Goal Was Never to Capture bin Laden

The Atlantic ^ | 5/4/11 | Yochi Dreazen, Aamer Madhani & Marc Ambinder

[PENANCE]

Not to be too snarky, BUT

Doesn't this make Obama and Holder WAR CRIMINALS? (at least, according to the Left)

[Pontiac]

The decision to kill bin Laden outright was the clearest illustration to date of a little-noticed aspect of the Obama administration's counterterror policy. The Bush administration captured thousands of suspected militants and sent them to detention camps in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay. The Obama administration, by contrast, has focused on eliminating individual terrorists rather than attempting to take them alive.

That Obama, such a great president, so respecting of human rights. /S

He so much better than that embodiment of evil Bush. /S

It is so much more respectful of human rights to kill terrorists with a missile than to water board them don’t you agree? /S

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Why do they feel the need to keep talking about this?

You must gaze inside the Obama pea brain for the answer. He only cares about how each event will affect his image and agenda. He did not want a show trial for Osama and all the muslim demonstrations here in America and around the world. Even if he were tried at Gitmo and hanged there. Not to mention another 9/11 in America possibility on his watch. Osama was a distraction to his agenda. The orders were to kill him whatever happened.....I think a republican president would have said, bring him back if possible and have a trial at Gitmo. Obama’s thinking is: “there!...that’s over!...A feather in my hat!....let’s move on with socializing America!”

[NoKoolAidforMe]

Only if Bush were president.

[papasmurf]

I agree. Also, let’s not forget the “humiliation” factor. We could have gotten a huge amount of closure out of that. I know it seems silly, but I do feel a bit cheated.

[BuffaloJack]

Seal Team Six does not exist and never took part in the Osama killing. They were never there and nothing happened.
Well done guys.

[WayneS]

Of course!

If forcing a guy we’ve captured at gunpoint to wear panties on his head is considered ‘prisoner abuse’, shooting one in the face HAS to be SOME kind of violation.

;-)

[LibWhacker]

You must gaze inside the Obama pea brain for the answer.

Anyone got a scanning electron microscope I can borrow? My crystal ball doesn't let me gaze into anything that small. ;-)

[wagglebee]

If it were me, he’d been in prison but officially, he would be fish food.

That's my thought as well, too much of this just isn't adding up.

[Jim Noble]

His last words were, “Sheikh Hussein Obama! What about our arrangement?”

[BreitbartSentMe]

The administration had made clear to the military's clandestine Joint Special Operations Command that it wanted bin Laden dead, according to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the discussions. A high-ranking military officer briefed on the assault said the SEALs knew their mission was not to take him alive.

Drip...drip...drip

IMHO, it's the military that is leaking this info, NOT the WH. They've had enough of covering for this guy, and are pissed that he has prosecuted SEALS in the past for giving a terrorist a fat lip.

They've boxed Bambi in a corner now. He gave the order, they followed it, and now he will pay for it. Not as satisfying as the military standing up and saying he's unconstitutionally in office, so we aren't following him, but it will have the same effect.

Consider this leak along with the other ones of HRC and Petraeus making Bambi sign a non-disclosure agreement protecting the team, and the other ones about Panetta forcing Bambi's hand by giving a 'go' order to the team already.

[NYRepublican72]

I’m just glad he’s dead, rotting in hell with his 72 fat, hairy, male virgins.

[LibWhacker]

but I do feel a bit cheated.

Me too. I would much rather we had captured him alive and waterboarded the crap out of him (and worse), all the while telling the world he was dead. Later, when we had gotten all we could out of him, we could always put him to bed with the fishes, and nobody would be any the wiser.

[Steel Wolf]

Seems to me this is a strategic error whose consequences will be felt in the years to come. By assassinating rather than capturing, we are losing the opportunity to pump terrorists for information. Without that information, how will we be able to capture the new terrorists who take the place of the ones we kill?

The problem is, and I tell you this having worked in this field, interrogations no longer work like they used to. Our ability to operate under strict legal requirements, when the host country has a say in prosecution, cripples this effort. It leads to very little interrogations of value, and a revolving door of terrorists that spend little time in prison before being released to kill again.

Killing them loses potential information, but it was information we weren't going to get anyway. It also cuts down on repeat offenders delightfully. It's a much better way to operate against terrorists. In this day and age, I'd rather interrogate a man's cell phone and computer than the man itself.

[FDNYRHEROES]

The aircraft carrier and burial at sea were all part of the overall planning. Leaving him alive would have provided Alqaeda sufficient motivation to attempt to obtain hostages or threaten a nuke strike for a trade. Killing bin Laden and dumping the body where no one could retrieve it made the hostage trade scenario instantaneously moot.

Meanwhile, back in Pakistan...
Is anyone following the courier’s body disposal plan? Buried within 24 hours per Islamic law?
Are the Bin Laden wives getting condolences from the rest of AQ infrastructure? Where are their passports (with stamps)? Maybe they contain real photos with faked names, but the location stamps would probably not be faked..dates, times, route and method of entry into the country, etc might be ascertained from these documents.
Is Pakistani Intelligence assisting the US recover and return the downed chopper to US custody...or risk the $3 billion per year? The pieces were covered over as they were taken away, after all.
Is Pakistani Intelligence assisting the US with further forensic investigation of the compound? Taking blood evidence samples? DNA testing of the spilled blood? Looking for further hidden tapes, etc. that ST6 might have missed?
Taking finger prints of the couriers? Maybe their prints were on previously recovered items from other raids and missions?
Why can’t Obama release the picture of the couriers? Were they shot in the head as well? Will releasing their pics cause an uproar in the Muslim community? Probably not.

[Steel Wolf]

The Navy SEALs knew their mission was to kill the al Qaeda leader, not take him alive

I've been saying this from the minute this story broke. There was never the remotest intention to take UBL alive. The SEALs will stick to their story, and the matter will be dropped. As it should be. Taking UBL alive would have been equally pointless and nightmarish.

[MikeSteelBe]

Everyone seems to forget OBL was very ill. Having him croak in bed or custody does nothing to further radical islam. Making him a murdered, unarmed martyr surley does. The white house is staying true to this administration’s course.

[TheOldLady]

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[PapaBear3625]

Meanwhile we turned over his wife and the other people at the compound to the Pakis. They should ALL have gone to Gitmo for questioning.

[IMR 4350]

Penetta got the orders from Hillary and is the fall guy, just like Janet Reno became the fall guy for Waco when in fact it was Hillary that gave the order to end the raid.

Dead men don't talk.