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:
GIVE CREDIT TO THOSE WHO DESERVE IT!!! Obama is trying to get the credit for getting Bin Laden! It does'nt matter if he was president or Donald Duck was president, when this occurred! The ones that deserve the credit are the United States Navy Seals, not a president trying to get re-elected! America give the credit to the ones who deserve it, not the politicians! Thank you Navy Seals! DON'T-FUGETTA-BOUT-IT!!!
there is different kinds of credit..duh. Credit for making difficult decisions, credit for risking life.
pretty simple concept..for most anyway.
How hard a decision was it to get Osama??? A trained chimp could have made the correct choice .......
He had his chance for 8 years and failed to get him. (sorry...I'm not usually that mean but you really left no choice yourself)
If you want to see how the chimp (or his advisors) handled it, go to http://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Tora_Bora_Report.pdf. Short summary: Bin Laden was trapped in Tora Bora and the Bush administration blew the chance to get him in late 2001.
The decision to get Bin Laden was made well before Obama decided to run for president! The only tough decision he made, was what day he was going to play basketball or golf! FUGETTA-BOUT-IT!!!
While Bush disbanded the task force that was searching for bin Laden, and said he didn't care about him anymore, and looking under his desk for all of those so called WMD's, he should get credit for this? No f ing way!
Granted the fact that the SEAL's were the worker bees in this, the CinC had to give the order to invade the Paki air space and country. That took gonads, because Obama knew the political risks of what failure would mean.
Go back when Carter's failed rescue mission in Iran happened. The GOP had a field day with that failure. That is FACT, and is recorded. Look it up and see for yourself. Both Clinton and Bush failed to nail bin Laden, and the GOP blamed Clinton for "waging the dogs tail". Because Clinton and Monica affair had just came to light.
So now the GOP is peed off, and still wants to say Bush should get the credit, or some general or such? The CinC is the one who gave the "GO" order. Plain and simple.
Good point.
""Nearly five years after George Bush vowed to bring Osama bin Laden to justice "dead or alive", it's the end of the line for the CIA's Alec Station, the unit dedicated to the hunt for the al-Qaida leader.""
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jul/04/usa.alqaida
K1200RS
Again you demonstrate your ignorance in your posts. There were over a 100,000 troops looking for Bin Laden in Afghanistan and thousands more stationed all over the world trying to find him at both Bush and Obama's calling.
You want to blame someone as a failure, blame the man who condemns himself as a failure with these words.
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.
What--Speaking of ignorance, by the time we had 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, Obama was president and bin Laden was in Pakistan. But since you seem to be big on talking points, try this one: Bin Laden is dead and GM is alive. Deal with it.
Ozzie - don't get me wrong, I did not like Bush that much either, and have said so. I am simply saying if Obama has had such great ideas, when he opens his mouth, please someone list them.
As to Bain, they do and did much more than Staples and it makes money. What has Obama created, made money on for us or anyone?
I do think that (some) of his intentions are good, but he just does not understand the ramifications of some of them and that they can not work. It would be nice to live in a world where pink ponies lived on fluffy clouds, we all got along, there was no corruption and if you taxed the companies making money they would absorb it and not pass it down by laying off people or raising prices, but in reality that is not what is or will happen.
Do I think Bush was some great Mensa member. Not at all. I am simply saying that he built up the military moreso than Obama and our military is who the Lion's share of the credit should go to for killing Bin Laden, not that they want or would ask for it. In fact, as the military person who posted on here said, in reality NO ONE should have brought up the name Seal Team 6. It put them in danger. Obama does not need to keep reminding us of what he did (good or bad). We can decide for ourselves by his work.
Spencer, you must also admit that Obama has every reason to tout his foreign policy credentials and successes because republicans are trying to make him look like a complete and abject failure on every foreign policy issue, even though it's been largely pretty good.
What should he do...remain silent?
BTW, Bain Capital's methods are ethically questionable. They made a lot of money, most of it the old-fashion way, but a lot of it loading debt onto acquired companies' balance sheets and sucking them dry of cash. Theirs was a short-term investment horizon, they didn't much care if the company folded the day after they got their money and fees out.
His foriegn policy? He turned countries that were friendly to us into radical muslim countries that will probably support terrorism,,,,(Egypt, Libya, and soon Syria ) He has gone around the world telling everyone how sorry he is for America being strong and successful, he is raping our military , and he has almost destroyed our ablitity to gater intell around the world.
As they would say in the military.....the man is a walkking, breathing clusterf**k !!
I did not like the Bush's either. Wishy-Washy. I wanted Hillary and was ready to vote for her.
Obama is scary. I used to think scary smart but he's losing his grip on reality. He actually thinks what he is saying is reality. Biden is a trained chimp in a suit.
Hillary for Prez and Obama for VP - I will vote for it.
Someone said that it took great risk for Obama to order the hit on Bin Laden as "imagine the ramifications if it had failed". Well given he was already pretty much a failure, the risk was not that high. LOL
Joking aside, there is (some) truth to that, as for any President to order that hit, would take some guts/risk, as it would be political suicide, had it failed. So for that, I do give him credit, but I also say any other President (still) would have taken the risk IN THIS EXACT situation and probably would not be mentioning it every ten seconds.
That is my take. Everyone has their own.
maybe another president would have ordered an airstrike. Its completely unclear that other presidents would have sent in live US troops.
Or maybe tried to get pakistan to do it...remember how local troops were sent into tora bora the first time bin laden escaped.
Obama says it was "the longest 40 minutes of his life."
What he meant to say was.."I was playing golf up until about 20 minutes before and I wanted them to hurry so I could get back to my golf game. They were waiting for me at the Golf course."
Obama...THE WAR MONGER.....he signed a pact with Karzai to keep us in Afghanistan until 2024 and maybe even longer. OBAMA HAS WAR BLOOD ON HIS HANDS.
He also promised $3.5 Trillion a year to Afgahnistan...So who's pocket is he lining?
stan
I'll give you a hint, this "state" claims to be our ONLY real ally in the middle east, and the ONLY democracy in the middle east!
Can you guess?
And just so you know WE ALL line it's pockets every year, if we want to or not! Can you say Federal Income Tax?
3.5 TRILLION? I kinda doubt it.
US Army Vet...From a reitred Army Vet...I really can't figure out who! LMAO. Oh by the way is there really a democracy in that area. LOL
Was something like 1.6 billion a year until we leave there....which we all know..that is never going to happen.
Stan
NO!
Thanks for your service!
Vermont guy,,,it could have be 3.5 Billion but still
Our only true ally we had..Obama has ruined that relationship......I hope Israel takes on Iran.....and it will make Obama look like the fool he is.
DownTown,
WOW, you really want to see WW3 for FALSE REASON'S, HUH?
Your welcome to go fight it, not me, or my family and friends!
PLEASE do some REAL RESEARCH, and stop listening to the CONTROLLED US Media!
well, obama's foreign policy is well regarded, so someone here is a fool. :)
Well regarded to whom?? His communist buddies????
lol, "communist buddies"? hey, fox won't pay you unless you accuse him of being a marxist too!
here's a clue for you - why aren't the republicans attacking his foreign policy? Because most people who aren't mindless political hacks like you know its been pretty good.
for example: "
President Obama’s trip to Afghanistan to sign an accord with the Afghan government and to address the nation from a warzone should remind his Republican opponents that foreign policy attacks will be tough to stick to Obama in the fall campaign.
Certainly GOP leaders have a variety of criticisms with Obama’s foreign policy moves. However, the big difference is how many of those critiques will matter to those elusive and far easier to please independent voters. The answer? Not many.
When looking at the foreign policy scorecard, GOP officials may want to crow about things that have gone wrong, but the fact of the matter is that unaffiliated voters are going to go down a fairly short checklist that leans very positively toward President Obama."
DownTown
Can you say "The Lavon Affair", The "Deliberate" Attack on The USS Liberty, The Beirut Marine Barrack Bombing, Khobar Tower Bombing, 9/11, etc., etc., etc.,?
The ADL, AIPAC, SPLC, JINSA, CFR, Federal Reserve, etc.!
Our ONLY true ally we had, GIVE ME A BREAK! With "friends" like that, who needs enemies!
DownTown
Then again there is the old saying "keep your friends close, and your ENEMIES CLOSER", right?
Regarding taking risks and failing..Carter took a risk and failed...But he took the risk and stood up and took his medicine....
Another interesting contrast..
Little georgey was reading a childrens book 20 minutes before allowing the deadliest attack in human history..
President Obama comes off the golf course, and gives the go ahead to kill the most wanted terrorist on the planet.
I wonder if little georgey has gotten through "My Pet Goat II" - The sequel. ???
GW Bush was doing what was planned for that day...and after the 9/11 attacks Bush never played golf again while president.
How much WAR blood is Obama's hands everyday while he's golfing???
Bush did the right thing; he kept calm and didn't upset the children.
You are actually going to assert that Bush 'allowed' 9-11?
No, it was Clinton, who hid like a pussy when the Cole was attacked, and his pathetic running away in Somalia convinced OBL that the US was too wimpy to actually engage Al-Qaida.
George Bush was the man who allowed the intel to be gained to get OBL.
Obama voted against enhanced interrogation.
And we will vote against Obama/Osama this November!
Exactly Steven..ty......At least GW Bush has some cooth and manners....something the Obama's know nothing about.
downtown: wow, bush never played golf again? lol. so what. He just took hundreds of vacation days cutting brush. much better. :)
steven: "pussy"? lol, your 12 year old friends must think you are sooo clever. :)
Ah, an ad hominem attack. A sure sign you've lost the argument.
OBL himself stated that it was Clinton's running away in Somalia that convinced him to keep attacking the US.
steven: ah, what can I say? anyone who calls someone a "pussy" and then whines about "ad hominem" attacks is pretty ironic and humorous. :)
what can I say? that's the kind of thing an immature poster would say. My comment was not an attack, just pointing out the obvious..that people who resort to such terms aren't mature.
truth is not an attack. :)
..."before allowing the deadliest attack in human history.."
Alllowing uh? So you are one of those insane 9/11 truthers?
Killing Osama Bin Laden didn't do a Damned thing to slow down terrorist's. Obama just happened to be in office at the time, nothing more. So stop with the bragging Obama. You still aren't going to win Re election. Job's are the thing people are interested in, Not Osama Bin Laden. Get Real. Hey, I just thought of something. If you change the B in Obama to an S, you have another Osama. I guess Obama is a Muslim after all.
and you know it didn't do a damned thing..how? suddenly you're an expert on al quada? lol.
DO some reasearch, learn some facts, you'll find that obama turned up the heat on terrorists and has done good.
I would say the same to you Vertmont.
dev: you can say anything you want..but I can back up my posts:
"Al-Qaeda's original "core" no longer has the preparation or material assets needed to conduct a large-scale terrorist strike similar to that seen on Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. counterterrorism and spy officials said on Friday (see GSN, April 27)."
and plenty more about how al quada has been decimated.
try again? :)
Sorry =- but I have to pull this one out of the Eighties: GAG ME WITH A SPOON!
Obama should thank Bush for the intelligence that allowed bin Laden to be located in the first place.
But, Obama will take all the credit; you would think he rappelled down that rope himself to get OBL.
What a tool.
Obama's EGO is in the way of reality.
your ego is in the way of reality. :)
Well- As to risk to Obama politically on giving the order.
1. If it failed we probably would never have heard a word about it and it would be covered up.
2. If it was not able to be covered up - he would have just blamed it on George Bush, like he does everything else. LOL
But if it had failed, he would not have been the first person to try and fail, so I don't see how all the blame could have been put on him, anymore than any other President who tried and or failed. Did he take a POLITICAL RISK - yes...but I do not believe other's would not have also taken it.
Never would have heard a word about it had it failed? Not sure how that could poosibly be. 2 helicopters with 30 SEALS goes down and we never hear about it? Or 30 SEALS kill a house full of innocent Pakastanis'?
And do you really think that the republican party wouldn't have shoved this so far up his behind that he'd never hear the end of it for his entire life?
I'm not so sure others would have done the same. Certainly there were several in his cabinet that didn't want to.
spence
Here is one thing Obama can't blame Bush on and doesn't.
Obama's never ending, ever growing debt crises that pushed the debt ceiling to 15.7 trillion. Just think what adding another $3.5 trillion to it is going to do to our economy.
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.
Here''s Obama condemning himself and describing his actions as failed leadership.
I recently asked a friend's little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?'
She replied, 'I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.'
Her parents beamed.
'Wow...what a worthy goal.' I told her, 'But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house.'
She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, 'Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?'
I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party.'
Her parents still aren't speaking to me.
smoked...Taking credit for thinking up that RWNJ favorite? Cuz everyone has already seen it all over Facebook.
I have noticed that if you don't agree with the Liberals on this page, you mnight as well get ready to have your commenty collapsed by the "community". Horsesh*t. You don't want othear the truth. He (POTUS) has you so snowed, it is unreal. The man has done nothing to go down in history about. An organizer, what the hell has he organized? Put us trillions in debt with no solution for jobs or economic growth. TELL ME WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR THE PEOPLE (Not for himself or his family). Crap, he is the only man to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for being able to wipe his a** with paper. Don't like him, didn't vote for him and won't vote him in next election!!!!
Okie-2790128
Okie...trouble with your rant is it's so full of UNtruths . You hate the president so much it's clouding your vision. He WILL go down in history, as much as it galls you. He'll be remembered for some pros and some cons depending on one's own views. If you're hoping to change some hearts and minds here...it's an epic fail. One thing the history books WILL say....President Obama killed Osama bin Laden ridding the world of the #1 terrorist of his time.
"He WILL go down in history, as much as it galls you"
You got that right!! This November 2. LOL!!!!
...and not it won't "gall" most American voters.
Tracy1973
Obviously this is your hope Tracy but if I were you, I'd be worried. My money is on the president winning reelection. Most American voters just don't trust your man. He's a fake.
"Most American voters just don't trust your man. He's a fake."
Obama is the most untrustworthy and fake president ever. Shall I go into he list of campaign promises that he has failed to deliver on?
I mean the very first promise he made upon becomming POTUS was to, i.e. close Gitmo....and it STILL hasn't happened.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/203727-obama-promise-to-close-prison-at-guantanamo-still-unfulfilled
He need to go back to Chicago and be a community organizer.
It's true he hasn't closed Gitmo because of the opposition he faced...not that he doesn't want to. But think about it...who really cares whether or not Gitmo is closed? Is this an important issue for you? If so...why?
Among many other promises he HAS delivered on was to find and kill Osama binLaden. Now THERE'S a promise that matters to ME.
PS I have a daughter named Tracy who I love dearly, so I like that about you.
"Among many other promises he HAS delivered on was to find and kill Osama binLaden. Now THERE'S a promise that matters to ME."
He promised the unemployment wouldn't go above 8% if the simulus bill was passed. Are you OK with him breaking that promise?
He promised that he would negotiate the healthcare bill in an open public forum so American's could have their voices heard. Are you OK with him breaking that promise?
He promised that no lobbists would work on his staff? Are you OK with him breaking that promise?
He promised he would overhaul the U.S. immigration policies. Are you OK with him breaking that promise?
He promised to be THE post racial president. He is to MOST racial president in the last 40+ years. Are you OK with him breaking that promise?
He promised that he would balance the budget. He hasn't even come close! In fact his debt dwarfs Bush's.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57400369-503544/national-debt-has-increased-more-under-obama-than-under-bush/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/rulings/promise-broken/
A lot of what you call promises are actually "stated objectives" an entirely different thing. If you were expecting all these stated objectives to actually bear fruit you are naive. Many of them have not been realized because of right wing intransigence. Lets assume your man Romney wins the election. Do you think all these issues will suddenly be solved? I believe we will find ourselves more likely in new world conflicts instead of winding down two wars we never should have started. The rich will find themselves getting even richer, employment will stagnate just as it has, the middle class will disappear and the ranks of the poor and homeless will increase.
I respect your right to your own opinion and I have mine. I can post links to opposing views also but doubt there is any point. Lets agree to disagree and vote our conscience in Nov.
"Many of them have not been realized because of right wing intransigence"
Such as? Obama has the entire Congress under his party's control for 2 years.
"The rich will find themselves getting even richer, employment will stagnate just as it has, the middle class will disappear and the ranks of the poor and homeless will increase."
I find that statement amazing because that is EXACTLY what we currently have under Obama.....especially the more people on food stamps than at any time in history and the homeless increasing.
"I believe we will find ourselves more likely in new world conflicts instead of winding down two wars we never should have started."
We started the war in Afghanistan? I do believe the enemy who attacked us on 9/11 and killed almost 3,000 Americans were in Afghanistan. I see why you might believe we started it considering you are one of those 9/11 Truthers who thinks that demolition charges could have been place methodically over a period of days if not weeks without anyone noticing.
Lets agree to disagree and vote our conscience in Nov."
Very well. I will vote for a smaller government and you can vote for more debt that I am sure your grandchildren will appreciate.
"The rich will find themselves getting even richer, employment will stagnate just as it has, the middle class will disappear and the ranks of the poor and homeless will increase."
Then perhaps you see my point, these things will not change for the better with your man in charge and in fact will get worse. Obama continues to work on these problems without much help from Repubs.
That's just right wing lip service. You'll be voting for more defense spending (already more than ALL other countries combined) and cuts to the most vulnerable citizens, the poor and elderly. Smaller govt? Yeah right.
"Then perhaps you see my point, these things will not change for the better with your man in charge and in fact will get worse."
OK that is you OPINION. Although I can think of any policy change that Romney would make that would make things worse than they are right now.
Obama continues to work on these problems without much help from Repubs."
Working? He's been campaiging for re-election for the last 18 months!
"...and cuts to the most vulnerable citizens, the poor and elderly."
Cuts? That's a joke! Pure liberal propoganda is calling reducing the "rate of increase" a cut. There has NEVER been an actual cut in any federal social program in terms of dollars spent from one fiscal year to the next.
"Smaller govt? Yeah right."
Defense spending is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. More governement social program spending is not.
You guys crack me up with your attempts to marginalize and reduce everything the President has accomplished. Let me tell ALL OF YOU something. The US ARMED FORCES act at the request of the President of the united States. They are not an independent group who decides on their own to go after targets left over from a previous administration. Despite what several of you MUST think our Armed forces are not "Team America F**K YEAH!" They do not independently operate and certainly not on an operation as sensitive as this. Anyone who say "our armed forces got him President Obama had nothing to do with it" either has no idea of command flow or just does not want to see the President get credit where credit is due.
I find it really amazing. Had he failed everyone would be all over him for being a failure. Now with his success everyone is either 'stop bragging about it" or is trying to hedge in and take a share of the success.
It is SO RICH! Hypocrites cannot see the forest for the trees, I continue to see every day and every way that racism in this country is both subtle and gross. I fear most people in this country will never have the strength of character to escape it .....
What was his accomplishment? What took so much courage? And while the Armed Forces work under the POTUS. They conduct operations daily without his approval.
Once the CIA knew Osama was there and could make a call to get him they had to get the Okay from Obama. That was Obama's entire roll in this he gave the okay to get him, nothing more.
This has to be the easiest decision a President has ever had to make and you liberals make it out like Obama went in there with an M16 in his hands and took out Osama himself!
You simply don't want to admit that President Obama is politically more astute and nimble that his size 14 wearing 'opponents'. Time and time again he evaluates the situation and makes the right decisions. Republicans just cant stand the fact that he keeps making the right call.
If it was such an EASY call to make how come nobody else could get it done. Ask Carter how easy of a decision this was to make. You and your kind just want to marginalize and reduce everything the President has accomplished, you would rather see this country fail so you can blame it on President Obama rather than work together for the good of the whole.
as I have said previously it's both subtle and gross ......
Uh - clearly the LOL indicated "humor". Of course it would be hard to cover up, if not impossible. Not that things can not be, however, and have been by both sides/parties.
"The most important single day in his Presidency and a decision he had to make alone"? That's our"I" President for you, making sure the focus is on himself. What an inane, sophmoric speech! Is this guy in love with himself, or what? This was an important day for America, ALL OF US! Can't he get off of his stinking soap box for one day and act like a human being? I'm embarrassed FOR him and his ridiculous ego.
DAVE: That's odd, cause I get embarrassed reading post like yours.
I'm curious to know how you reacted to Dubya's little number of dressing up in his cute little flight suit and landing on the deck of the Abraham Lincoln? Did you feel that was bad form I wonder?
Read my first sentence, above, Ozzie. Did you hear Bush gloat like that? I will answer for you, no he did not, not once. Bush's speech was about the heroic soldier's and America, not about himself. This President get's more transparent, every day and the more transparent he gets, the more he worries me.
As a footnote: I can imagine how you doorknob's would have reacted if Bush would have started his speech like Obama did, you would have erupted.
Like most NBC based reporting, this should count toward the campaign budget for 2012.
ILF
dazzle us with your brilliance on the misrepresentation of facts by msnbc? :)
MSNBC...were we edit the news just the way liberals like it!
I am fairly sure Obama must have a law passed that he can blame everything on Bush, which ticks me off, as I used to blame everything on Bush, until I found Obama started hogging it. (disclaimer: for the humor impaired - this IS a joke). Thank you.
I am not crazy about either one of them. But I do think (even if you just look at the top of this article, it looks like a Kardashian photo op about it all and I do NOT think this is how it should be handled.
Well he does blame Bush for everything, well almost everything, he did blame construction, state and local governments for being a drag on the economy, but I think if you look hard enough you could blame Bush for that also...he tried to intimidate the SCOTUS regarding the Health care reform...again blame Bush for everything prior to his time as Pres, during his time as Pres and for everything that goes wrong for the next 100years...
SPENSER: You didn't acknowledge my earlier response.
You want to see the football being spiked??? Go take a good long look at the 2004 GOP National Convention. It was nothing but 4 days of the Right thumping their chests and saying what a brilliant wartime leader Dubya was. Not to mention the fact that they basically said that if you vote for Kerry, we'll all die in a huge mushroom cloud. Not too much jingoism there, don't you agree?
Yea STAN: He tried to intimidate the court. LOL
Did you ever listen to some of Dubya's speaches about "radical, activist judges" who were passing bad laws??? Look into it sometime and then get back to me and tell me what a monster Obama is for even commenting on this.
Hey Ozzie Boy, if it aint Bush it’s the progressives, its the conservatives, its
the religious right, it’s the atheist left, it’s the media, it’s Hillbillies’,
it’s racism, its the Tea baggers, it’s his supporters, it’s his cat muffy, its
Bo, it’s the police, it’s SCOTUS and on and on. For better use of time and
space here, who or what hasn't he used as an excuse? I was arrested throwing a
shoe at W. in Seattle because he was an idiot but he knew he was an idiot. No,
there isn’t one thing promised that he has performed on. Now doing the best he
can is not getting things done but merely lowering oneself to the level of mediocrity that seems to have become the American public. I need someone I can look up to and respect. That stopped in 2009 so in the same spirit I had working two years on your behalf, Mr. President, you have 8 months.
obama = lying SOS.
How does it feel to be in full agreement with the leaders in the Middle East?
Apparently some black religious leaders preach sermons more about white racism, than on God. Their congregations will be well versed on the racist evil actions of Europeans and European Americans and how they continued to be mistreated, but gain little knowledge of CHRIST! In Jamaica ‘Man” they blend together Christianity and Voo Doo. Voo Doo is carried over from their days in Africa. Jamaica college students go to Voo-Doo U. This is similar to the African Descendents in American combining Black Liberation Theology with a dash of Christianity. This must be an “African Thing”. Unfortunately this will be useless when you leave this world, and your deeds are revealed in the “Book of Life”. God upon reviewing your life will say” You did not know me in life; I do not know you in death.” Jeremiah Wright for the first time was turned away. Affirmative Action, Political Correctness and Social Promotion had finally failed him.
A similar mixing of beliefs has occurred in many churches of white folk. The Progressives added their ungodly magic, turning many former houses of God into a temple for Social Justice. My Lord was once the focus of their worship. He has been dismissed and demoted to the bottom of many churches list of priorities. Social Justice is always at the top of the list. The churches new motto “ Feels Good, Do it!“ This makes the congregation feel very good about them. A Progressive Minister must feel very self-righteous. They cannot hide in their robes from God. He knows who and what you are! I faced my Lord seeing he was very distraught! A tear flowed down his cheek and he said “Did I Die for nothing“! My heart broke upon hearing his words. I fell to my knees and wept.
This is so over the top. C'mon President Obama, your better than this. Is this it?
How are you going to fuel the rest of your campaign, with this? I guess if not
this then what, huh? **Sigh**
I spend over $800 per month on gasoline, now that is an issue you can do something about as every other President has had to do successfully since Carter.
Everybody knows the the price of gas is controlled by Presidents and the earth is about 5000 yrs old.
(sarcasm)
In Islam if the infidels are not converted you can:
1. Kill them
2. Enslave them
3. Confiscate their wealth through exorbitant taxation. Obama has initiated this part first, the day after inauguration. This action was done under the pretext of “Social Justice”.
4. Rape Christian Women and force them to convert to Islam. This atrocity is occurring in Pakistan and other countries dominated by Moslems. I wonder why President Obama ( A Moslem) or Hillary Clinton(feminist) will not strongly protest this with the Government of Pakistan. The raping, other physical assaults, forced conversion and slavery of my sisters in Christ breaks my heart. But, I am powerless to defend my brothers and sisters who are being crushed by the Islamic devils. All I can do is offer a voice against your Islamic persecution.
Obama gave Muslims in America waivers from Obamacare, but not detested religious groups like Catholics. Does he have a bias against Christians?
Cartoon - During the crusades Saladin and his Muslim forces are attacking a Christian Crusader Castle. Barack in his former life is inside the castle. He opens the castle gates clearing the way for the Muslim hordes. A Christ Templar fighting for his life cries out his last words to Barack “I thought you were a Christian”
nazarite
Ever read the "Talmud"?
According to it ALL "goyims" are to be slaves!
According to it "they" can have sex with children under three!
According to it "they" can steal your land and murder you without reprecussions!
According to it "they" are immune from any nations laws except their own!
Who says Jesus was nothing, and glad "they" had him murdered?
Who says Mary was a whore?
Who considers Christain to be fools/cattle?
Who/What am I speaking of? THE ONLY "religion"/"peoples" we ARE NOT allowed to speak out against!
You want to condem one "religion" do it to all! Don't be hypocriticle!
nazarite
Many millions throughout the world now know WHO/WHAT is actually fermenting war between Christains and Muslims!
We WILL NOT fall for their BS!
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL!
Bush did not know he would have a 12 year Presidency maybe 16 with the last 4-8 being only as a scape-goat. But OH, is this Obama's victory! And by sure conjecture the press has whipped up the morons on the left with 'what ifs' from Bush and Mitt.
God we need a voting test complete with photo ID.
It's real simple, if Obama gets the blame for things going wrong then he sure as hell should get the credit when things go well.
And beyond that, some things, namely the economy are as slow to turn around as an ocean liner. It's just a fact that Bush's disasters cannot be remedied in a year or two. The Great Depression took a decade and a world war to be cured.
Would you like to see the video of GWB saying he wasn't worried about OBL? or another saying it wasn't a big priority?
Can you handle the truth?
Zhot.....OBL has been dead for year now and there has been no change in the level of threat from terrorist....So guess he was right.
Along BHO's(Panetta in charge) path to getting OBL, his minions were droned, scattered, and scared.
So...you hit the nail on the head. Obama was right to shift priorities to actual terrorists and away from the WMD's fake Iraqi terrorist ties.
Can we just agree that giving the go order was the most important, most courageous, most audacious, most significant, most momentous act in the history of the American presidency and get back to the important things like perpetual fundraising?
...only if you promise to watch the "Mission Accomplished" video the rest of the day.
Yeah, I remember that one which touted a SUCESSFUL mission. I sure hope you aren't one of those guys who gets his timelines screwed up or trys to falsely say that the mission reference was to Saddam's capture in December 2003.
not at all...I'm referring to the one where he forgot there were two parts to the mission, and his guys didn't plan for the second.
The political fallout from a raid to kill OBL was humungous. If the raid had failed Obama would have lost any chance at all for a second term. He knew the Right would have eaten him alive. Now all they can say is "yea I woulda done that too" which is a crock. I did not vote for Obama in the last election but I plan to fix that next time. THe Right has totally yurned me off. And John Bayner! What a waste of flesh and bones. I bet "The Tan Man" wouldn't even make a good fire.
You like every other Obama worshiper on here forget that if it was found out that he did not go in when he knew he had OBL...Obama would have been ran out of office even by Nancy Pelosi!
Easiest decision a president has ever had to make!
Had the raid failed, the public would be none the wiser. As it was successful, Obama got the word out that he was killed, even before the DNA tests came back.
iceveiled
You seriously believe that? You mean like how Carter's failed raid in Iran went undetected? The whole world would have known within minutes. Get real.
dev: no one "knew" they had OBL..they THOUGHT they had OBL. It wasn't like he called the white house and said "here I am, I'll sit here nicely at midnight on the 23rd for you to kill me".
The world isn't as simple as you like to make it to be..which is why we need people like obama and not bush running things. You know, people who understand complexity. :)