By Jessica Hopper, Subrata De and Tim Uehlinger
Rock Center
President Barack Obama describes the killing of Osama bin Laden as the “most important single day” of his presidency and said that the decision to carry out the raid was one that he had to ultimately make alone.
“I did choose the risk,” the president said in an exclusive interview with Rock Center Anchor and Managing Editor Brian Williams. “The reason I was willing to make that decision of sending in our SEALs to try to capture or kill bin Laden rather than to take some other options was ultimately because I had 100 percent faith in the Navy SEALs themselves.”
A year after the May 1, 2011, raid on bin Laden’s compound, Obama and several of the advisers who helped plan the operation, known as “Operation Neptune’s Spear,” spoke exclusively to NBC News, reflecting on the tense months spent planning and debating the feasibility of this daring raid. The interviews occurred before the president made an unannounced visit to Kabul on Tuesday, where he and President Hamid Karzai signed an agreement on the future of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.
“This had to be such a close-held operation,” the president said. “There were only a handful of staff in the White House who knew about this.”
The president did not share news of the mission’s launch with his staff, or with the first lady.
“Even a breath of this in the press could have chased bin Laden away,” Obama said. “We didn't know at that point whether there might be underground tunnels coming out of that compound that would allow him to escape.”
The killing of the 9/11 mastermind had been years in the making, a mission that Obama’s two predecessors had been unable accomplish. President Bill Clinton fired 75 cruise missiles trying to kill bin Laden while President George W. Bush was frustrated by the al-Qaeda leader’s ability to evade capture.
The lead
After years of hunting bin Laden, the Central Intelligence Agency got its biggest break in late 2010.
Helmed by then CIA Director Leon Panetta, the agency identified the home of bin Laden’s courier in the upscale town of Abbottabad, not far from Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. Satellites revealed someone else living at the same compound: a tall man walking in the courtyard that analysts dubbed “The Pacer.”
“Ultimately it was a 50/50 proposition as to whether this was actually bin Laden,” Obama said.
He and his advisers, including Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, hammered out the possibilities.
Clinton said that she was brought into the process in January 2011 when a series of intensive meetings began in the White House Situation Room, or “Sit Room.”
In March of 2011, the president ordered Admiral William McRaven, then commander of Joint Special Operations, to outline a possible raid on the suspected bin Laden compound.
“I remember the moment in the Sit Room with General McRaven,” Clinton said, “and, you know, someone said, ‘Well, this sounds really dangerous and we’re going to expose our guys and what do we know is going to happen?’ And he said, ‘Well, with all due respect, we’ve done this hundreds of times.’”
In fact, the night bin Laden was killed, Special Forces carried out several other missions in the region.
“What may not be known is in addition to this operation that night, this specific one, there were multiple operations just like this going on in Afghanistan,” said retired Admiral Mike Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Some of them actually more difficult than the one that got bin Laden. And when I say more difficult, I don't think higher strategic risk, certainly not more important, but physically more difficult, more dangerous than the one that our great Special Forces executed.”
The dress rehearsal
The plan to raid the compound in Abbottabad developed rapidly and by April 21, 2011, Admiral Mullen attended a dress rehearsal in the Nevada desert.
“When I actually went to the rehearsal and watched it at night at a place where they built a compound just like Abbottabad and watched it in execution, that just gave me great confidence that they could execute this,” Mullen said.
He met every member of the SEAL Team Six that would ultimately carry out the mission.
“I got to look each of them in the eye. They showed me in their execution of rehearsal and also in that steely-eyed glare that they give you that they were ready to go,” Mullen said.
Some of the men weren’t yet aware who they were preparing to attack, but Mullen’s presence signaled that they were going after a high-value target.
“They knew certainly how critical this was. They knew who they were and who they were working with,” he said. “They may not even have known it was bin Laden at that point, but I'm sure they suspected it.”
One week later, it looked like weather conditions in Pakistan would be perfect for the raid — a moonless night with clear skies. If the raid didn’t happen that night, it could be months before weather conditions would be appropriate again for this high-risk operation.
Making the decision
Armed with the confidence that the Special Forces could carry out the mission, it was decision time. So on Thursday, April 28, 2011, the president gathered his advisers in the Situation Room, located below ground level in the White House.
“There was no consensus,” Biden said. “The president on the last day got us all down in the Situation Room and he said, ‘Okay, it’s basically a roll call.’”
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recommended an air strike with no forces on the ground. CIA Director Panetta supported a raid by Special Forces and so did Secretary of State Clinton. Vice President Biden wanted to wait on further proof that bin Laden was indeed in the compound.
“It was never contentious because I think everybody understood both the pros and cons of the action,” Obama said. “People who were advocating action understood that if this did not work, if we proved to be wrong, there would be severe geopolitical consequences and obviously most importantly, we might be putting our brave Navy SEALs in danger.”
During the meeting, the president never indicated which way he was leaning. After the discussion, he dismissed his team and said he’d have a decision in the morning. He had dinner with his family and then went to his study after his wife and daughters went to bed.
“Well, there is no doubt that you don't sleep as much that evening as you do on a normal night,” the president said. “I stayed up late and I woke up early.”
The next morning, in the Diplomatic Room of the White House, he told his national security advisers that the mission was a go.
“You have some serenity in knowing that you've made the best possible decision that you can and, you know, in that situation you just, you do some praying,” Obama said.
A trio of national security advisers – John Brennan, Tom Donilon and Denis McDonough – had prepared briefing points for the president, but it was clear his mind was made up.
“My recollection is that he said, ‘It’s a go, we’re going to do the assault. We’re going to do the raid. Complete the orders, let’s go,’” said Donilon.
Keeping the Secret
In order to not raise suspicions, the president and his advisers had to keep up their weekend plans.
Secretary Clinton said she faced an awkward question at a wedding for one of her daughter’s friends.
“It was so ironic,” she said. “All these smart young people who work in all kinds of enterprises, one of them came up and said, ‘Do you think we’ll ever get bin Laden?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. I have no way of knowing, but I can tell you this, we’ll keep trying.’”
She also hid the raid from her husband.
“This was such an important secret to keep,” she said. “No one in the State Department knew. “I just felt a personal responsibility to keep it close, but that meant that I was basically, you know, having to consult with myself, to be honest.”
Moments after giving the go-ahead for the raid, the president and the first lady boarded Marine One on a trip to inspect tornado damage in Tuscaloosa, Ala. And on Saturday night – the evening before the raid – he attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and chuckled when a joke about bin Laden was made by comedian Seth Meyers.
“That was a little bit of acting going on there because my mind was elsewhere,” he said.
National Security Advisor Donilon said that when he left the White House Correspondents’ Dinner early, a reporter asked why he was leaving before the event concluded.
“I got this thing tomorrow,” Donilon said as offhandedly as he could.
The raid
On Sunday, May 1, 2011, the president’s advisers gathered in the Situation Room at around 11 a.m. Half a world away, the SEAL team waited for nightfall.
So as not to arouse suspicion that a major gathering was under way in the West Wing, the team ordered pizza from several different places and also sent someone to Costco to get food.
The president played nine holes of golf at Andrews Air Force Base before heading to the Situation Room at around 2 p.m.
“It is one of those rare moments when you know that the man you’re watching is putting everything on the line,” Biden said. “Everything on the line. Not only risking the lives of these incredible, incredible warriors, but also knowing that if he’s wrong about this man, he’s going to pay a very, very high price for it.”
At around 2:30 p.m., word arrived that the first wave of helicopters had left Jalalabad, Afghanistan, for Abbottabad with Navy SEALs, a Pakistani-American translator and a service dog named Cairo. At the president’s request, two Chinook helicopters stayed close by with additional SEALs as backup.
“They were accustomed to operating in the dark,” Obama said. “They were accustomed to landing in the compounds where they weren’t sure what was behind closed doors. These guys were all trained to do that.”
“A lot of them had as much gray hair as you and me and, you know, if you had passed them on the street, you might have – and if they were in civilian clothes – you might have thought they were accountants or doctors or, you know, worked at Home Depot.”
After the mission started, the CIA provided audio and video of the raid in real time in a smaller room next to the Situation Room. The atmosphere, said Admiral Mullen, was tense.
Soon, the president and his advisers began crowding into the room where the video was being played, which was never meant to hold as many people as it did that day. Brigadier General Marshall “Brad” Webb was receiving and interpreting information from the mission. Never expecting Obama to come in the room, he was sitting in the chair intended for the president.
“He started to get up and people were starting to go through the protocol and figuring out how to rearrange things,” the president said. “I said, ‘You don’t worry about it. You just focus on what you’re doing. I’m sure we can find a chair and I’ll sit right next to him.’ And that’s how I ended up (on a) folding chair.”
The group watched the hazy, but intelligible images and gasped when the first helicopter’s rotor stopped turning and it suddenly dropped, crashing over a stone wall.
“That helicopter didn’t make it to the right spot and everyone went, like, ‘Whoa,’” Biden said.
Obama remembers seeing the Secretary of State cover her mouth with her hand.
“It was just the shock of the moment,” Clinton said. “It was, I mean, all of us sitting there, and I would even predict probably our military and defense colleagues, you know, for a minute were kind of holding that breath again.”
The mishap was blamed on a bad downdraft and unusually warm temperatures, which can affect lift and maneuverability. The president called it a “touch and go moment.”
“The only thing that I was thinking about throughout this entire enterprise was, ‘I really want to get those guys back home safe,’” he added. “I want to make sure that the decision I’ve made has not resulted in them putting their lives at risk in vain, and if I got that part of it right, if I could look myself in the mirror and say as commander in chief I made a good call.”
Back inside the Situation Room, the loss of a helicopter didn’t make any difference in Admiral McRaven's monotone play-by-play voice, beamed in from Afghanistan.
“Did not miss a beat. He is a cool customer,” said Obama.
Clinton recalled watching the SEALs leave the helicopters.
“We could see our guys moving,” she said. “It was an intense experience for all of us because it was real time, visually, until we lost the visual connection inside the building.”
The SEALs had moved inside the compound with their body armor, weapons and night vision.
“At this point, I think all of us understand that we’re a long way to go before the night is done,” Obama said. “And, you know, I’ve said this was the longest 40 minutes of my life.”
As the SEALs moved inside, the national security team listened for “Geronimo,” the code name for bin Laden.
“We knew that was the call sign and when we heard that, they felt they had identified Geronimo, that was the first moment, and then Geronimo KIA,” the president said.
Several members of the president’s national security team told NBC News that there were provisions in place to take bin Laden alive.
“But we also understood that it was not likely that he was going to be giving himself up in that way,” Obama said, “and that there was a strong possibility that he would end up being killed if in fact he was in the compound.”
Along with precision and planning, prayer played a role for some of the president’s closest advisers. Vice President Biden and Admiral Mullen both nervously spun rosary rings on their fingers as they received word that the body of the man they believed was bin Laden had been put on a helicopter with U.S. forces.
“We knew the mission had been successful in that bin Laden was on board, but then it was an hour flight back,” Biden said.
Biden had begun to put his rosary away when he felt a tap on his shoulder from Mullen.
“I leaned down," Mullen explained. "I said, ‘Mr. Vice President, not yet. Keep it going because as important as killing, capturing or killing bin Laden was, it was more important to get him out.’ And so we were a long way, even as we got bin Laden, his body in that helicopter, we were a long way from completing that mission at that point.”
The death photo
When the SEAL team made it safely back to Afghanistan, photos were transmitted to the president and his team to offer photographic proof that bin Laden was dead.
When asked about seeing the picture of bin Laden, who had been shot in the head, the president took a long pause.
“I think it’s wrong to say that I did a high five,” he said, “because you have a picture of a dead body and, you know, there’s I think regardless of who it is, you always have to be sober about death. But understanding the satisfaction for the American people, what it would mean for 9/11 families, what it would mean for the children of folks who died in the Twin Towers who never got to know their parents, I think there was a deep-seated satisfaction for the country at that moment.”
Secretary Clinton believes strongly that the president was right not to release the photos.
“I looked at them,” she said. “Obviously, (it's) never easy to see any dead body, but it was part of the job. I think we made the right decision not to sensationalize this, not to desecrate it, so to speak. His body was flown to a Navy ship. It was given a proper Islamic burial at sea and I think that we handled it exactly right.”
After the president and his team felt confident that bin Laden was indeed dead, they began calling Cabinet members, Congressional leaders and foreign heads of state.
The president called Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
“I think it was an important symbol of who we are as a people,” he said of the calls. “We get into these partisan fights, administrations come and go, but there’s a certain continuity about who we are and what we care about and what our values are.”
For Mullen, one of the most important calls placed was to his Pakistani military counterpart about the crashed helicopter.
When the first pictures of the wreckage emerged hours later, aviation websites went wild. The crashed chopper appeared to be proof of a stealth version of the Blackhawk that the United States had been rumored to be developing for years. Its noise-reducing technology and unique fin had been designed for near silent, invisible operation. In coming days, neighborhood children picked through pieces of what had been among the military's best kept secrets.
“I called General [Ashfaq Parvez] Kayani in Pakistan,” Mullen said. “I felt obligated to let him know what had happened … and then part of that conversation was about the helicopter and I said, ‘We need that back.’”
As more calls were made, the news began to leak, spread at lightning speed by the Internet. The president and his advisers, however, were unaware that throngs of young people were pouring into Lafayette Park to cheer outside the White House.
“The thing that surprised me that night and I don’t think we had planned for was the public reaction,” Donilon said. “We walked out and we could hear the noise and I remember very clearly turning to whoever was walking next to me saying, ‘What is that?’”
Secretary Clinton described it as an “astonishing moment.”
“We could hear this roar. We had no idea what it was,” she said. “Then all of a sudden we were able to decipher, 'U.S.A., U.S.A.'”
Telling his family
Before the president heard the cheering crowds and addressed the nation, he checked in with the first lady.
“She’s at dinner," he said. "I let her know, you know, that I’m probably going to miss dinner because I’ve got a few other things going on tonight. It turns out we had a fairly important thing to announce.”
He recalled telling his daughters that bin Laden was dead.
“Malia and Sasha, I think, were too young to fully absorb 9/11. On the other hand, they’ve grown like all our children have grown up in the shadow of 9/11 and terrorism and understood who Osama bin Laden was.”
The president said that the full impact of the mission hit him a few days later when he met the SEALs who had carried out the operation. He said that he gave the pilot of the helicopter that crashed a “pretty good hug.”
“They presented me with the flag that had gone on that mission, signed by all of them on the back and I think it’s fair to say that will probably be the most important possession that I leave with from this presidency,” he said.
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Good article on Slate regarding the perils of the decision: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/05/barack_obama_s_decision_to_go_after_osama_bin_laden_how_the_president_overruled_his_advisers_in_ordering_the_assassination.html
If this is really true you seriously need to move closer to work or get rid of the tricked out Hummer. That way YOU would be doing something about how much gas costs you instead of demanding the government do it for you.
Obama the hypocrite
On Sept. 17, 2006, Obama spoke at Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin’s annual steak fry in Indianola, Iowa.
“And let me tell you something else I’ve had enough of: I’ve had enough of using terrorism as a wedge issue in our politics,” Obama told the crowd. “I’ve had enough of that. I’ve had enough of that. You know, I – I don’t know about you, but I think the war against terrorism isn’t supposed to crop up between September and November of even numbered years, and yet that seems to be the pattern. There is a sudden burst of activity, a sudden urgency about this whole thing three months before an election every other year.”
On the one year anniversary of the operation, it's completely understandable that there would be some reflection on what was a very emotionally charged news event. This isn't coming up "by chance" the month before the election takes place.
Every year since 9/11, there's been some kind of retrospective. Did you accuse the Bush administration of milking that for attention and fear-mongering, in what would have been even closer to election day?
GW Bush is by a far a better man and a fantastic patriotic American. At least he loves his country and didn't try to destroyit......And Laura Bush loves America as well. Moochelle the FAT COW doesn't love country...she should move to Kenya...as should BO.....I'm sure the kenyans would welcome them with open arms.
Too Obama hung around with communists. You can tell who and what people by the people they associate with...Rev. Wright..Bill Ayers...Bernadine Dorn...etc...
The Obama are a disgrace to America and a laughing stock of the world around.
the 160th Nightstalker pilots never get any credit for bascially piloting two blackhawks in the dead of a moonless night, into illegal airspace doing 100+ MPH a couple dozen feet above ground level, to deliver the "payload" of SEALs. Those guys are the best pilots in the world and only the best of the best get picked for missions like this, so kudos to them.
I still find great contradiction in the covering up of OBL's death photos, yet the sons of Saddam Hussein, bloody and battered and dead, were all over the damn place.
How is this a contradiction? Bush allowed the Hussein pics to be shown. Obama prevented bin Laden's from being released. If he hadn't, Repubs would have criticized Obama all the more for the "unnecessary sensationalism"
hard core islamics wanted nothing to do with saddam, so the death of his sons wouldn't have particularly been an invitation to make them martyrs and rise up.
Pictures of a bloody Bin Laden may have needlessly enraged many and , as a result, lessened our threat levels and further endangered our troops.
Didn't you people(haters are people, too) read about this?
The Quote of the Decade:
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America 's debt limit is a
sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its
own bills.
It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from
foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.
Increasing America 's debt weakens us domestically and internationally.
Leadership means that, "the buck stops here.'
Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.
~ Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006
Well at least Obama got everyone off the economy with his little stunt and victory lap.
I wonder what the men who are still with us that conducted this operation think of Obama running around taking credit for their work? Probably nothing since true heroes don't need to brag.
Obama:
“And, you know, I’ve said this was the longest 40 minutes of my life.”
"My Poodle Noodle Soup is getting cold!"
He said that - right after he played Golf..up until 20 minutes before the Navy Admiral gave the GO AHEAD to Navy Seal Team 6.
Obama...THE WAR MONGER...NOW HAD BLOOD ON HIS HANDS......
I wonder NOBEL wants their monies and peace prize back??
Serves them right for giving it to him in the first place. He did NOTHING to earn it and they knew that. They were just boosting him up like MSN and CNN do.
ONLY in America will "The People" still believe 19 "hijackers", 7 of which are still alive, and 1 even died before 9/11, brought down three buildings with two "planes"! Never mind the FREE FALL SPEED they came down at, and that the buildings were specifically designed to with-stand airplane hits due to an airplane hitting the Empire State Building in the 40's!
Never mind that WTC Building 7 was announced as coming down by TWO (2) Networks nearly a half hour before it was IMPLODED, and that the "Lease Holder" even admitted on PBS that he said to "Pull It"! And that's not the BILLIONS of DOLLARS he made from the "INSURANCE CLAIMS"!
Let's not forget that a "passport" can survive fire/explosion, but structural steel will MELT, and concrete become pulverised dust!
Welcome to the "World is Flat" science, again!
Or the fact others, NOT Dem Der MOOSLIMS, were arrested trying to blow up the GW Bridge, others actually blew up a van on King St, or the third set of others that were even arrested after being seen set up filming the first plane hit BEFOREHAND, and then OPENLY CELEBRATING the attacks, flicking lighters, etc., failed lie detectors, then went home and said on thier nations National TV "Our purpose was to document the event" BEFOREHAND WOW! Sources NY City Police Radio Tapes, East Rutherford New Jersey Police Report, CBS, CNN!
They can also forget about the 2.3 TRILLION DOLLARS announced by Rumsfeld was missing from the pentagon the day before! Convienent how that "plane" that nobody saw hit, and DID NOT show up on the little bit of video we were able to see from the 85 video cameras, can make a 16ft hole, and hit the exact room those records were stored, HUH? Or that another TRILLION DOLLARS went missing from the Pentagon after, and the same person was in charge that time also! Can anyone say Dov?
And then accept a story about killing THE "terrorist" responsible, but HE WAS NOT even on the FBI's ten most wanted list for it!
ETC., ETC.!
I guess if you can accept all that BS, and more you will accept the fact they killed a man that had already died in Dec. 2001, then buried him at sea according to "Islamic Traditions"!
Man how low our American Society has gone down to believe such BS! No wonder why the world is LAUGHING at us!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS ALWAYS FOR THEY KNOW NOT OF THE TREASON OF THIER OWN "GOVERNMENT"!
"...and that the buildings were specifically designed to with-stand airplane hits due to an airplane hitting the Empire State Building in the 40's!"
Since you are obviously not a structual engineer or architect who as obviously not studied the structual design of the WTC towers please do so before you ask us to believe the 9/11 Truther CRAP. The designs of the two structural systems for the WTC Towers and the Empire State Building were TOTALLY different.
http://vincentdunn.com/wtc.html
"In terms of structural system the twin towers departed completely from other high-rise buildings. Conventional skyscrapers since the 19th century have been built with a skeleton of interior supporting columns that supports the structure. Exterior walls of glass steel or synthetic material do not carry any load. The Twin towers are radically different in structural design as the exterior wall is used as the load-bearing wall. (A load bearing wall supports the weight of the floors.) The only interior columns are located in the core area, which contains the elevators. The outer wall carries the building vertical loads and provides the entire resistance to wind. The wall consists of closely spaced vertical columns (21 columns 10 feet apart) tied together by horizontal spandrel beams that girdle the tower at every floor. On the inside of the structure the floor sections consist of trusses spanning from the core to the outer wall."
Tracy,
Just to let you know I was an Engineer in the US Army, plus an Architechural student after!
DUH, they were built totally different! Did I say they were built the same, NO! The Twins were speciffically designed to withstand airplane impacts AS A result of one hitting the Empire State Building in the 40's! That is what I said!
Do yourself a favor see Arch@Engs for9/11truth, That's over 1,500 licenced Arch's/Eng's. saying the same thing, CONTROLLED DEMOLITIONS! Then see what Danny Jewenko had to say about WTC Building 7, and this was BEFORE he even knew it was done on 9/11!
That take weeks/months to set up the charges, etc., DUH!
Then see Pilotsfor9/11truth about how the "plane" that hit the Pentagon COULD NOT have flown the way were told! It would have come apart!
DO SOME REAL RESEARCH INSTEAD OF SPOUTING MORE "government", controlled media LIES!
Tracy
Before you say anything about me being a "student", I had to quit due to my MILITARY SERVICE CONNECTED INJURIES becoming to bad for me to finish school!
"Just to let you know I was an Engineer in the US Army, plus an Architechural student after!"
As a registed architect for 12 years working for number one healthcare architecture firm in the U.S., I have yet to see a reputable structural engineering firm put their name behind the truther CRAP. Can you name one decent firm like Walter P. Moore who has put their name behind the 9/11 Truther conspiracy?
"The Twins were speciffically designed to withstand airplane impacts AS A result of one hitting the Empire State Building in the 40's! That is what I said!"
Not at the speed and the fuel load the 767s were flying and carrying.
If you want a truely comprehensive analysis go here....
http://www.debunking911.com/
BTW I have yet to come across a structual engineer who thinks that 9/11 was a controlled demolition and yet to see ANY evidence of the placement of the supposed demolition charges which HAD to have been done during multiple renovations on MULTIPLE floors. Where is the evidence of the construction firms who did renovation work just prior to 9/11 the even shows one shred of evidence that demolition charges were placed on the structual frame behind the interior finishout or in the sub-basement? If someone placed demolition charges one or many of the contruction workers or supers would have noticed it consideing the time and effort it takes to place these charges not to mention the detonation caps and trigger wire. The supposed "thermite" that the truthers like to claim is also uttter nonsense.
http://www.debunking911.com/thermite.htm
Also I notice your link you cite claiming over 1,500 engineers and architects conveniently doesn't list their names. Why?
There are many democrats like Ozzieboy who just don't comprehend the dangers to our economy and nation that a never ending, ever growing debt crises which pushed the debt ceiling to $15.7 trillion is doing.
But there is one democrat who does and has spoken about the risks and dangers in an impassioned speech before the Senate. Rather than tell you about the speech, you can read it for yourselves as its just as pertinent today as when it was given.
From Sen. Obama’s Floor Speech, March 20, 2006:
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.
At the time, Senator Obama was urging Congress not to tolerate an increase that would bring the debt ceiling to $9 trillion.
Obama condemns his own actions as examples of failed leadership.
What's not to understand.
Let me think...Was this before the global economic collapse? Do we all look stupid to you, or is it the other way around?
I'd be embarrassed to take credit when all he did was approve it. people actually risked their lives going into a foreign country into an unknown house with an unknown number of occupants with an unknown number of weapons, yet lets all pat obama on the back for making the "decision" to go. about the only politician who wouldn't have made that decision is biden, but he's just a tool!!
the only risk obama took was political, "is this going to ruin my chances for reelection" is the only question he asked himself.
where is the downside to approving the mission? someone else dies?? how many soldiers have died under his command? he gets blamed?? like he ever accepts blame! he'd blame it on the soldiers if they failed. he'd have fired McRaven!
The option he took was not the one that was recommended. He took the Git 'R Done option and deserves some credit. The training and professionalism of our troops is incredible. Much is still classified and should not see the light of days for years.
The truth is that President Obama did thank everyone involved in the planning and killing of OBL, and from the beginning the faux noise and GOP/baggers have refused to give ANY credit to the President or his adm.
See they don't think we can remember back, to their political ploys; If you don't reelect Bush there will be another attack.
The whole swift boating of Kerry, who is the flip-flopper? Romney "etch-a-sketch" has believed in supporting both sides of every issue!
The campaign ads have already been written, thanks GOP for all the tape!
Obama/Biden 2012
Hummingbird
Who cares if Obama killed bin laden or he thanked the seal team for doing it.
Its the economy and the fact that Obama condemns his own actions as those of a failed leader that matter.
Creating a never ending, ever growing debt crises that has pushed the debt ceiling to $15.7 trillion is what is important.
If you don't belive me than maybe you will believe Obama. Read his March 2006 speech on the Senate floor that condemns his actions as those of a failed leader.
You democrats need to start growing up and start thinking like adults. Your childish mentality is truly an amazing wonderment in these modern times.
You and your ilk keep focusing on the negative...good luck with that strategy come November.
Putting down good news about our economy is childish(and unpatriotic).
Lies as usual - he would have done anything to avoid it just as Clinton did.
Clinton shot 750 cruise missiles trying to kill bin laden. How many did GWB fire off?
Clinton: 0 for 750.
Bush: kicked out Saddam and ruined AQ.
Clinton: His abysmal failure in Somalia emboldened Osama, and his total failure to act after the USS Cole was a disgrace to the nation.
President Obama the great divider and great deflector. Please do something to help the economy, jobs, deficit, etc., instead of trying to repeatedly convince us how great you are--typical narcissist.
as you lamely try to deflect and divide. He is "so gonna kick ass" in November if your party doesn't grow up and get real.
Amazing! Too many of the posted comments prove to me that we are a two party system: The Stupid Party and The Mean Party.
Who could really belong to either one and hold their head up high?
Congrats to EVERYONE who EVER had a hand in bringing down OBL. Think I'll celebrate the anniversary with a chilled shot of Cabo Wabo.
Yes...but what about the Democrats?
He already named them: The Stupid Mean Party.
The Republican are the Stupid Party. Every time they get in power or have a chance to get in power, they shoot themselves in the foot, if not the head by picking some empty suit to run for office.
The Mean Party relys on name calling and slander to get their way.
Neither one; Stupid or Mean is something to aspire too.
Naveyvet65
You like to run your mouth off so here, I'm going to give you a change to comment on the following.
From Sen. Obama’s Floor Speech, March 20, 2006:
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.
At the time, Senator Obama was urging Congress not to tolerate an increase that would bring the debt ceiling to $9 trillion.
You are able to comprehend Obama's words and understand how they pertain to today's never ending, ever growing debt crises that has pushed the debt ceiling to $15.7 trillion.
If it wasn't for action by GWB in October and BHO soon thereafter, we would all be in a world of hurt.
It's also a damn good thing Obama didn't idolize Herbert Hoover or we would all be in soup lines and watching B&W TV.
zhovit sobaky
You do understand and comprehend Obama's words in that speech? No language problems?
Creating a never ending, ever growing debt crises that has pushed the debt ceiling up to $15.7 trillion was created in August, 2011 when Obama was President.
Bush had nothing to do with it. It was Obama's government that was going to shut down because it was running out of money and couldn't borrow anymore, unless Obama got the debt ceiling raised.
Since then, he's request and got the debt ceiling raised how many times? In Obama's own words he condemns these actions as the actions of failed leadership, his leadership.
What's not to understand.
Obama, unlike you, understands that this is not the time to "shrink" the economy and endanger the recovery. The republicans know this, too, but would rather let us(main street) fall into a recession if it means they can gain power and influence.
Some kind of patriots, huh?
Recovery? You're joking, yes?
Steven B
Not if the Repubs can prevent it.
The killing of Osama Bin Laden has made Obama a 'made man', and it will be hard for anyone to upseat him at the polls. Plus, he is the man-ripe for the time-with too much swagger; one of the hippest men the 21st century.
Get out much?
...can't wait for the debates. Romney made 100,00 jobs? That's about two weeks worth in 2012. We have a net monthly turnaround of over 500,00 jobs a month from when Obama took office.
GW Bush, on the Capture of Saddam Hussein... go look at that speech.
"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 'em."
Bush gave THEM the credit, as THEY did the work, and his only "I/ME" was to THANKS and Congratulate THEM.
Now Obama's speech...
"“Tonight, I can report . . . And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta . . . I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden . . . I met repeatedly with my national security team . . . I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action. . . . Today, at my direction . . . I’ve made clear . . . Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear . . . Tonight, I called President Zardari . . . and my team has also spoken. . .These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief . . . Finally, let me say to the families . . . I know that it has, at times, frayed. . . .”
ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME...
Which one is the leader and which one is the self-absorbed narcissist again?
Um... Can you pass the Hot Dogs?
Your network is such an incredible suck-up it's just amazing. Brown rings around all your noses.
Think about that sorta thing a lot, do you? Try watching something other than Fox and clean up your act
A dog walks into a bar and says bartender get me a drink.
He looks over and sees Obama staring at him.
The dog was never seen again. Well, until this interview that is. Obama is so full of, ahem, dog.
Did you spend all afternoon puking this up???
Yep Ozzie, just for you. I love you!
16 HOURS.
16 HOURS
i'm am not an obama fan. will not vote for him. his politics stink. the country is in dire financial condition. that being said, his decision on going after that a hole was dead on. thanks military you guys have always done a great job. now if we canjust clean out that cess pool called congress.
187 days
4496 hours
269784 minutes
16187055 seconds
TO ELECTION DAY.
THEN WE SEND OBAMA BACK TO CHICAGO TO GATHER MORE ACORNS..It's truly the only THING HE IS QUALIFIED TO DO.
262 days
6308 hours
378502 minutes
22710146 seconds
TILL PRESIDENT MITT ROMNEY IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE USA.
don't count on it. 4 more years with Obama and then it's Clinton II for another 8 years.
Hey MARK: Now that is LOL funny. That would be enough to cause Julie the Hater, to consider leaping off a bridge.
Not true
He definetly knows what actions to take to become a failed leader. Just create a never ending, ever growing debt crises that pushes the debt ceiling up to $15.7 trilion.
By his own words, this is how Obama defines a failed leader.
What: Refresh my memory, would you? What was the name of the president who entered office with the country at peace and a budget surplus and a balanced budge and left office 8 years later with the nation bogged down in two never ending wars and the economy in a shambles???
If your party is so god damn proud of Bush then how come they're kept him in seclusion since he left office? Wanna bet he does not make a speak the GOP Convention this summer? Not even your party is dumb enough to let Dubya out to see the light of day. Yea, his legacy will be a proud one, don't you think? LOL
What a lying POS Obama is. You can look at the video and see clearly that the GENERAL or ADMIRAL was in charge and OBOZO was sitting OFF TO THE SIDE AT THE KIDS TABLE looking like an invited GUEST. PUH-LEASE.
KEITH: Pleazzzzzzzzzzzze????
Then how come Sec of Defense, Robert Gates, a life long Republican and a guy who became SOD during the Bush years said it was the most courageous decision he has ever seen a poltician make.
It just kills you, doesn't it, that Bush was a miserable failure and Obama got the job done in 2 years. Deal with pal.
BTW smart guy, the brass at the pentagon along with Gates advised Obama not to do it. They felt a drone strike was far safer, which it was. And tell me, had this whole mission gone south, using your "reasoning" I assume you would not have held Obama accountable for it. Just like the Right's been blaming Jimmy Carter for 35 years over a mission that failed through no fault of his own.
I like to look at pictures, too
But I also read. A lot. Try it.
zs
You might be able to read, but you've demonstrated that you don't comprehend the English language.
When Obama says that its failed leadership that has to raise the debt ceiling, he is talking about himself.
For some odd reason you don't seem to understand this.
2006 is "ancient history" in economic terms. What your ilk doesn't get(or refuses to admit publicly), is that this period of the recovery is not the time to attack the debt, as that would shrink the economy.
Timing is everything....just like the raid on OBL. Capiche?
Ah yes, "President Romney"
The guy who was pro choice before he was against it.
The guy who said Work Mandates work but now says they're unconstitutional
The guy who supported Stem Cell Research but now opposes it.
The guy who spoke out against Reagan and now thinks he's god
The guy who supported the minimum wage until he was opposed to it.
The guy who said he was a "Progressive" and now says he's a "Severe Conservative"
The guy who supported the Path to Citizenship but now opposes it along with immigrants in general.
Don't even start with Presidents that are Flip Floppy! Obama wins that race by MILES above everyone else.
Care to type out a list or do you just want to throw barbs?
Really??? Then let's compare notes.
And tell me why even super Conservative GOP congressman say that Willard is the worst flip flopper they've ever seen?
Sure, just for you, here's a few:
1. Keeping Guantanamo open
2. Bringing back military tribunals for terror suspects
3. Continuing renditions of terror suspects
4. Ordering military action in Libya without seeking Congressional authorisation
5. Dropping Third Site missile defences in order to appease the Russians
6. Letting Sudan off the hook for the Darfur genocide
7. Backing a federal Europe after defending national sovereignty
8. Pledging to restore America’s standing in the world but lowering it instead
9. Dumping Mubarak in Egypt after calling him a "stalwart ally"
10. Killing the NASA manned space programme
ALL of these he promised NOT to do...
1. Security reasons.
2. How many rights should terrorist have?
3. See #2.
4. Cry me a river. Besides, It's a UN operation. Congress, get over yourselves.
5. Do we really want to start another war? We gave up nothing substantive.
6. When did we have them on the hook?
7. Please see "global economic crisis".
8. personal opinion.
9. He was a stalwart ally...and a scumbag. Just like other Middle east "allies".
10. We can't afford it now. Maybe Newt should answer that one, too.
Just justify everything... I gave Flip Flops as asked, and you can only justify them... I never said I don't agree with some of them, I just said he's the worst Flip-Flop Pres we've ever had. And according to your reply, you agree with me.
Super--Since Obama did not take one position on 4, 5, 6,7, and 10 and later take another position, there are no flip flops. You need to work on your definitions.
It's not a flip-flop if one gains pertinent information and changes or shift position. That's just common sense and reasoning at work.
For example:
Deciding to switch your view and be against gay marriage because the evangelical right won't throw money at your campaign is a flip-flop. Surely you see the difference.
Willard the amazing Weathervane. He goes whichever way the wind is blowing.
Willard was Pro Gun Control, now he's a "lifetime" NRA member.
Claimed he was a "lifelong hunter" now admits he only shot a few "varmits" with a .22
Acknowledged Global Warming and said it was a serious threat, now claims that it is totally bogus.
Supported "Don't Ask, Don't tell" now says gays should not serve openly in the military.
Supported Same Sex marriage but now opposes it.
Supported the Health Care Mandate and until 2009 RECOMMENDED IT FOR THE ENTIRE NATION. Now says its an awful idea.
Refused to sign the Norquest Tax Reform pledge but now supports it.