It was president Obama’s scant reference giving credit to the CIA, Navy Seals, and other agencies that did the heavy work in closing this chapter in the War on Terror that I was compelled to give the proper credit due to them. Just filling the void left by the Commander In Chief. In his “I” “we” and “my” speech yesterday from The White House, this only mention is totally inadequate.
We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.
I also thought it odd that the previous administration was given no credit. Obama said this . . .
Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great strides in that effort. We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.+
It’s funny that President Obama missed a golden opportunity to once again blame Bush and Cheney for making it all possible. Obama gets the credit for not scrapping the plan and for supporting all the war protocols that were set-up and approved during the Bush administration including, harsh interrogation, using Gitmo, and using rendition. All of which played a role in killing Usama bin Laden. Obama gets a big Atta-Boy for that.
But that he ignored the role of his predecessor shows how “no-class” he still is.
Interesting video, but that idiot missed (on purpose) the point that Republicans make in the area of ‘credit’ for the killing of that crack head. But it does shed some light on why that ceasefire period was even a ceasefire period.
As I remember it, the administration was (like this one is) worried for what the rest of the Muslim world would think if they didn’t allow a ceasefire. Some bullshit about custom or some such. Big mistake. BIG mistake.
The point, which Cenk Uygur totally misses, was that the procedures that were set up during the Bush years, procedures necessary for fighting a new kind of war, is what made the killing of bin Laden possible. That’s all it was about.
And the only reason that it is important now is as a learning experience. It is important for everyone to know that one of the two parties were against those procedures at one time. And got elected by running on ending those procedures. And Attorney General Eric Holder is working on his end to end them by re-classifying the enemy and moving them into our criminal justice system. After all, his working experience prior to AG was in a New York law firm that was, and still is, defending terrorists in Club Gitmo.
Any idiot from either political party, even neocons and right-wingers, can’t deny that Obama made the right calls with the intel he had. And are just has happy as anyone else that the mission was such a success. Well, except the PC bullshit about not showing us the pictures of one of the big goals of the last ten years. And losing a helicopter, especially that helicopter.
I haven’t heard anyone not give credit to Obama, if only for not trashing the tool in the toolbox. Because without all those tools, good things may not have happened.
GWB and his administration had opportunities to go after Bin Laden and they didn’t. They took their eye off that mission and dumped military assets into Iraq.
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I thought MSNBC host Cenk Uygur explained why former president George Bush doesn’t deserve any credit for the discovery and death of Osama Bin Laden very well
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htAs_yM2r78&feature=player_embedded
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I thought President Obama was pretty generous in his effort to include President Bush in the Ground Zero Ceremony.
Bush in 2002:
I don’t know where he is. I really just don’t spend that much time on him, to be honest with you.
Obama before election:
What I have said is we’re going encourage democracy in Pakistan, expand our non-military aid to Pakistan so that they have more of a stake in working with us, but insisting that they go after these militants. And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act, and we will take them out. We will kill bin Laden. We will crush al-Qaida. That has to be our biggest national security priority.
Obama called Bush before the press conference to let him in on what had happened. I thought that was pretty classy.
Amazing that trillions of dollars and thousands of lives lost on both sides didn’t do the trick, but bad ass special forces, intelligence, and a president that made a gutsy call and decided from the beginning that he was aiming for bin laden did.
No class? That’s you not giving obama credit. Maybe if obama had dressed in fatigues, stood on a carrier, and said “mission accomplished”?
Obama didn’t pull the trigger, but he made a choice to go after bin laden, made the decision at the perfect time, and got the job done, a job bush couldn’t finish.
I know that absolutely kills you and most radical right wingers, but that doesn’t change the facts. You would sooner die than give obama any credit, so that’s no surprise. But history books will show that obama succeeded where bush failed.