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.
Leave a Comment:
Ozzieboy and SZ
You make it too easy.
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.
This Obama flip flop puts our economy and nation in real danger with Obama's never ending, ever growing debt crises that pushed the debt ceiling to $15.7 trillion.
I know, it's funny. They bring up flip-flop as if they don't know what's coming. hehehe
PS: I did post a list for you two. Just a few of the MANY flip flops he's done and is doing.
BTW, #683,6...I answered your list.
Ozzieboy do you want some more Obama flip flops.
Obama said he was for public option in Obamacare before he met with the health insurance companies behind closed doors and then he was against the public option. Kind of odd as the public option would have reduced costs to Americans it if was kept in.
Obama claimed that Medicare was the most efficient health care program in the world. Now he's attempting to destroy it because he claims it the least efficient health care program in the world.
Obama said that raising the debt ceiling was failed leadership, now he's claming raising the debt ceiling is showing great leadership.
And oh boy is he showing us just how great he is with his never ending, ever growing debt crises that not only pushed the debt ceiling up to $15.7 trillion, but has managed to put our economy and our nation in danger. Not my words, but Obama's words as I proved many times..
Obama is a pragmatist.
He took what he could get while the gettin' was good. He passed the bill and accomplished less than he wanted and more than most thought possible.
ZS
So your saying its better to put this nation in debt for something that doesn't do what its supposed to do rather than work at getting something that will do what its supposed to do for less money.
Health care is defined as a humanitarian need of people, not a profit for an insurance company.
We have nonprofit health care organizations all across this country that meet the humanitarian health care needs of people based on their ability to pay.
Obama didn't bother to seek out their advice from these successful organization. Why?
The answer is simple. He only was out to protect the profits of the health insurance companies. Heck he didn't even put in any language in Obamacare that would prevent the insurance companies from sending their customer service and Computers operations overseas to some third world nation.
Since it was being reported that health insurance companies were in the early planning stages of doing just this at the time Obamacare was being created, one would think that Obama would have taken steps to protect American jobs.
But he didn't. And the above is just some more example of his failed leadership.
that's not what I said at all. the spin is all yours. He fact is, he doesn't pass laws himself. that may come as a surprise to many of you. He presented what he wanted, and the children in Congress added modifications daily until they decided not to support it. The insurance companies were so happy that it was going to pass, their stock prices jumped in the days before. The lobbyist system which controls much of Congress on both sides of the aisle was able to get most of what they wanted in the bill. There is your influence, my good man.
Your mention of non-profit healthcare organizations is ridiculous. We have 330 million people which is a helluva big group, that should be eligible for damn good rates from providers.
Insurance costs have been rising at about 9% a year for decades(about four) and they will continue to rise if the American people don't demand change.
The sad truth is that those that have it seem happy with their coverage and don't give a hoot whether anybody else has it or not.
Ther just aren't enough facts in your comment to waste any more time responding. Do you homework and bring some facts to the table next time.
Ha, you lame conservatives are just mad you don't have a President who can say, "I got bin Laden." The best you can do is aPresident who allowed bin Laden to strike on American soil at a terrible cost in lives.
No Republicans here... Bush was just as big an idiot. Had his nose browned by Obama...
No doubt Bush left a lot to be desired as President.
That's why Obama was elected. If we only knew then what we know now and how Obama has taken all the crap Bush did and made it worse, who knows if Obama was defeated, our economy just might be in recovery.
But by electing Obama all we've done is put our nation at risk and in danger from Obama's never ending, ever growing debt crises that has pushed our debt ceiling to $15.7 trillion.
So that means that if Obama gets four more years, his never ending, ever growing debt crises will push the debt ceiling to over $22.4 trillion or more.
What's the matter? Dog got your tongue? Or vice-versa?
Maybe your comment didn't deserve a response.
Ozzieboy
I'm glad that you brought up Obamacare. How you think it is the greatest thing since chicken noodle soup.
Apparently your aren't aware that Romneycare that you keep attacking was the model Obama used for Obamacare.
So by attacking Romney for his health care plan, you are in fact attacking Obama. At least, Romney had the cuts to say it was an abortion and that should be repealed, where Obama keeps pushing it.
Actually, they prefer Poodle Noodle Soup.
Romney doesn't have the guts to say "It was a good plan, but I couldn't make it work". No shame in that.
zs
Well, if Obamacare is so good why is Obama and his lap dogs in Congress crying about getting rid of the slush fund Obama set up to deal with Women's health care issues.
According to Obama, women's issues should be covered under Obamacare and there is really no need for the slush fund in the first place.
So now we learn that women's preventive health care issues aren't covered by Obamacare and Obama need to borrow money from a foreign nation so he can create a slush fund for that purpose.
What did Obama say about raising the debt ceiling. It was failed leadership. Me thinks this is another case of Obama's failed leadership.
A health care program that doesn't cover women's preventive health care needs.
Only in an Obama nation.
...and had the person Obama was talking about in 2006 been paying attention, maybe we could have avoided at least a significant amount of money we had to use to keep the economic wheels turning after the crisis.
All your drivel about healthcare isn't worth a response.
I just don't understand all the mudslinging and flat out lies. I was under the impression we were a devoloped country ,but with this division among party lines and fighting irresponsible journalism I am really worried. Obama took out Bin Laden good it should have happened in 2001. Obama care well it is hard to listen to the Americans who are against it if the were not holding up signs that said keep your government hands off my medicare.........
What an egotistical blowhard. Obama is so pathetic he went to Afghanistan for a campaign speech. Thanks for dissing our troops you effin worm. Hope you had a big fundraiser while you were there because you are the most disgusting excuse for a human being there is.
Toughest 40 minutes of your life? What ... watching a tv screen that was not about you? KMA obama!!!!
As one who NEVER supported BUSH and will never support ROMNEY and was mistaken in supporting OBAMA... Maybe Bush was not worried because Bin Laden was already dead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZiUjhsEAK4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWcDDSg9O7c&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmlqiKtkhzk&feature=related
There's lots more...
Maybe that's why there were no photos released?
Maybe so. Maybe that's why the Aug. shoot-down of "another" SEAL team that just happened to have the same numbers, right down to the interpreter and the dog...?
This was a campaign stop, and obama should repay the American people for the expenses. But, integrity is something that this slimy guy knows nothing about.
"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important it's not our priority"
-G.W. Bush 3/13/02
"I am truly not that concerned about him"
-G.W. Bush 3/13/02
There's your leader repubs.
Do you honestly think the war on terror is safer now that he's gone? IF he's gone? IF it happened when he said it did?
Maybe that is because the Bush Administration had already gotten Khalid Sheik Muhammad and the actual 9/11 terrorists? After those captures all Al Qaeda could muster was a guy with explosives in his shoe and a moron burning his gonads with defective Depends.
Of course Obama did try and prosecute all of the people that worked so diligently at riask of life to find and capture obama .. I mean Osama.
#ObamaDogRecipes Good reading...
Hey, Sport, are you still making votes for Obama? Glad to watch you make a complete fool of yourself, it is cheap campaign progress.
You still threatening to turn people into the FBI for free speech? Think I give a Rat's A$$ what you think? Think again, oh, and by the way, FU for the threat against me.
Great response, there Super. You have such an intelligent command of the language. LOL
Heard from the FBI yet about your violation of Federal law regarding inciting mob violence? Wait a few days, they will make your life miserable for a while. Oops, sorry, I forgot that your life could not be more miserable already with your attitude and paranoia.
My advice as before, run for the Mexican border with all the guns you can find. They will help you to make a life more in keeping with your world view!
Funny how Obama says he doesn't want to spike the football, and then... well, he goes and spikes the football:
Funny how you fools say you are not going to make fools of yourselves and then.... well, you go ahead and make fools of yourselves.
Because of his ego, seven innocent Afghans are dead. Ego-in-Chief had to have a campaign stop in Afghanistan because its too hard for him to keep shipping "supporters" around the country to support his campaign speeches.
The jokes over. Lets bring back the Constitution in November.
But we gave up a lot Mr. President...
...like every value and principle where the smallest measure of security justifies an environment more powerful than overt Marshal law where anyone with any potential of threat to any interest simply gets touched by the pointless and accumulated consequence of our global pile of @!$%# to legitimize their destruction so you can stay ahead of stupid in what is more pitiful than the hunger games as you suspend your own innocent citizens in the most sickening states and count of other citizens to suppress or add to their destruction by steering them from employment, relationships, ect to add to a false profile designed to destroy their lives...
I was done talking to myself and decided to simply send copies of my complaint-filed with my state's AG-to federal judges to make them aware of how the law is being manipulated to suppress the destruction of innocent citizens -so Obama's whores can save gay rights and keep the simplest economic concepts held together until the weak solution starts to be called the problem with these no talent @!$%#s and we start to shed our surface even faster-and they send the @!$%#in US Marshals to my home hu...
Uh they were so very understanding HU how the investigation that has been derailing my life for the last five years was all in my head and I need to stop sending letters Mr. President...
So I probably will because I am broke...
But for all those that came before me HU, I told them my story with pride as the twirled their finger alongside their head in their minds cause I have absolutely no proof HU...
That is the price we paid and the killing of OBL doesn't make up for what our Poet and blood soaked bitch did to this country...
Back to my little world Hu...
What a nasty sulfur wreaking perversion...
He made America safer HU!!
And these are federal agents HU telling me this program is all in my head..
Why would the FBI ever be worried about a man like you??
And why would they devote so much attention to you??
I don't go into details about the Queen of Jordan HU because they instantly refuse to believe such a sick invention is even real and has been destroying citizens for decades...
All good questions I want answered Mr. President because these no talent @!$%#s I see all day on TV are dancing on the grave of other innocent Americans worried about the reaction from bad guys when they find out their own government is far worse...
What a world he created HU because everyone in your nation knows what they are dealing with and if you know the truth it is a far less repulsive nation and you don't need to hide behind a limitless cast told everything bad that happens if we get our soul back will be their fault...
Still no clue what OBL or Iran have to do with my guilt or innocence if this wasn't all in my head...
What do the Clintons think about Obama as Commander in Chief?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2DECDKOFnw
tex2c
Want to see a fool making a fool of himself check out this speech.
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.
How about that! Obama condemning his own actions as failed leadership.
But to even top that off, Obama warns about the danger to our economy and nation with his creating a never ending, ever growing debt crises that's pushed the debt ceiling to $15.7 trillion.
You all want another example of Obama's failed leadership.
At the time Obamacare was passed Obama promised the American people that he would have congress working hard at getting the problems straighten out with Obamacare.
So what has Congress been working on? Getting the debt ceiling raised.
Getting the ban on horse meat for human consumption lifted.
Redefining pizza as a health food, so it could be served as a health food to school kids under the first lady's new nutrition guide lines.
Congress worked on a Bill that passed and Obama signed into law in January that makes peaceful protests a federal felony.
Had Congress working for the better part of the end of last year on a military funding bill that gives the military the authority to detain indefinitely for any reason any American citizen on American soil without having to provide that citizen with their constitutional protections from an opressive government.
As Obama said himself, American deserve better.
This is crazy libtard stuff. The dems protest water boarding but celebrates and boast about Obamas murder of Bin Laden. The libs are some crazy nut bags.
That's why they always have something to say about Teabaggers. There's an unhealthy fascination with Nut Bags.
I don't know "Big" Jim. I can make a separation between our country condoning torture (that has been proven to give little to no positive results) and the execution of the man responsible for 9/11.
POTUS told us he wouldn't "spike the ball" but then takes it over to his rival (Romney) and tuants him by spiking it right in front of his face. Even so, it helps to know that Bin Laden hated the US so much and now serves as a campaign prop for the Pres. Spining in his watery grave no doubt.
BILL: Yea, cause Dubya and draft dodging Dick Cheney never puffed up their chests, right?
No matter what occomplishments President Obama achieves, the Republicans are determined not to give him one iota of credit, I think history will judge him one of the best presidents the nation has every seen. Go Obama 2012, and I wish he could run for a third term!!!!!!!!!!
Those bastards would sooner slit their wrists than acknowledge that Obama did anything right. They would be advised to recall the state of this nation 4 years ago, after nearly 8 years of Republican governance had run this country into the ground.
It's not different from what they did with FDR. A decade of GOP rule gave us the Great Depression. Then they spent a decade blaming FDR for not fixing their screw ups fast enough and obstructing him in every way they could. Some things never change.
Got this video for ya Ozzie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JsrSAqRrCc0
Daniel and Old Trooper sent us a link to the UK’s Daily Mail who bothered to take a chance to interview SEALs about how they felt that there was a big celebration going on today about the killing of bin Laden a year ago;
Thank you Mr. President and our fine military for a job well done!
Finally, a president who acted upon his campaign promise and got the job done.
Four more years!@
If he gets four more years, it won't be "Job Well Done", it will be "Where Have All the Jobs Gone"!
People spend years learning and teaching business at the best schools, years putting it into practice in markets on the global stage. And these are people that cannot predict what the economy is going to do tomorrow. Yet somehow we have found a true genius here folks. He can also make catchy phrases to go with his Nostradumbass. I love the avatar too. Change it Back--to right before the economic collapse right buddy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JsrSAqRrCc0
says everything you need to know about Obama.
What Happened, Ozzie Boy, SuperSport,
You ALL make this two easy. You sheeple are fighting about a FAKE Left and Right. Eveybody has been put in this nice little box with a lable for you guys to call names. It cracks me up how UN-educated all of you are.
I like this quote from O BlaBla out of the article a couple of days ago. It sums it All up!!! "Take Mitt Romney; he and I actually have a lot in common,"!
MR. President you are 100% right about that. You both have the EXACT same policies:
GUN CONTROL.
OPEN BOARDERS.
NAFTA and GATT. (Clinton passed and all other Pesidents support, That Helped to take JOBS away from America)
BANKER BAILOUTS.
HIGHER TAXES. (Yes, because Bailout=Higher taxes, even if you manage to defer them until next term).
ILLEGAL EXECUTIVE ORDERS. (Never expiring, BUT extending EVERY order Bush signed).
ILLEGAL WARS not passed by Congress (Yes an act of war needs to be DECLARED by Congress or it IS ILLEGAL. The U.N. is NOT Congress, and following the orders of the U.N. is a direct violation of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, Article IV, paragraph 2. Ole Mittens who is supposed to be GOD loving- Loves him some war, and killing of innocent people, just like O BlaBla).
Continually allowing an Outside Offshore Privately Owned bank control our monetary system. Lending us our own money and charging us interest for the loan of our own money.
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST: You are both bought and paid for by the same Slave Masters that want their agendas pushed. BILDERBERG GROUP.
So you see Ol Mittens and O BlaBla "actually have a lot in common". I could be here all day typing. The list goes on and on.
The whole point is that the privately owned media (owned by the same Banksters that own the Privately Owned Federal Reserve) will only report that the race is between Mittens or O BlaBla. Ron Paul KNOWS these facts listed above, he is the mouth of all that are awake to these facts. Of course the sheeple on sites like this buy in to the media BS and say "He can't win" when HE IS WINNING. Look up the REAL Delegate numbers, not the Lame Stream Media Cooked Numbers. He just won Majority of them in Colorado, Iowa and Minnesota and now Washington. Clark County is the biggest in Nevada, during the county Convention when asked for people to stand up for their candies, 85% conservatively stood up for Paul. Nevada State Convention is next Sat. I will be there and I guarantee you that Paul will win Nevada. Of Corse (Bought and paid for by the Bankster Elite) Lame stream media will report that Romney is the front runner. He has the Majority of Delegates across the nation. Yet Sheeple like the FAKE "Right and Left" Paradigm on sites like this, REFUSE to educate yourselves and just SPEW the Fox or CNN BS that it's either O BlaBla or Ole Mittens and that "Paul Can't Win".
So you see a vote for Paul is a vote to restore our Republic and get it out of the grip of the "One World" Elite Banksters.
A Vote for Romney is a vote for OBlaBla. Both are on the same team playing a scramble against itself. The only difference is on is playing offence and one playing defense.
Ask yourselves what would be a TRUE "WASTE" of a vote!!!!
Take a few minutes (I beg, don't believe me) and look up the above facts for yourselves.
Anyone who can't wake up enough just to look up the simple facts listed above for yourselves has Stockholm Syndrome, and you love being lied to.
RON PAUL 2012, Restore our Republic!!!!
And Yes, Ron Paul Understands we have been taken over by outside entities. That is why they IGNORE him, He has won most of the caucus states but the controlled by Slave Masters Media will not report that. Just keep saying that Ol' Mittens is the front man. But you see weather they admit it or not, Ol Mittens has a Ron Paul Problem!!! See you in Florida Romney!
ron paul hasnt won any states. he wont be president but if wants to run independent good itll take votes from romney. second ron paul is crazy and as president wouldnt be able to do anything he claims to believe in. i like that he wants to end the war on drugs and bring the troops all the troops home but it wont ever get passed. thats why i dont get why people like you dont like obama. he is the president congress and senate do not have to do anything he says. thats also why since repubs took over the house nothing has gotten done. you talk all this im intelligent talk but dont realize our government isnt set up as a monarchy. it isnt the president says and we do.
Ron Paul is winning a majority of delegates in many states, up to 10 or more states this month! But you won't hear that on Fox or CNN etc. Neither will they tell you that Ron Paul has been invigorating liberty supporters by the thousands at his massive rallies.
Surely Mitt Romney found his whitey tighties in a bind when he heard the doctor's numbers in Louisiana where he took more than 70% of the delegates.
Boston.com reports State GOP's caucus picks leave Romney slate slighted, it says, "But when Massachusetts Republicans went to their caucuses on Saturday, many didn't vote for Mitt Romney's picks. Instead, they went for Ron Paul."
Then there is The Daily Caller report, Ron Paul's Minnesota delegate blowout prompts Romney 'panic,' says Paul adviser. Truly that one must have caused the Mitt to place an order for adult diapers when he heard that Minnesota is all about the real revolution, Ron Paul's, that is...It states that Doug Wead's blog points out the panic from Romney due to Paul's major upset. Wead says, "Similar efforts to bolster the Texas congressman's delegate count are underway in Iowa, Colorado, Maine and other states." If that's not all, there is Alaska with over 65% of the delegates standing for Ron Paul. Also, Colorado gave him more than 55% of their delegate count.
And if that is not enough to make you scratch your head and wonder why your local or national news stations haven't given you this information as they continue to tout Mitt Romney as the "projected" winner -- what a crock -- then wait until you see the video above titled, Ron Paul WINNING state Delegate Majorities/Massive Turnout at Rallies.
How's about a teaser of what you'll see above? In Calif., Ron Paul's crowds brought 7,000 to Los Angeles while in Chico 6,000 came to participate in the liberty movement. But make sure you watch the whole thing if you want to see the real truth about the GOP race for the nomination.
Just remember one thing in these times of bias and non-reporting, things aren't always what they seem. Today as I was traveling to my lunch destination, I found myself behind an out-of-state SUV with a bumper sticker on the back, as I fumbled to ready my phone to take a picture, I missed it as the light changed to green. "Oh well, they're everywhere," I thought. "I'll see another Ron Paul bumper sticker I can photograph!"
Ron Paul has apparently secured a majority of delegates in Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Washington State and possibly other states, and is on pace to do well in others, as the process moves towards the national level. Officially winning just 5 states will mean a formal RNC nomination for Paul.
These are all reports from different REAL Newspapers showing the REAL Reports of who is winning.
Now the Establishment are trying to Demonize Dr. Paul and stating that he is "Stealing" the Delegates. This is how the game is played, but when it does not work for the Establishment and works Against them they get upset. They try to make Dr. Paul look like a bad man and tell the SHEEPLE he is up to no good! They tell the SHEEPLE to not like him, or he can't win or "HE'S CRAZY to want to go buy the Constitution", and SHEEPLE like you eat it up like candy and ask for more.
Go find the facts for yourself, Get educated by asking questions. Quit watching fake NEWS FOX or CNN. If you want to come to a battle of brains, bring some Ammo next time! Go back to sleep. Sheeple
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JsrSAqRrCc0
Watch this video it says all that needs to be said about the self serving Obama!
Are you kidding me? Is there a Democrat out there with any sense of propriety. This clown actually tries to take credit for taking out Bin Laden and then goes around playing it up as if it was "oh so difficult". Oh please! Don't make me gag. Perhaps in his particular case it was difficult to give the order but for any red blooded American it would have been the easiest decision of his life. This guy is an embarrassment. Brian Williams is a laughable sycophant just like the rest of you clowns.
JOE: Easy??? You sure about that? What if it had failed. You'd be the first in line to blame Obama for it. No, the easy call was to send in a drone strike which the Pentagon as well as Sec of Defense Bob Gates advised him to do.
Obama made the tough call and got it right. You're just pissed off cause Dubya couldn't get the job done in 2 years. He started two wars, which have cost us thousands of lives, not to mention several TRILLION dollars and what did he achieve? A whole lot of nothing. Your blind hatred of Obama will never allow you to give him credit for anything.
you can hate all you want too but he did make the call. he was the only one who wanted to go in with the seals and not drone. gotta give the man his credit even if you hate him. if they had failed you would be ridiculing him to no end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JsrSAqRrCc0
watch this it shows what Obama did to get OBL
devdoc, nobody is saying obama is the hero of the story. he is a politician therefore he engages in politics. if the seals would have all died you wouldnt not be criticizing obama. it was huge news and he made the call. why not give him his credit. duby flew to an aircraft carrier and claimed mission accomplished in Iraq 3 months into the 8 yr war. that is spiking the football. obama should tout this as part of his POLITICAL campaign to get re-elected. to not mention it at all is stupid. just because it is something good he did and you dont want to admit it doesnt mean he should not talk about it.
The video says everything. It shows how Obama thought getting OBL was about politics not about what is right. His only concern is how he would be affected if it failed and not the lives of the men he sent in.
I guess you were watching the Fox version. Not surprised.
Dev--You really should have watched Rock Center. It clearly showed Obama giving credit to the SEALs in particular and the national security team in general. In it, Obama says that he considered the political implications of failure, but was primarily concerned with getting our guys home safely. The show also made it very clear that this was the president's gutsy decision. In general, the show made Obama look very presidential and those who criticize him (yes, you) look very small.
The piece showed what a great and grounded leadership team accomplished. Informative and candid conversations from some very sharp people.
The haters have no moral compass. In many ways, they are political zombies reaching for a meaningful life and crippled by their vitriolic disease. I actually pity the truly ignorant ones who don't know any better.
Ozzie Boy-2719086
What in the hell is the matter with you people. Like I posted earlier, bin Laden was put on the 10 most wanted criminals list way back in 1998 yet you freakin' liberals are just recently complaining about him not being caught.
Before 911 bin Laden made the statement, "When they bleed they leave." referring to Clinton's reaction to prior bin Laden planned attacks and he assumed the 911 attack would induce the US of pull out of the region totally.
Three thousand innocents were killed on that day yet it sounds like you liberals were perfectly ok with that as long as your energy supplies were still forthcoming.
AND THE WAR DID NOT COST SEVERAL TRILLION DOLLARS!!
Liberals were never OK with the Iraq war, especially after discovering the false pretenses used to start the conflict, while the search OBL was throttled back by GWB.
Do you want me to send you the video?
Didn't Clinton fire 75 cruise missiles in attempts to get OBL?
Your guy dropped the ball, Obama picked it up and slam-dunked it. Grow up or throw up.