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Posted on 05/03/2011 8:03:20 AM PDT by MattAMatt
On March 14th 2011, President Obama began a series of 5 National Security Council meetings to develop options for capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden. 30 days and 4 NSC meetings later, it was time for Obama to make a decision. After going around the room seeking everyone's views, debating COAs (Courses of Action) and contingencies accross the board, Obama decided to proceed with the operation.
John Brennan, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, said it was one of the gutsiest decisions made by any president in recent history. Even Rush Limbaugh commended President Obama for his role in the death of Osama bin Laden during his radio program. There is no question that President Obama deserves accolades and respect for having the guts and the wisdom to pull the trigger.
Sorry Bush, Obama's decision got Osama, but thank you for the countless, unpopular decisions you made that gave him such an unprecedented opportunity. Thank you for having the courage and character to remain steadfast, even though it was obvious that your poll numbers would be severely impacted. All the policies you developed and strategies you implemented, against Obama's will, are still in place today and provided the years of intelligence necessary to locate the terrorist leader of the world, Osama Bin Laden.
Bush Policies Delivered Osama Bin Laden
* In 2001 Guantanamo detainees told interrogators about an important courier with the nom de guerre Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti who was close to bin Laden.
* In 2004, top al-Qaida operative Hassan Ghul was captured in Iraq. After intense interrogations he revealed that al-Kuwaiti was a courier, someone crucial to the terrorist organization. He also said that Faraj al-Libi, replaced Mohammed as al-Qaida's operational commander.
* In 2005 Al Libi was captured and also taken to Guantanamo.
* In 2007, U.S. officials who were interrogating Guantanamo detainees finally learned the real name of a former Khalid Sheikh Muhammad (KSM) protégé who had become an important confidante of Abu Faraj al Libi.
* In 2009 Guantanamo detainees identified the courier who had worked with both KSM and Al Libi as someone who was thought to be trusted by Bin Laden. After further Guantanamo interrogations, U.S. officials learned the courier's real name, Sheikh Abu Ahmed, but did not know his exact location. Guantanamo detainees also reveald that Ahmed was a mid-level operative who helped al-Qaida members and their families find safe havens and lived in Abottabod in 2003.
* In 2010 Ahmed finally made a misguided phone call that was monitored by US officials and lead to Osama's compound 35 miles north of Islamabad in the city of Abbottabad.
It was Bush's decision to invade Iraq which lead to the capture of several al-Qaida operatives. It was Bush's decision to open Guantanamo Bay which produced a plethera of vital intelligence through enhanced interrogation techniques. Bush developed and passed the Patriot Act which, froze and tracked terrorist assets, opened the intelligence community's lines of communication and lead to the interception of Sheikh Abu Ahmed's misguided phone call.
Obama's order to proceed with the operation to capture/kill Osama Bin Laden will be coined as one of the greatest Presidential decisions in America history. This unprecedented decision may appear to have aggrandized his Presidency, but in the long run, he will be evaluated for all of his decisions. Obama's decisions to vote and campaign against The Patriot Act, Guantanamo Bay and The Iraq War are decisions that may overshadow killing Osama.
References:
The New York Times: Timeline: The Intelligence Work Behind Bin Laden’s Death, May 2, 2011
The Washington Post: Al-Qaeda couriers provided trail that led to bin Laden, May 2, 2011
Nation Wires: Phone call by Kuwaiti courier led to bin Laden
CBS News: Osama Bin Laden: Navy SEALS Operation Details of Raid That Killed 9/11 Al Qaeda Leader, May 2, 2011
Not quite, Obama’s gutsy move.
Osama’s been on the Most Wanted list since the 90’s....
If we are to believe several Delta operators, USAF personnel with armed drones, and others, Bush never would give the go-ahead to take out Osama. It seems they tracked him multiple times and knew his location but never could get approval to take him out.
Did you read the whole article?
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Let’s give Obama credit
Bush’s policies led to the demise of Osama, but the kill happened under Obama’s watch. His team gets due credit. (Of course, the ultimate credit goes to the Seal Team [and the Army helicopter unit as evidenced by Chinooks and Blackhawks?]).
Obama has been in charge over 2.5 years now, so the systems are his, the leadership teams are his, the directions are his, and that’s not just with the military. It’s the same with everything from the Justice Dept to the Treasury to the SS Administration to the Economy.
It’s all his. He gets credit for what’s right and blame for what’s wrong.
Gasoline prices are due to his manipulations. Joblessness is his due to his (lack of) vision for America’s future and his insistence on huge tax increases. The dominance of China in markets that formerly belonged to us are due to his inaction. Oil spills are his. A sluggish economy is his. World historic debt is his. Rapidly increasing inflation is his.
Nothing can any longer be about GW Bush. Bush is yesterday’s news.
eric holder killed bin laden by wanting trials in new york. khalid sheikh is alive, saddam lived, but bin laden is dead. The military decided to “take no prisoners” after holder/dunham dunce duo wanted terrorists trials in USA.
“Obama’s order to proceed with the operation to capture/kill Osama Bin Laden will be coined as one of the greatest Presidential decisions in America history.”
Hardly, and to make the decision an unambiguous example of self promotion by the Bamster, not that he had halted a previous plan to bomb the building because he “wanted evidence”.
Bad Bamster! BAD, BAAAD Bamster - lyin’ again.
If DNA can be extracted from a Mastodon bone, there would have been noi trouble getting Osama DNA from the bombed building.
Everyone please... The media will coin it as the best decision ever. You have to understand that no matter how it is coined it will be overshadowed by his attempts to prevent the opportunity in the first place.
One decision does not a presidency make. President Hussein is the worst president in American history. we are headed down a socialist path and this doesn’t change that.
I’d almost agree but if Obama was president on 9-11 there would of been no war on terror!
Being president after Bush and almost being forced to continue Bush policies after seeing the intelligence, Obama has done a fairly good job of staying after the terrorists!
More hyperbole. Besides the fact that we were going after a ragtag, third world terrorist who ran from hiding in caves to living in "mansions," what other decision could he have made? 60% to 80% chance of getting OBL? I would say that if he decided not to go, that would be news.
The idea that this decision is " one of the greatest Presidential decisions in America history" is ludicrous on the face of it. How about the decision to drop the atomic bomb? The D-Day invasion? The decision to stop the Southern states from seceding? The Louisiana Purchase? To go to Korea? To invade Iraq? I could go on and on about far more momentous decisions than this one.
In terms of sheer audacity and courage, the Doolittle mission to bomb Tokyo is hard to top.
You should not create an article with a misleading headline even if it was meant to be sarcasm. You deserve the flaming if you did.
And I believe it's spelled Gutsy not Gutsie.
One thing weighs upon me-that Gitmo was instrumental in helping our troops find that miserable freak. And with all and I mean ALL of the horrific press that was handed to President Bush and his team thru the years as he fought to keep us safe. HE had to quietly and daily suffer an onslaught from the big networks (ever wonder why gas prices are not the headline everyday like they were under President Bush? Makes ya SICK!) as he kept the terror war abroad instead of on on our streets.
Notice how we no longer get the headline body counts, the GITMO fussing, etc. with Mr. liberal sitting in our Oval Office?
If that creep in our WH with his I-me-myself-and-I speech about the killing of Osama DOES NOT INVITE PRESIDENT BUSH TO STAND BESIDE HIM AT GROUND ZERO ON THURSDAY AND SPEAK TO THIS NATION-I will forever see Mr. I,ME, MYSELF and I as the true color of yellow.
Only cowardice and vanity of barack hussein uhbama could keep President Bush away from standing at ground zero where he SO belongs on Thursday.
President Bush was instrumental and dedicated to the war on terrorism, and had to FIGHT not only abroad, but THE ENTIRE MAINSTREAM PRESS THROUGHOUT.
President Bush's policies kept us safe for eight years.
With that said, good on him. He did the right thing, and if he enjoys some political benefit in the short term, so be it. But the hyperbolic descriptions of Obama's every action are just so tiresome.
Further I'll never respect him for what he's attempting to do to my country.
Never in a million years.
If it is Obama, then it is all about him and personal considerations. The decision was to use a standoff weapon and blow up the compound with the distinct possibility that he would not get political credit for killing OBL because it would be hard to prove. He chose the more dangerous alternative for him politically but also the one with the greatest reward.
If the Mission became a Desert One, Jimmy Carter like failure, no one would ever know about it publicly except that we were going after high value targets. We have been using drones in Pakistan all along, but since this was in the midst of an urban area, the story would be that we did it this way to save innocent life.
IMO Obama elected the Seal Team route because it offered him the best political opportunity to reap a reward based on a risk/reward assessment. Forget about the fact that it put our people carrying out the mission in greater danger. Obama was willing to take that risk (with their lives) so he could obtain a much greater political benefit. It worked out.
The problme with Obama trying to take all of the credit is that if there is a follow-on, large scale terrorist attack against us, it will largely negate the benefit because the public will question his ability to protect us at home and abroad. November 2012 is a long way off.
“But the hyperbolic descriptions of Obama’s every action are just so tiresome.”
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Fine, but his Communist and racist machinations are indeed destroying the American ideal, which is indeed, the last great hope of mankind.
It is hard to be hyperbolic about that.
Liberals are hypocrites, and are taking credit for all the things thabhorredred about Bush. They have no conscience, and even believe the myths they created about themselves. Even after Obama knew the whereabouts of Osama, he was reluctant to let the Seals go in. Only after much urging, and possibly the Wikileaks information, he was finally persuaded it would be good for votes. Obama's speech, describing the raid, was nothing more than a campaign speech, which was proved when he used the words, I and me 35 times. Tnarcissistist is being rediscovered, by his own party, and especially the independents. The rest of us, excluding RINOS already knew what we have in the WH.
bump
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