Will The Navy SEALs Swift Boat Obama?

BuzzFeed ^ | 5/1/2012 | Michael Hastings

[Signalman]

Almost eight years ago, presidential candidate John Kerry accepted the Democratic nomination with the infamous line: “I’m John Kerry, and I’m reporting for duty.” His military service, in a war three decades old, became the centerpiece of his campaign.

Within weeks, the Republicans had turned what was seen as one of Kerry’s strongest assets against him. Swift Boats Veterans for Truth—which included over 200 Vietnam veterans, most who hadn’t even served with Kerry—succeeded in raising doubts about the heroic narrative Kerry was selling. What seemingly started as a scratch turned into a sucking chest wound for his campaign.

Yesterday, the Obama campaign got clawed.

Drudge blasted the headline from London's Daily Mail: SEALS SLAM OBAMA FOR MAKING IT POLITICAL.

What was supposed to be an easy win—a victory lap on the anniversary of Bin Laden’s death, trumping up the president’s most militant moment—appeared to be slipping away.

The frustration—or, even anger—within the SEAL community is real, and has been brewing for months, particularly among a politically conservative core of operators. It started immediately after the raid, with questions among the Special Forces and intelligence community of whether the president should have waited to announce the kill to exploit the intelligence cache at Osama’s compound. It simmered after a Chinook helicopter was shot down, killing 30 Americans, 22 of them Navy SEALs from Team Six.

Was it a coincidence, SEALs asked themselves, catastrophe hit Team Six so soon after being named as the team responsible for the killing?

The White House narrative on the Geronimo mission would soon come under scrutiny as well, after Chuck Pfarrer, a former member of Seal Team Six, published a book length account questioning the official version of the story. The controversial book was viciously attacked—a JSOC spokesperson called it a “fabrication”—and it was widely dismissed by the press.

What the pushback revealed, however, was an extreme sensitivity in the White House as to who would have the privilege to tell the Bin Laden story, best expressed in a compelling, if well stage-managed, story in the New Yorker. The piece recounted the Abbottabad raid based on interviews with senior administration and military officials, while imbuing the story with the drama of a SEAL’s eye view. Yet the author conceded he had not actually interviewed the men who did the shooting.

Over the past few days, I’ve reached out to a number of SEALs, both active duty and former. Most active duty SEALs were reluctant to go on the record venting or praising their boss, but one of the most interesting responses I received from an operator was to direct me to Leif Babin, a SEAL who left active duty last year.

Babin, who runs the consulting firm Echelon Front, wrote a little noticed op-ed in Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal four months ago. The headline: OBAMA EXPLOITS THE NAVY SEALS. Babin took aim at “the president and his advisors, writing: “It is infuriating to see political gain put above the safety and security of our brave warriors and our long-term strategic goals.”

Obama campaign officials say the decision to put the Bin Laden hit at the centerpiece of the re-elect effort is a no brainer. (It has featurd in the new "Forward" ad; Vice President Biden’s speech last week; and a Davis Guggenheim documentary narrated by Tom Hanks.) The raid dispels the archetype of the supposedly weak Democrat; it’s reveals a moment of presidential decisiveness; and the successful killing of the aging terrorist in his Pakistani hideout, ten years after 9-11, a clear cut national triumph. It's a topic the Obama camp is all too happy to discuss, at any length.

But as the stagey outrage over the politicization of foreign policy from Mitt Romney and his Republican allies gained momentum over this past weekend, White House officials started to have their doubts. Was spiking the football, again, and again, and again, in a public such a good idea? Was it necessary? Was the campaign in Chicago, White House officials wondered, going too far?

Like Kerry’s war record, the vulnerability to the president’s Bin Laden story isn’t so much from the other side, as it from those who can claim the mantle of veteran. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the website: navysealsagainstobama.com sprout up soon. Sure, military servicemen are accustomed to being exploited by both the left and the right. But that strategy can have its weaknesses, too. If the assault on the Bin Laden narrative continues, and if the anger expressed in private by the SEALs remains very public, the campaign might be forced to retreat.

[M-cubed]

as an old VN vet.....I don't want to talk about it..I want to fight someone over it.........old habits die young.....

[The Shrew]

Interesting Times, Please pick up the white courtesy phone. Mr. Interesting Times, Please pick up the white courtesy phone!

[GreyFriar]

ping

[Doofer]

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the website: navysealsagainstobama.com sprout up soon.

It already has.

[ConorMacNessa]

Thanks very much for your service, Shipmate! The slanders directed at the Swift Boat Veterans in 2004 brought back bitter memories for me, and I'm sure for many other Vietnam Vets as well.

Forty years later and the bastards are still hard at work undermining and denigrating the work we did in 'Nam.

For any posters who are not old enough to remember the Vietnam War, it was an honorable cause and we prevailed in every major engagement in the field. When I left in August 1969, we had the situation well in hand.

Plenty of villains in the piece, notably Sen. Half-bright from AK, Kerry, Jane Fonda, and the "most trusted man in America" Walter Cronkite. They and many others laid the groundwork for the Fall of Vietnam.

Sorry for the rant. Yes, I'm still bitter and probably will go to my grave bitter. Just know this: The Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen and Coast Guardsmen who fought in the Vietnam War were patriots who acted with the zeal,professionalism and valor America has come to expect from its Military. We have nothing to be ashamed of. I'm damned proud to be a combat veteran of the Vietnam War.



Nos genuflectitur ad non princeps sed Princeps Pacem!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[going hot]

Rodger that.

[ApplegateRanch]

I bet that it comes out they knew where Osama was and had internal fighting for 6-9 months about what to do.

---

Saw a report yesterday that the administration/Pentagon knew Osama was staying at that location since Oct or Nov 2010, but “risked losing him” to put off taking him out.

Also had info on who the admiral & others were who actually ran the operation & gave the order. Except in a very vague & general sense, it wasn't Obama.

IIRC, it was in yesterday’s or Saturday's Daily Mail. Not at home, so I can't search my browser history to find the reference right now.

[BuffaloJack]

> As a Swift Boat Veteran, I too hope the SEALs form an opposition truth group. This girly man piece of crap makes me sick...and the stupidity of Billy Bob Bubba Clinton shooting his mouth off about what a hero Obozo is...what a joke.

As a brother Swifty, I couldn’t agree with you more.

[ConorMacNessa]

Yes, Sky - and when he cadged his Silver Star, he insisted on getting a Combat "V" for it. The moron apparently didn't know that Silver Stars are only awarded for combat actions and Combat "V's" are not added to them.

I read the account of his action for which he got the Silver Star. Bottom line, it looks to me like he chased a retreating VC behind a hooch and back-shot him. Can't prove it, just what it looks like to me.



Nos genuflectitur ad non princeps sed Princeps Pacem!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[Terry Mross]

Those Who Worship him, such as Tom Hanks, would give up the Seal’s names and the names of their families for obama.

[Terry Mross]

Isn’t it amazing what the Clintons will do for money?

[Brad’s Gramma]

I haven’t REALLY read this all...however, what I did skim...comes with this warning.

Put yer boots on first, cuz it gets thick....

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57425555-503544/are-navy-seals-really-angry-with-obama/

[Terry Mross]

You, Sir, are one great American! This Navy veteran salutes you, your service and your accomplishments. We did what we could, didn’t we.

[Terry Mross]

I have to wonder what the backlash against obama would be if the Seals went public and were punished. I know the Seals would be slammed by the left but I wonder if at least 51% of America would support them.

[hinckley buzzard]

Its easy to get a purple heart when you write your own after-action reports. He never shed a drop of blood, btw. Glad you think he deserved those medals. Says a lot about you.

[ConorMacNessa]

We did indeed, Brother! And thanks for your service at a time when our contemporaries were dodging the draft and escaping offshore. You stood up for America when it was not the popular thing to do: you stood up when it counted, as many on this forum have. You're a Patriot!



Nos genuflectitur ad non princeps sed Princeps Pacem!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Why shouldn’t the SEALs tell the truth about Obama?

[wetgundog]

Vietnam Veteran Here - NAVY SEALS KILLED OSAMA not WUSSY, Man-Boy Obamaumau.

FUBO

VAW-116, aboard USS Coral Sea, Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 68-69

[Verginius Rufus]

My recollection is that the Republican establishment and the McCain campaign wanted nothing to do with the Swift Boat Veterans and that it was hard for the Swift Boat Veterans to get their message out (given the media's protectiveness towards Kerry).

Kerry is a traitor--while still in the Navy he went to Paris to act as consultant to the enemy negotiators (North Vietnamese and VC). Then he tried to use his military service as a vote-getter in 2004 while his lackeys in the press were creating fake documents to use against President Bush.

I think he let Douglas Brinkley look at his military records--a shameless lickspittle for Democratic politicians who could be trusted not to reveal anything embarrassing.

[Brad’s Gramma]

They're already slammed anyway by the left, they're military.

I hope they go after him with a vengence.