From President Obama’s address on the death of Osama bin Laden:
…[S]hortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.
Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.
Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
OK, now here’s a related item.
N.B. I make no warrant for the linked article’s veracity. But if we’ve got to the point where bloggers can’t spread vicious rumors and disseminate unsubstantiated material, then it’s pretty clear the terrorists have won.
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“I’d gladly give Mr. Obama a high-five myself – or fist bump, or whatever.”
M.P. 5/1/11
Well, it was a euphoric moment. And perhaps I was laboring under a misconception.
Pure churlishness. The image which circulated yesterday of Obama photoshopped on the Navy boat in front of the Mission Accomplished banner tells you everything you need to know.
For someone who basically gambled his Presidency on the success of a risky mission, his public remarks have been notably devoid of triumphalism or swagger.
Churlish? Moi?
The leaked item (if true) makes it sound more like a quasi-coup, presented to POTUS as more or less a fait accompli, than any sort of daring personal gamble. Indeed, if the story is accurate (and again, I have no way of knowing that it is, though if false it is a remarkably detailed fabrication), what we see is a glaring lack of bold resolve.
Oh, and by the way, I don’t even have Photoshop.
Affected? Moi?
Peut-Áªtre un peu…
Is there a difference between:
“All glory and honor are mine.”
and
“I accept responsibility.” (i.e., “The buck stops here.”)
Is Malcolm being churlish? Yeah.
You cut me to the quick, Bob.
Is there a difference between:
and:
?
I didn’t even read the whole thing, but while I agree it’s “remarkably detailed,”I stopped reading because it didn’t feel right. Maybe it’s even a gloss on reality; there must be countless grounds for hesitation, and I happened to be reminded of Carter’s failed Iran mission last weekend before this happened; but I really don’t think that story’s right. I don’t even know why I post this, as one might think the issue is sort of a litmus test where no one can really know the truth, rather like the birther thing. However, the picture painted strikes me as a little ridiculous: Panetta, who just received an appointment from Obama days ago, “overruling” him literally three days (or, more likely one or two, or the same day, or the day before! [after all, they were timing it to the moon]) later; everyone “mad as hell” at Obama; Obama standing alone with some fearful (“little”) woman I’ve never heard of… I don’t buy it. Lots of debate playing out over quite some time, maybe.
Jess, you’ve never heard of Valerie Jarrett?
Frankly, no. I guess I am not conversant with the names of every “senior advisor.” I see she is the Chair of the Commission on Women and Girls, or something, though, which turns out to beautifully fit my point.
She is much, much more than that.
I don’t know anything.
Then again, not knowing anything gives me a bit of leeway.
Just my 2¢, but there is no way (in my humble opinion) this op went down with only something in the neighborhood of 27 months of intel.
Hell, the ground work alone would have taken “about” half that time.
I read enough of the linked article to realize that it is the work of a fabulist. Valerie Jarrett as Baba Looey to Obama’s Quickdraw McGraw? I think not. Obama does the thinnin’ around the White House, not Valerie Jarrett or Leon Panetta (who was overruled yesterday on the release of the photos).
Over the past month, Obama has had to deal with a possible government shutdown, a trip to Latin America, fighting in Libya, the federal budget, the worst tornadoes in forty years, and the birther nonsense — in addition to the raid in Pakistan. You can say that he should have made this or that decision differently, but the meme of Obama as an indecisive ditherer is not tethered to reality.
There are a number of similar caricatures which Obama’s opponents have proffered, each of which disintegrated when they were seen to be based on thin air. There was Obama as the Kenyan-born con artist with a forged birth certificate. Obama as the corporation-hating Socialist. GDP and corporate profits at all time highs: not bad for a Socialist. Obama as terrorist-palling, America-bashing, Founding Fathers-hating apologist (e.g., the Krauthammer piece of a few days ago). You can toss that one in the dustbin too.
Given that Krauthammer and his ilk were so grievously wrong about Iraq, it is puzzling why anyone would want to hear what their views on foreign policy are now. They have about as much credibility as the investment advisor who recommended putting all of your assets with Bernie Madoff. You might want to listen to someone else the next time around. A study released this week looked at the predictions of 25 pundits and then tracked their predictions to see who was most (and least) prescient. First place went to — gasp! — Paul Krugman. I really doubt that Krauthammer would write the same column today, given how wildly off the mark he was. Not that this will stop him from similar bloviating in the future.