5.04.2011

Obama dithered on whether to get Bin Laden

UK Daily Mail:
Barack Obama kept military commanders hanging by declaring he would 'sleep on it' before taking 16 hours to give the go-ahead to raid Bin Laden's compound.

Hit squads of specialist Navy Seals - who were not even told who they were preparing to capture - had practised the mission at two reconstructions of the terror chiefs sprawling compound.

The mission looked set to be given the all clear last Thursday when analysts confirmed beyond doubt that Bin Laden was in busy town of Abbottabad in northern Pakistan.

But the president stunned officials when he told a national security meeting that he wanted more time to think - and disappeared out of the room.

'I'm not going to tell you what my decision is now - I'm going to go back and think about it some more,' said Obama, according to the New York Times. He then added 'I'm going to make a decision soon.'

Here's an unverified but very credible-sounding insider story of Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett pushing not to get Bin Laden while Leon Panetta and Hillary Clinton were itching to go.
[...] there had been a push to invade the compound for several weeks if not months, primarily led by Leon Panetta, Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates, David Petraeus, and Jim Clapper. The primary opposition to this plan originated from Valerie Jarrett, and it was her opposition that was enough to create uncertainty within President Obama. Obama would meet with various components of the pro-invasion faction, almost always with Jarrett present, and then often fail to indicate his position. This situation continued for some time, though the division between Jarrett/Obama and the rest intensified more recently, most notably from Hillary Clinton. She was livid over the president’s failure to act, and her office began a campaign of anonymous leaks to the media indicating such. As for Jarrett, her concern rested on two primary fronts. One, that the military action could fail and harm the president’s already weakened standing with both the American public and the world. Second, that the attack would be viewed as an act of aggression against Muslims, and further destabilize conditions in the Middle East.


And now he's dithering on whether to show us the pictures we paid for in blood and treasure.

2 comments:

SarahB said...

The unverified story is so believable based on what we know about him AND the security council members. The idea that Panetta and Clinton had to pull this off just makes more sense. And it is very Clinton-esqu for a story like this to leak. Time will tell.

Anonymous said...

If you think that story is believable, I feel sorry for you.
Here's what I think:
______

GOD must have written this, because clearly the author was everywhere.

Not only that, but somehow:
- a person who can barely write or speak got a job at the highest level of government
- they are highly critical of everyone even though they are clearly VERY MUCH on the inside
- they are willing to divulge top-level information about a highly sensitive issue involving national security

They also use words no insider would use. Just one of dozens of examples I can't be bothered detailing: describing Panetta as having a 'policy'. Anyone who's done basic politics knows that only ELECTED representatives have POLICIES. OFFICIALS have plans, strategies, etc. but NEVER policies. A govt insider just would not say that. It's like a sailor not calling the stern, the bow.

Also, most glaringly of all, it uses many, many barely disguised attacks on Obama...Putting aside the fact that even the most disillusioned staffer wouldn't say things in such an obviously attacking way - they are quite amateurish in their execution. Two very quick examples:
"Nothing changed with the president’s opinion – he continued to avoid having one."

Check this out for AMATEURISH:
"At this point, the President of the United States was not informed of the engagement order – it did not originate from him, and for several hours after the order had been given and the special ops forces were preparing for action into Pakistan from their position in Afghanistan, Daley successfully kept Obama and Jarrett insulated from that order"
NOTE: - it did not originate from him,

This total amateur misinformationist can't help him/herself but to make sure the main unFACTOID is SLAMMED home. LOSER!

Finally, if all this was going on, why was not ONE JOT leaked?
This whole thing reads like a high school short story.
Truly. Go back to college-politics-level misinformation school. Or whatever -istan country you learnt this garbage from.

I have no need to criticise it politically. Its far greater sin is to be such a PATHETIC attempt!!

Happy Super Tuesday!