The Truth about the Killing of Bin Laden

From this chain of events, it is obvious that the mission to capture Osama Bin Laden was a years long effort requiring commander in chief approvals and a lot of coordination, work and oversigth by the CIA, NSA, and our armed forces.

The key elements that allowed for the mission to come together...to find and then kill Bin Laden...were the fact that the Bush administration set up a very comprehensive intelligence apparatus, got legal approval for establishing enhanced interogation techniques (water boarding, sleep deprivation, nutrition modification, contant music playing, and phsycological methods) to glean the intel from the captured terrorist leaders. In addition, he established off-shore places to hold these prisoners were their security could be maintained, and where no calls to try and extend these enemy combatants (who according to the rules of war in the geneva convention could have been summarily executed) US legal protection. Barack Hussein Obama and the DNC leadership vocally and directly opposed all of this, both as a Senator and then later when running for President, where he vowed to end it. After being elected, he did end most of it, but was never able to close down GITMO because he had no better alternative acceptable to the American people.

But, lickily, by that time the military, the CIA, and the NSA already had gleaned the essential intelligence and they followed it and ultimately used it to find Osama bin Laden hiding in Pakistan. Once it was known, and an operation was planned, it was put off for several months by the Obama administration. We do not know exactly why, but the longer it was put off, the more likely it was for bin Laden to either find out, or move somewhere else. Could it be possible Obama was waiting for the best opportunity to gain political capital before making the call? You be the judge.

Ultimately the call was made and the armed forces of this nation, assisted by the CIA and NSA, pulled off the mission to a tee and assaulted and killed bin Laden and then got everyone out of the situation safey. For the decision to make the call...to say, "Yes, do it," the credit goes to Obama. But, given the same circumstances with the avowed leader of the terrorists who killed over 3,000 Americans on 911, who would not have made that call? The answer to that is clear...but also not without controversy as we shall see.

The credit for getting us to that point, for the hard decisions and then the discipline to stick with it, goes to others, notably the Bush administration and the intelligence, clandestine, special forces, and regular forces of the US Military.

At the time, Obama, although identifying the units involved and how they went about it (which was a horrible mistake from an intelligence and special forces standpoint, they would have rather the details not been made public), Obama indicated that there should be and would be no chest thumping or spiking the football regarding this operation. That was a correct course of action.

However, now several moths before his re-election bid, Obama, on the 1st anniversary of the event, flew to Afghanistan and made a big show of taking credit for the operation, saying "I did", and "my decision," and "me," over and over, and rarely or not at all mentioning the other critical players who made this possible.. You would have thought he himself caught the terrorists, detained them, interrogated them, analyzed and follow-ed up on the info, found the courier, tracked him to Pakistan, planned the mission, made the call, and went in himself to shoot bin Laden.

It was as brazen a politicization and "spiking the football" display as can be imagined. In short, it was dispicable. He even went so far as to indicate that his challenger, Mitt Romney, if he had been President, would not have made the same call, thus trying to use a critical national event, that should uniyte us, to divide us and cast disperison on his opponent.

The fact is this, had Obama relly been in charge the whole time, we never would have captured the other terroorists, never would have gottent he specific information, and never would have been able to conduct the mission into Pakistan to get Osama. The least Obama could do is to admit this, graciously, and give that credit where it is due, along with the high prasie of the military personnel who risked their lifes for years to make this a reality, and ultimately risked their lifes going in to get bin LAden.

Clinton, in suppoorting Obama talked about how tough a call it was and what a "terrible risk," Obama took should those troops have been captured, tortured or killed. Really, Bill? Obama was taking the risk? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?

What a sad day that this administration and its supporters would be so callous about the lifes of our service personnel and so anxious and selfish to try and bolster their political careers on a mission like this which was for the good of all Americans.

But this is the truth of the matter and something every American should consider when voting this fall, in November 2012.

I keep this on my Free Republic profile page:

George W. Bush, after the capture of Saddam Hussein:
"The success of yesterday’s mission is a tribute to our men and women now serving in Iraq . The operation was based on the superb work of intelligence analysts who found the dictator’s footprints in a vast country. The operation was carried out with skill and precision by a brave fighting force. Our servicemen and women and our coalition allies have faced many dangers in the hunt for members of the fallen regime, and in their effort to bring hope and freedom to the Iraqi people. Their work continues, and so do the risks. Today, on behalf of the nation, I thank the members of our Armed Forces and I congratulate them."

Barack Obama, after the death of bin Laden:
"And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as I continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network. Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by my intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan . And finally, last week, I determined that I had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad , Pakistan."

He says that's in his past, Jim.

He's running on the following platform now (from his own site on the issues)...and has been going around the country saying this is what he will do.

Abortion

Mitt Romney is pro-life. He believes it speaks well of the country that almost all Americans recognize that abortion is a problem. And in the quiet of conscience, people of both political parties know that more than a million abortions a year cannot be squared with the good heart of America.

Mitt believes that life begins at conception and wishes that the laws of our nation reflected that view. But while the nation remains so divided, he believes that the right next step is for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade – a case of blatant judicial activism that took a decision that should be left to the people and placed it in the hands of unelected judges. With Roe overturned, states will be empowered through the democratic process to determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate.

Mitt supports the Hyde Amendment, which broadly bars the use of federal funds for abortions. As president, he will end federal funding for abortion advocates like Planned Parenthood. He will protect the right of health care workers to follow their conscience in their work. And he will nominate judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the law.

Americans have a moral duty to uphold the sanctity of life and protect the weakest, most vulnerable and most innocent among us. As president, Mitt will ensure that American laws reflect America’s values of preserving life at home and abroad.

Spending and Smaller Government

1.The Federal Government Should Stop Doing Things The American People Can’t Afford, For Instance:

•Repeal Obamacare — Savings: $95 Billion. President Obama’s costly takeover of the health care system imposes an enormous and unaffordable obligation on the federal government while intervening in a matter that should be left to the states. Mitt will begin his efforts to repeal this legislation on Day One.

•Privatize Amtrak — Savings: $1.6 Billion. Despite requirement that Amtrak operate on a for-profit basis, it continues to receive about $1.6 billion in taxpayer funds each year. Forty-one of Amtrak’s 44 routes lost money in 2008 with losses ranging from $5 to $462 per passenger.

•Reduce Subsidies For The National Endowments For The Arts And Humanities, The Corporation For Public Broadcasting, And The Legal Services Corporation — Savings: $600 Million. NEA, NEH, and CPB provide grants to supplement other sources of funding. LSC funds services mostly duplicative of those already offered by states, localities, bar associations and private organizations.

•Eliminate Title X Family Planning Funding — Savings: $300 Million. Title X subsidizes family planning programs that benefit abortion groups like Planned Parenthood.

•Reduce Foreign Aid — Savings: $100 Million. Stop borrowing money from countries that oppose America’s interests in order to give it back to them in the form of foreign aid. If pursued with focus and discipline, Mitt’s approach provides a roadmap to rescue the federal government from its present precipice. But that respite will be short-lived without a plan for the looming long-term threat posed by the unsustainable nature of existing entitlement obligations. Learn more about Mitt’s proposals for entitlement reform: [links to Medicare and Social Security]

2.Empower States To Innovate — Savings: >$100 billion

•Block grants have huge potential to generate both superior results and cost savings by establishing local control and promoting innovation in areas such as Medicaid and Worker Retraining. Medicaid spending should be capped and increased each year by CPI + 1%. Department of Labor retraining spending should be capped and will increase in future years. These funds should then be given to the states to spend on their own residents. States will be free from Washington micromanagement, allowing them to develop innovative approaches that improve quality and reduce cost.

3.Improve Efficiency And Effectiveness. Where the federal government should act, it must do a better job. For instance:

•Reduce Waste And Fraud — Savings: $60 Billion. The federal government made $125 billion in improper payments last year. Cutting that amount in half through stricter enforcement and harsher penalties yields returns many times over on the investment.

•Align Federal Employee Compensation With The Private Sector — Savings: $47 Billion. Federal compensation exceeds private sector levels by as much as 30 to 40 percent when benefits are taken into account. This must be corrected.

•Repeal The Davis-Bacon Act — Savings: $11 Billion. Davis-Bacon forces the government to pay above-market wages, insulating labor unions from competition and driving up project costs by approximately 10 percent.

•Reduce The Federal Workforce By 10 Percent Via Attrition — Savings: $4 Billion. Despite widespread layoffs in the private sector, President Obama has continued to grow the federal payrolls. The federal workforce can be reduced by 10 percent through a “1-for-2” system of attrition, thereby reducing the number of federal employees while allowing the introduction of new talent into the federal service.

•Consolidate agencies and streamline processes to cut costs and improve results in everything from energy permitting to worker retraining to trade negotiation.

Those are non-abortion, non-socialism commitments he is making and they are pretty specific.

I share the concern with his past history and supported Palin, Cain, Santorum, and Newt. Romney has still not won the nomination. But, this is what he is saying himself that he will do and we will got no such assurances, commitments, or direction out of Obama.

I hope and pray, if elected, that he does those things. I know Obama will double down on his far worse agenda.

It is a difficult and gut wrenching decision all around...for every liberty loving American.

Besides, once again, Romney still does not have the 1,144 delegates. He's not the nominee until he does. Perhaps we shall still see a miracle.

Jim. It was not my intent with this thread at all to campaign for Romney and I will make sure that I do not.

I agree that the nomination is not wrapped up for him and that, until he gets those delegates, there is still a chance for a brokered convention.

Perhaps the Lord will work a miracle and we can get a brokered convention and a more conservative candidate. I pray it is so.

If not, and he reaches that number, I will not campaign for him here on FR according to your wishes which I respect. This site has done so much good for the nation, and for fourteen years FR has been a second home to me online.

I’ll make sure I come here and work for the other candidates down ticket, particularly in the US House and Senate which we must have in any case. And I will continue to expose Obama’s anti-Americanism and abject marxism if that is okay with you.

In that event, should he be nominated, if anyone asks, I’ll tell them who I support, but I will go no further than that in honor of your wishes.

"The man lies like a rug."

We have a world class liar in the Whitehouse. Does it take one to beat one?

All kidding aside, what I am about to say is serious business.

The following quote comes from Ludwig von Mises's "Human Action","The wavelike movement affecting the economic system, the recurrence of periods of boom which are followed by periods of depression, is the unavoidable outcome of the attempts, repeated again and again, to lower the gross market rate of interest by means of credit expansion. There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved."

It describes both the business cycle and the so-called "long wave" or Kwave, aka the Kondratiff wave. Fractional reserve banking introduces errors into the economy creating the illusion of more demand than is actually present. Over time, fractional reserve banking compounds these errors to a point at which the economic dynamics can no longer support the debt pyramid and the bust phase or depression follows.

Prior to the invention of the printing press, capitalism was not possible. No, it is not related to the ability to print money or bonds. The printing press made it possible and feasible for ordinary men to learn to read and write, the tools needed to be able to share knowledge horizontally over large numbers and vertically through time. Knowledge and ingenuity are the essential ingredients that drive capitalism. Add freedom and anybody can get rich. And everybody who can read has the means to increase their standard of living and level of wealth.

It took a couple of centuries to accumulate enough intellectual and financial capital to make the birth of capitalism possible around 1700. The birth of the United States in 1776 corresponds to a Kwave winter, just as the Great Depression corresponds to a Kwave winter. For roughly three centuries the economic upheavels of Kwave winter resulting from the booms and busts of fractional reserve banking have spawned revolutions with the accompanying births and deaths of nations. Gresham's Law of Politicians is the underlying foundation for Gresham's Law of Money. Thomas Jefferson understood, "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them...If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them [around the banks], will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

Charles Koch and his brother David are well-schooled in Austrian economic theory. They understand freedom and free market capitalism. Now that the United States is about to enter another Kwave winter, one that Jefferson, de Tocqueville, von Mises and Ronald Reagan have all predicted could co-incide with the end of the United States, maybe it would behoove everybody to take a step back, review history, and stop repeating the mistakes of the past.

Doing nothing is exactly what Reagan tried to warn Americans about with this quote from his 1964 speech in behalf of Barry Goldwater, "We have come to a time for choosing; we will preserve for our children this the last best hope for man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.....history will record with the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening."

Thomas Paine said, "Lead, follow or get out of the way." Whether by choice or by chance, for you Jim, there is really no choice at this point. If the United States is to survive, fate seems to be positioning you to lead. I for one, do not believe you are going to let FreeRepublic or America down.

What was true in 1776 depended on leadership. And Jim, it is still true in 2012, just GO FOR IT.

"We have it in our power to begin the world over again."

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Activity Description	Decision Maker	Those Opposing	Time Frame
Going to war with Al Quida and the Taliban	Bush, CIA, NSA, Military	-	2001
Setting up the intelligence apparatus	Bush, CIA, NSA	Obama & DNC	-
Establishing the enhanced interrogation	Bush, DOJ, CIA, Military	Obama & DNC	2002-2003
Establishing off-shore holding areas (Gitmo	Bush, CIA, NSA	Obama & DNC	-
Capturing the terrorists	CIA, Military	-	2003-2006
Interrogating with enhanced methods	CIA, Military	Obama & DNC	-
Analyzing the info	Bush, CIA, Military	-	-
Tracking the Intel	CIA, NSA, Military	-	-
Standing against those opposed to these methods	Bush	Obama & DNC	2006-2008
Getting the essential intelligence	CIA, NSA, Military under Bush	-	-
Finding the psuodo-name of the courier	CIA, NSA, Military	-	-
Identifying the Courier's name	CIA, NSA, Military under Obama	-	2009
Identifying Bin Laden's location	CIA, NSA, Military	-	2011
Planning varios options	CIA, NSA, Military	-	-
Choosing a plan to execute	Obama, CIA, NSA, Military	-	-
Ordering the operation executed	Obama, Military	-	-
Carrying out the Order	CIA, NSA, Military	-	-
Taking Credit for the whole	Obama	Romney, GOP, CIA, Military	2012
Using the event for political purpose	Obama	Romney, GOP, CIA, Military	-
Saying his opponent wouldn't have given the order	Obama	Romney, GOP, CIA, Military	-