Posted on 05/04/2011 7:08:18 PM PDT by Signalman
Leon Panetta, director of the CIA, revealed there was a 25 minute blackout during which the live feed from cameras mounted on the helmets of the US special forces was cut off.
A photograph released by the White House appeared to show the President and his aides in the situation room watching the action as it unfolded. In fact they had little knowledge of what was happening in the compound.
Mr Panetta said: “Once those teams went into the compound I can tell you that there was a time period of almost 20 or 25 minutes where we really didn’t know just exactly what was going on. And there were some very tense moments as we were waiting for information.
“We had some observation of the approach there, but we did not have direct flow of information as to the actual conduct of the operation itself as they were going through the compound.”
Panetta also admitted that the Navy Seals, not the president, made the decision to kill bin Laden:
He said: “The authority here was to kill bin Laden. And obviously, under the rules of engagement, if he had in fact thrown up his hands, surrendered and didn’t appear to be representing any kind of threat, then they were to capture him. But they had full authority to kill him.
“To be frank, I don’t think he had a lot of time to say anything. It was a firefight going up that compound. And by the time they got to the third floor and found bin Laden, I think it – this was all split-second action on the part of the Seals.”
The President only knew the mission was successful after the Navy Seals commander heard the word “Geronimo” on the radio, a code word from commandos reporting that they had killed bin Laden.
The absence of footage of the raid has led to conflicting reports about what happened in the compound. According to Pakistani authorities one of bin Laden’s daughter’s, who was present during the raid, claimed that her father was captured alive before he was killed.
“how all 25 backups failed.”
26 with the dog, but we are stupid and won’t think of that.
Haha! That’s great.
PERFECT.
Hadn’t thought of it.
Let’s see some footage before they gunned him down.
Hillary has a Top Secret file in her lap that indicates it cannot be shown to foreigners no matter their classifcation.
I feel like Obama shouldn’t be able to look ;-)
Paki cops shot the dog ;)
hereTo: wilco200One of the first reports that I read yeasterday said that the SEALS had webcams on their helmets. The WH photos show all the honchos looking at a screen, was it a live feed from the SEALS webcams? If it was, release that vid.
If something isn’t really fishy, then it is the worst handling of a vital situation in the “information age” ever yet committed. Only this administration could so bungle imparting the particulars of the slaying of OBL, so they have that going for them.
Freegards
More like LIVING one. Read Dead or Alive. The primary plot narrative has already come true. The next thing will be trying to charge the seals.
Agreed. Zero’s expression speaks too. He looks pretty PO’d to be part of what is happening there.
In that pic, also note that the Military (AF) guy is in the ‘big chair’ and BO is very small and off to the side.
That picture SCREAMS that he had no control whatsoever over what was happening. It was like his presence was an afterthought and he didn’t want to be there anyway.
If I wanted to pose a shot to make BO look bad, this is exactly what I’d want to do. Since I cannot imagine him wanting to look bad for any reason, I have to wonder just how compromised he really was for this operation.
If you believe some of the stories, he had no choice at all. Petraeus was sick of waiting and was going to hit the house with a Predator. Panetta was ready to pull the trigger on the strike team, and Hillary flying around on her broom pulling the strings.
Makes you almost feel sorry for the little guy. Almost.
I read the Ulsterman stuff and that REALLY makes me think.
I have no doubt that BO would not willingly give the go on this. It goes against every single thing he has said/promoted to this point. He had to know most (waterboarding etc.) info would come out and none of it would be good for him. He campaigned against every single thing that made the operation a success.
(I think it did happen ... Osama shot dead... because I refuse to believe the military would go along with a BO reelection fantasy)
I don’t know if the Ulsterman stuff is true but it fits everything many of us know and/or believe about this administration. Now all these contradictions/changing stories come out...
BO is full of BS. That’s the only thing we can be sure of right now.
“BO is full of BS.”
I’m starting to think BS is all he’s got left. He’s lost authoritative control over the business end of his cabinet.
And probably much more entertaining.
Can you work in some dogs and horses?
I really like dog and horse stories.
[might as well...it’s already a dog and pony show]
:)
“Someone smart calculated there were too many leftists in the WH situation room not to be trusted... so they cut the live feed.”
Yes that which cannot be seen cannot be blabbed.
I mentioned this on another thread some time ago and Can’t verify any of it but FWIW....
On FR a while (year+) back, there was an article about some ex-spook/current writer who had talked up his old contacts on the black world about BO and what his election meant for the intel agencies/other countries. The jist of it was they would play it by ear until he stepped over ‘the line’ (whatever that may be) and then the powers that be would act. Didn’t say what or how specifically, but the impression I got from it was they would ‘out’ him.
Fantasy? Could be, but from what I remember of that article, alot of it has tracked recent history pretty well.
It was on here, but I have never been able to find it again.
Again, this is a FWIW.
On MAY day, no less.
[henceforth to be known as “May or May Not Day”]
The irony is not lost.
:)
I like that it is more fitting for this administration!
I agree. The SEALS would have captured him if possible (for the intelligence information) but they weren’t going to take chances.
they could have easily bombed the place if they just meant to kill.
I also find it interesting that in one report one of the women had to identify him to the SEALS. that suggests they saw a threat and shot him. All the bull crap about him being “unarmed” is nonsense.
And I too suspect the downed helicopter is why they had communication problems.
I suspect that they hoped to keep it quiet a few hours until the hard drives were checked, but it was tweeted...
and I suspect that when the WH discovered it had been “tweeted” and everyone knew about it, they had to rush to get the story out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.