReepers.
...this is a general all purpose message, and should not be seen as targeting any individual I am responding to...

Let's end this FReepathon folks.  We all want the forum to be here.  Let's stand behind it and chip in.

[jimbo123]

The point is he pushed it back to JULY 4th so he could MILK IT for politics if it had been successful.

[devolve]

.

- “The U.S. Government had what we believed was sufficient intelligence . . .” - what a flaming pile of arrogant shiite

- The White House did not even double-bag it!

.

[Qiviut]

From the article: ‘He must have his head buried in a hole somewhere on the first green.’

Somebody needs to do a cartoon pic of an O(bama)strich with his head buried in a hole on a golf course. Somewhere in the background, ISIS can be marching, Putin can be riding a tiger, etc. etc. It would make a great political cartoon.

[mojito]

There's nothing wrong with this.

Sometimes it just takes ValJar a little time to make up her mind.

What's 72 hours among friends?

Just get over it.

It's time to move on.

[mojito]

The NSC brain trust

Don't see ValJar on that list. Does anyone think that this meeting was held and ValJar wasn't there? Does anyone think that ValJar wasn't deliberately omitted from the list because to include her would only further the suspicion that ValJar wears the pants in the WH?

[RJS1950]

If they feel they have to “push back” then it must be true. Like the Benghazi 4, he left him to die.