Osama Bin Laden Dead

[vonGarvin]

I didn't think George Wallace possessed so much power.

:rofl:

 

[OldSolduer]

President Obama presented the unitsd involved with a Presidential Unit Citation today (http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/05/06/osama-bin-laden-raid-firefight.html?ref=rss), five days later.  Compare and contrast this to the Canadian system for timeliness of recognition...

Six years later but ONLY after the person involved were thoroughly denunciated publicly by the left leaning apologists for terrorism

 

[Swingline1984]

A thought provoking panel discussion on the death of OBL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax5xQWl4BME&feature=player_embedded

Reminds me of some of the discussions on this forum actually  ;D

 

[a_majoor]

An interesting study in contrasts:

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/315865.php

President Bush's Speech Upon the Capture of Saddam Hussein

Commenter "Crusty" had a good idea. He went back and looked at George W. Bush's speech after the capture of Saddam Hussein in order to compare it with Obama's self-aggrandizing "I was practically there, man" speech last Sunday. You know, the one where he used the word "I" like a carpenter uses tenpenny nails. Victor Davis Hanson pulled all the first person references:

“Tonight, I can report . . . And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta . . . I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden . . . I met repeatedly with my national security team . . . I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action. . . . Today, at my direction . . . I’ve made clear . . . Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear . . . Tonight, I called President Zardari . . . and my team has also spoken. . .These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief . . . Finally, let me say to the families . . . I know that it has, at times, frayed. . . .”

Compare that with the speech given by George W. Bush on December 14, 2003:

Good afternoon. Yesterday, December the 13th, at around 8:30 p.m. Baghdad time, United States military forces captured Saddam Hussein alive. He was found near a farmhouse outside the city of Tikrit, in a swift raid conducted without casualties. And now the former dictator of Iraq will face the justice he denied to millions.

The capture of this man was crucial to the rise of a free Iraq. It marks the end of the road for him, and for all who bullied and killed in his name. For the Baathist holdouts largely responsible for the current violence, there will be no return to the corrupt power and privilege they once held. For the vast majority of Iraqi citizens who wish to live as free men and women, this event brings further assurance that the torture chambers and the secret police are gone forever.

And this afternoon, I have a message for the Iraqi people: You will not have to fear the rule of Saddam Hussein ever again. All Iraqis who take the side of freedom have taken the winning side. The goals of our coalition are the same as your goals -- sovereignty for your country, dignity for your great culture, and for every Iraqi citizen, the opportunity for a better life.

In the history of Iraq, a dark and painful era is over. A hopeful day has arrived. All Iraqis can now come together and reject violence and build a new Iraq.

The success of yesterday's mission is a tribute to our men and women now serving in Iraq. The operation was based on the superb work of intelligence analysts who found the dictator's footprints in a vast country. The operation was carried out with skill and precision by a brave fighting force. Our servicemen and women and our coalition allies have faced many dangers in the hunt for members of the fallen regime, and in their effort to bring hope and freedom to the Iraqi people. Their work continues, and so do the risks. Today, on behalf of the nation, I thank the members of our Armed Forces and I congratulate 'em.

I also have a message for all Americans: The capture of Saddam Hussein does not mean the end of violence in Iraq. We still face terrorists who would rather go on killing the innocent than accept the rise of liberty in the heart of the Middle East. Such men are a direct threat to the American people, and they will be defeated.

We've come to this moment through patience and resolve and focused action. And that is our strategy moving forward. The war on terror is a different kind of war, waged capture by capture, cell by cell, and victory by victory. Our security is assured by our perseverance and by our sure belief in the success of liberty. And the United States of America will not relent until this war is won.

May God bless the people of Iraq, and may God bless America.

Thank you.

President Bush's speech is completely outwardly directed. He speaks of the momentous occasion and gives all credit to the military and the intelligence community. There is no attempt to highlight his part in the story. Quite a contrast.

 

[Infanteer]

I do have to laugh at how major figures on the American right are falling all over themselves to try to make the President out to be someone trying to milk it for political gain. They've been looking like morons doing so, much like the guy who wrote the drivelous PJM piece referred to above.

Ditto.  They look like buffoons; worse, they resemble their frequent targets for scorn who use events in these conflicts as ammo for petty political differences and personal antipathy.

The President is doing his job as Commander-in-Chief.  So what if his speechwriter employs a different pronoun.  These guys should just STFU and be glad happy that someone shot bin Laden in the face.

 

[observor 69]

From today's New York Times:

May 7, 2011
Killing Evil Doesn’t Make Us Evil
By MAUREEN DOWD
WASHINGTON

I don’t want closure. There is no closure after tragedy.

I want memory, and justice, and revenge.

When you’re dealing with a mass murderer who bragged about incinerating thousands of Americans and planned to kill countless more, that seems like the only civilized and morally sound response.

We briefly celebrated one of the few clear-cut military victories we’ve had in a long time, a win that made us feel like Americans again — smart and strong and capable of finding our enemies and striking back at them without getting trapped in multitrillion-dollar Groundhog Day occupations.

But within days, Naval Seal-gazing shifted to navel-gazing.

There was the bad comedy of solipsistic Republicans with wounded egos trying to make it about how right they were and whinging that George W. Bush was due more credit. Their attempt to renew the debate about torture is itself torture.

W. preferred to sulk in his Dallas tent rather than join President Obama at ground zero in a duet that would have certainly united the country.

Whereas the intelligence work that led to the destruction of Bin Laden was begun in the Bush administration, the cache of schemes taken from Osama’s Pakistan house debunked the fanciful narrative that the Bush crew pushed: that Osama was stuck in a cave unable to communicate, increasingly irrelevant and a mere symbol, rather than operational. Osama, in fact, was at the helm, spending his days whipping up bloody schemes to kill more Americans.

In another inane debate last week, many voices suggested that decapitating the head of a deadly terrorist network was some sort of injustice.

Taking offense after Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, said he was “much relieved” at the news of Bin Laden’s death, Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, posted the Twitter message: “Ban Ki-moon wrong on Osama bin Laden: It’s not justice for him to be killed even if justified; no trial, conviction.”

I leave it to subtler minds to parse the distinction between what is just and what is justified.

When Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said she was “glad” Bin Laden had been killed, a colleague called such talk “medieval.”

Christophe Barbier, editor of the centrist French weekly L’Express, warned: “To cry one’s joy in the streets of our cities is to ape the turbaned barbarians who danced the night of Sept. 11.”

Those who celebrated on Sept. 11 were applauding the slaughter of American innocents. When college kids spontaneously streamed out Sunday night to the White House, ground zero and elsewhere, they were the opposite of bloodthirsty: they were happy that one of the most certifiably evil figures of our time was no more.

The confused image of Bin Laden as a victim was exacerbated by John Brennan, the Obama national security aide who intemperately presented an inaccurate portrait of what had happened on the third floor in Abbottabad.

Unlike the president and the Navy Seals, who performed with steely finesse, Brennan was overwrought, exaggerating the narrative to demonize the demon.

The White House had to backtrack from Brennan’s contentions that Osama was “hiding behind women who were put in front of him as a shield” and that he died after resisting in a firefight.

It may be that some administration officials have taken Dick Cheney’s belittling so much to heart that they are still reluctant to display effortless macho. Liberal guilt may have its uses, but it should not be wasted on this kill-mission.

The really insane assumption behind some of the second-guessing is that killing Osama somehow makes us like Osama, as if all killing is the same.

Only fools or knaves would argue that we could fight Al Qaeda’s violence non-violently.

President Obama was prepared to take a life not only to avenge American lives already taken but to deter the same killer from taking any more. Aside from Bin Laden’s plotting, his survival and his legend were inspirations for more murder.

If stealth bombers had dropped dozens of 2,000-pound bombs and wiped out everyone, no one would have been debating whether Osama was armed. The president chose the riskiest option presented to him, but one that spared nearly all the women and children at the compound, and anyone in the vicinity.

Unlike Osama, the Navy Seals took great care not to harm civilians — they shot Bin Laden’s youngest wife in the leg and carried two young girls out of harm’s way before killing Osama.

Morally and operationally, this was counterterrorism at its finest.

We have nothing to apologize for.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/opinion/08dowd.html?src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB

 

[vonGarvin]

...someone shot bin Laden in the face.

I'm all for shooting someone in the face. ;D

 

[Rifleman62]

W. preferred to sulk in his Dallas tent rather than join President Obama at ground zero in a duet that would have certainly united the country.

Yeah, right.

How many times has Obama gone to Dover AFB???

New York Times, Tor Star the same.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

So, even in death Osama continues to prey on the American Government. They, obviously, miread that his death would bring closure  :

 

[daftandbarmy]

The new OBL cocktail?

Two shots with a splash of water.

 

[Rifleman62]

I believe it is:

A new cocktail...


The Seal Team 6

GIN laden with 2 shots...and a splash of sea water.

(salt water can be substituted for sea water for inlanders).

 

[observor 69]

Yeah, right.

How many times has Obama gone to Dover AFB???

New York Times, Tor Star the same.

Obama visits Dover air force base

The dramatic image of a president on the tarmac was a portrait not witnessed in years. Former President George W. Bush spent lots of time with grieving military families but never went to Dover to meet the remains coming off the cargo plane. Obama did so with the weight of knowing he may soon send more troops off to war.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/obama-heads-to-dover-air-_n_337930.html

 

[Rifleman62]

Well Baden Guy, looks like I asked the wrong question.

Obama visited with all of the WH press corp. Only one of the eighteen families agreed to allow a picture to be taken.

I guess I am just too cynical.

 

[Redeye]

I guess I am just too cynical.

There's your trouble right there.

 

[medicineman]

I'm all for shooting someone in the face. ;D

Are you sure we're talking abou the same thing  :?  ;D

MM

 

[57Chevy]

So, even in death Osama continues to prey on the American Government. They, obviously, miread that his death would bring closure  :

                  Shared with provisions of The Copyright Act
Osama bin Laden's last message to U.S.: End support for Israel
Agence France-Presse May 8, 2011
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Osama+Laden+final+message/4747839/story.html

DUBAI - Osama bin Laden warned in his final audio tape recorded before being killed by U.S. Navy SEALs there will be no U.S. security before the Palestinians live in security, an Islamist website reported Sunday.

Addressing U.S. President Barack Obama, he said: "America will not be able to dream of security until we live in security in Palestine. It is unfair that you live in peace while our brothers in Gaza live in insecurity.

"Accordingly, and with the will of God, our attacks will continue against you as long as your support for Israel continues," he warned in a message posted on Shamikh1.net, a conduit for al-Qaida communications.

The founder of al-Qaida said he had tried to send a "message" to the U.S. through Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to detonate a bomb on a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner in December 2009.

"If it were possible to send you messages by way of words, we would not have had to use planes to send them to you," he said.

"So the message we wanted to convey through the plane of our hero, the fighter Umar Farouk, may God be with him, confirms a previous message which had been sent to you by our heroes of Sept. 11," he said in a clear reference to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks against the U.S.

The audio recording, lasting one minute and two seconds, had no reference to the recent popular Arab uprising.

However, jihadists had said the tape, made a week before bin Laden's death, would have a message for the Arab Spring.

Another branch of the terror network, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), gave bin Laden credit for the popular Arab revolutions and asked followers to turn their "grief into action" against the West.

"Do not cry for him. ... Instead rise and go on his path. ... Rise and thwart the American Zionist Western unjust aggression with all of your power and energy," the AQIM said in a statement.

"These events that are storming through the Arab region are only a fruit among the fruits of jihad in which the Sheikh (bin Laden) had a prominent role," the AQIM said.

After an initial reluctance, al-Qaida on Friday confirmed the death of their leader and warned that those rejoicing his killing would have their "blood mixed with tears" and vowed the jihadist network would live on.

However, Obama, to whom bin Laden addressed his final message, has already swept aside the militants' defiant reaction and pledged the U.S. would crush what was left of the terror network.

"We have cut off their head and we will ultimately defeat them," Obama said on Friday after meeting in private with the special forces personnel that raided bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan on Monday and killed him.

Three days after bin Laden's killing, a U.S. drone targeted a U.S.-Yemeni cleric and terror suspect Anwar al-Awlaqi in Yemen, but the man narrowly escaped.

Thursday's strike in Yemen's Shabwa province, an al-Qaida stronghold, is the first reported U.S. targeting of other key figures in the terror network after a stealthy commando raid killed bin Laden.

It is not clear if Awlaqi was targeted following information the U.S. had said it gathered from bin Laden's hideout near the Pakistan capital Islamabad.

Photo:
"Our attacks will continue against you as long as your support for Israel continues," Osama bin Laden warned the U.S. in his final audio message, believed to have been recorded about a week before the al-Qaida chief was killed in a raid by U.S. Navy SEALs.
Photograph by: Department of Defense, handout

 

[Rifleman62]

There's your trouble right there.

Come on Redeye, your trouble is that you really believe all that left wing trash you read and hear.

Read some right wing "stuff'" and get enlightened!!

 

[Redeye]

Would they have been so liberal had GW ordered "the hit?"

I did a non-scientific poll on this for you, TV  - I tossed this question out on Twitter expecting several of my more "liberal" American friends would reply, and they did.  The consensus was that it didn't matter who was in charge, they were happy.  Even those who found the concept of an extrajudicial killing distasteful basically consoled themselves that he was a combatant in an active war, and ultimately, given the atrocities committed in his name they were okay with whatever fate he met.

Their distaste for Bush has a lot more to do the trainwreck state of the American economy much of his administration, and the war in Iraq in particular.

 

[Old Sweat]

The only part of the affair that bothers me is the tendency of politicians of any stripe to take the credit for all the hard, unglamorous work by the intelligence, special operations and main line military communities that lead to the long overdue demise of OBL.

 

[Redeye]

Come on Redeye, your trouble is that you really believe all that left wing trash you read and hear.

Read some right wing "stuff'" and get enlightened!!

I do read right wing stuff.  And stuff from all over the poltical spectrum and the world.  The problem with right wing trash, particularly that of American origin, is that it smacks of reactionary nonsense, and generally speaking is predicated on assuming the worst about their opponents.  For example, the right was all outraged about President Obama going to Ground Zero, claiming he was going to do some kind of "victory lap" or somehow disrespect the victims.  Of course, he in absolutely no way did so.  That kind of thing is common.  Just the other day Michelle Malkin had to walk back on some ridiculous claim she'd made.

Actually, one of my favourite right wing commenters to read is David Frum, because he's one of the few people left on the right who aren't complete morons, and generally he and I agree on a lot of things.

There's people like the above problem on the left, too, of course, but they seem to be fewer and further between, mainly because it seems like they'll wait until they have more fact and give consideration to things before they actually publish anything.

(edited to fix a glaring spelling error)