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President Obama was quick to claim credit for the successful elimination of Bin Laden though the operation was conducted by the Navy's Seal Team 6. Will Obama now accept blame for Seal Team 6's failed mission in Somalia?
President Obama was quick to claim credit for the successful elimination of Bin Laden though the operation was conducted by the Navy's Seal Team 6. Will Obama now accept blame for Seal Team 6's failed mission in Somalia?
that mission was ordered by bush. it was just delayed a bit. Obama did not even know about it. why would he, it was bush that ordered that mission. I mean bush senior.
I get the strong impression that the haters are already pinning the blame for this titanic failure on the president. It's OK. Obama can take the heat on this one. Huge failure that it was. No casualties, no equipment lost/damaged.
“While the operation did not result in Ikrima’s capture,” said the statement, “U.S. military personnel conducted the operation with unparalleled precision and demonstrated that the United States can put direct pressure on al Shabaab leadership at any time of our choosing.”
This was not a mission "failure". The SEALS went in, assessed the situation, decided it was too risky. No Americans were killed, no civilians killed. Complex and dangerous scenarios like this one shouldn't be shoe-horned into black and white definitions of "success" and "failure".
Quote:
U.S. Navy SEALS from SEAL Team Six cut short their targeted operation against a top al-Shabaab commander in Somalia after a firefight at his seaside compound ended when they saw children and realized they could not capture their target.
'Obama was quick to claim credit...'.
Here is his speech after bin laden's death.
Show me where he claimed credit to the extent that RWNJ's always post about.
Of course, he did use the pronoun 'I' several times in one paragraph (but uses the word 'we' many times), but do you think he should have used Harrier's way of speaking, in the third person? Should he have said 'the president met with ...'? Should he have said 'Tonight, the president can report...'?
I do not see anywhere in this speech Obama taking credit for the capture and death of bin laden. Being the president, it was up to him to make the call for a go/no go; who else do you think had the authority to do that?
President Obama:
Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children.
It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of Sept. 11 are seared into our national memory — hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the twin towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa., where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.
And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child's embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.
On Sept. 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.
We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. We quickly learned that the Sept. 11 attacks were carried out by Al Qaeda — an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. And so we went to war against Al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends and our allies.
Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counter-terrorism professionals, we've made great strides in that effort. We've disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given Bin Laden and Al Qaeda safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of Al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the Sept. 11 plot.
Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, Al Qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.
And so shortly 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. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.
For over two decades, Bin Laden has been Al Qaeda's leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat Al Qaeda.
Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There's no doubt that Al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must — and we will — remain vigilant at home and abroad.
As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not — and never will be — at war with Islam. I've made clear, just as President [George W.] Bush did shortly after Sept. 11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, Al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.
This was not a mission "failure". The SEALS went in, assessed the situation, decided it was too risky. No Americans were killed, no civilians killed. Complex and dangerous scenarios like this one shouldn't be shoe-horned into black and white definitions of "success" and "failure".
Despite my dislike of the current President, I completely agree with you; there's nothing here blameworthy. The on-the-ground commander found an unfavorable tactical situation and withdrew without taking any casualties. Nothing dishonorable about that.
That said, I'm bothered by how much information is being made public. The first rule about Covert Operations is that you keep them COVERT! Not just before, but after too. The more we talk about these things, the more dangerous future operations become. Now these jerks know to keep themselves surrounded by children at all times.
When it comes to Seal Team 6, Delta Force, etc, this administration needs to learn and use the following phrases: "No comment", "We can neither confirm nor deny", and "this is a subject about which we will not discuss."
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