How much credit should Obama get for the killing of bin Laden?
By Ken Falkenstein | Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 | Politics
Hollywood is once again planning to use a big-budget movie to advance the leftist cause. Sony Pictures will release a movie about the killing of Osama bin Laden on October 12, 2012 – just 3 1/2 weeks before the presidential election. And the Obama administration reportedly is assisting the producers of this movie by providing them with access to the Navy SEALs who conducted the operation and possibly providing them with classified information about the operation.
Which raises a fundamental question: Does Obama deserve credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden?
My view is that Barack Obama deserves exactly as much or as little credit for SEAL Team 6′s killing of Osama bin Laden as he deserves blame for the loss of 22 of their members when the Taliban shot down their helicopter last week.
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About the author
Ken Falkenstein has been a staffer in the United States Senate and the Virginia House of Delegates. He has managed political campaigns. He was a military intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army in West Germany during the Cold War. He is currently a civil litigation attorney with Poole Mahoney, P.C. in Virginia Beach. But his concern for his kids' future is what most informs his writing.
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20 Responses to "How much credit should Obama get for the killing of bin Laden?"
He gets a lot of credit for realizing (one he got into office) that snuggling with terrorists isn’t an effective way to be commander-in-chief.
He ran on a platform that promised to close Gitmo and engage our enemies in diplomacy. One he was elected, he realized that, as president, while you can be a goddamn dirty hippie on domestic policy, you can’t be a goddamn dirty hippie on national defense. So for deciding to continue the Bush-era policy of taking the fight to the enemy, he deserves credit.
Who’s going to play Obama?
When the movie 911 came out Bush was told by the producers that it was off limits to him for any kind of political promo…double standards from the left. Only thing is, Bush would have never even thought of using it for political gain. Bush shouldn’t get any credit for 9-11 either, except for him standing up and giving us unity as a nation when we had been attacked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7OCgMPX2mE
Obama only gave the OK to proceed with the mission. The military and did all the recon, and planning. The only persons with true “skin in the game” were the brave SEAL team members. Obama’s only concern was success or failure and how it would impact him! He (Obama) is not a true leader, but an orator and follower of popular opinion.
Honestly, Who cares???
Perhaps William you can perceive that every new article on Bearing Drift is simply another forum for the right to bash the President so he does not earn another term. Of course, he would be bashed if he didn’t get terrorists. So it goes through 2012, and thereafter as well.
Who was it that said that binLaden would never be able to get away? “We’ll smoke him out of any cave where he might be hiding.” Remember Tora Bora? Remember quitting the hunt for binLaden and instead turning to Saddam? Do you remember that?
As president Obama gave orders to pursue binLaden and stick to it. Yes, he din’t do it personally but he was behind the decision and the order.
A leader gets credit for everything that happens on his watch, both good and bad. That is the nature of being the commander. Jimmy Carter got the blame for Desert One. Obama got the credit for bin Laden. Both deserved what they got simply for being the authority who said, “Go.”
I have no great regard for President Obama, but the bin Laden raid could have gone very, very badly and–like Carter–he would have been trashed in the media. It took guts for him to approve the mission and take the risk. Let him have his due.
As for the movie being released just in time for the 2012 election, we have seen “October Surprise” stunts in most recent Presidential elections. And they seldom work. Remember the Johns Hopkins study that claimed that over 600,000 Iraqi civilians had been killed that was published in Lancet magazine in the fall of 2004? A lot of good that did John Kerry.
Tim J,
Fred Armisen on SNL would be a good choice.
Obama gets as much (or as little) credit as Bush. IMO, the game plan was drafted and executed by folks who will never get — and more importantly — did not want credit.
They wanted OBL. And they got him.
That… that is enough.
He gets not credit for anything this man is living in our house being paid by us and just having a ball. While our country falls , in my years I have never seen such corruption. Our whole government is corrupt they need to be fired all of them.
When I get a good hamburger at McDonalds, I thank the cook, not the clown.
Armisen… good choice, who’s going to play bin Laden?
Tim J,
Either Janet Reno or Will Ferrell in drag.
Hisroc,
You beat me to it. Jimmy Carter took the blame for the disaster while trying to rescue the hostages held captive in Iran. I might add that Ronald Reagan received credit for their release even though he had only been in office for minutes when they were released. As I recall, the justification went something like: “Them Iranians know Ronald Reagan would have gone in and cleaned house if they hadn’t been released.” Actually, I think the fear factor might have played at least a small part in our winning their release.
Obama promised we would get Osama, and he got him. Give him the credit he is due. Had something gone wrong, those now wishing to deny him the credit would have been more then willing to heap the blame on him.
LD- Do you blame Obama for the downing of the helicopter that killed 22 SEALs? If so, why? If not, then why do you give him credit for killing OBL?
Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avg1RQIil2k&feature=share
Ken,
Let me prefix my comment by stating again that I am not a supporter of Obama or his ilk. I didn’t vote for him and would not consider doing so in 2012 even if Michele Bachmann or Ron Paul was the Republican nominee. (It is a process we Independents call, “hold your nose and vote.”)
Mishaps occur with starting regularity in both training operations and during actual combat. While the commander might be criticized for shortcomings in preparation and planning, he isn’t held responsible for the incident itself. Bill Clinton, for example, wasn’t held responsible in the media for the “Blackhawk down” incident. It was subsequently when we learned that he and SecDef Les Aspin had denied the request from the ground commander for an Abrams-Bradley reaction force that Somalia became a political liability for Clinton. Similarly, Obama is not to blame for the CH-47 loss last week. But if he keeps sending troops in harms way without an exit strategy, something he campaigned not to do, then Afghanistan will become his Somalia.
Kathy,
Thanks for the link. Andrew nailed it and I’m still laughing. I’m sending it on to everyone I know.
Ken,
No, I do not blame Obama for the downing of the helicopter or the deaths of the Seal Team members. Why not? It was due to enemy action. Do you expect our troops to engage in combat without taking casualties? The Seal Team members were sent into harm’s way and unfortunately they paid with their lives. What do you think Obama should do in Afghanistan? Just roll up the carpet and bring the troops home?
I give Obama credit because he seemed to have made the correct decisions in how to go about getting Osama. He did not notify Pakistan in advance, he decided to get him with the Seals instead of with a Predator strike. He personally made the decisions and fortunately for us all, they turned out to be the right ones.
I also wish to point out that while the helicopter being downed involved a large number of killed service members in a single incident, deaths of service members in Afghanistan have been happening quite regularly all along. As of August 6, 2011, there were 2583 coalition deaths in Afghanistan as part of ongoing coalition operations.
Your enemy is the Talmudic religion: That simple! So all adherents to this Satanic religion should not be allowed in our Govt. How could you miss this simplistic attack on a Christian Nation? Were were your brains? Oh well, if you can’t think then they will destroy you. Go to your barrooms,sleep around,be obsessed with sports,store up on canned laughter—time will surely get you.
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