Obama on ’60 Minutes’: Osama bin Laden mission was ‘worth the risk’

[Playinghardball]

Source: Raw Story
By Kase Wickman

In a pre-taped interview on CBS News' "60 Minutes" Sunday night, President Barack Obama said that the safety of the Navy SEALs was his number one concern in giving the mission to raid al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan the go-ahead. There was not complete certainty of whether bin Laden was inside the compound, and there was no way to know whether the compound contained booby traps or jury-rigged explosives.

He also said that past failures in U.S. military missions abroad, such as the Iranian hostage crisis, served as a warning when he was mulling whether to give the greenlight on the mission to Pakistan.

"You think about what happened with the Iranian rescue, and I am very sympathetic to the situation for other presidents where you make a decision, you make your best call, give it your best shot, and something goes wrong," he said. "The day before, I was thinking about it quite a bit."

More at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/08/obama-on-60-minutes-osama-bin-laden-mission-was-worth-the-risk/

[elleng]

1. 'Anyone who would question. . .

needs to have their heads examined.'

:thumbsup:

[MineralMan]

2. +100

I'm amazed at what I've read in the past week. Amazed.

[seabeyond]

3. i think that is what bothers me. people looking at it simplistically... well why not arrest

they did not know what they were going ot run into. take em out and secure. who knew what they would face.

[elleng]

4. 'Why not arrest,' like 'scuse me, sir, you're under arrest!!!'

SERIOUSLY simplistic!

[seabeyond]

5. he could be holding a detonator to blow the house up. who knows. i imagine

seals didnt waste much time.

if something had happened wouldnt the seals feel stupid,.... well, no. just dead

[Pachamama]

10. Ask any Police law enforcement officer who if in executing a search of a house to make an arrest....

...armed & very dangerous mass murderer, how they are trained to respond! They are not trained to stand there & make sure that person is unarmed & if that suspect so much as moves and they perceive he may be reaching for a weapon, they are trained & authorized to shoot - not shoot to disable, but shoot to kill. Would all the people who are questioning the President & the actions of the Navy Seals also think Police officers in that situation shouldn't shoot to kill even if it turned out the suspect was armed, but that it meant we might have dead police officers , or in this case, our brave Navy Seals? Even those questioning the President & critizing him "putting our military at risk", should be reminded that Law enforcement officers & our soldiers know the risks & what makes them so extraordinary & for what we all should be grateful that they serve our communities & country is that they take that risk knowingly & willingly.

I don't question our President or our soldiers who executed this mission. It was a criminal enforcement action, very brave & the irony is that these same people questioning this mission & our President, would have been salivating & putting Bin ladin's head on a pike in a parade if it had been any one other than Obama who had been president. And if Commander Codpiece had done this exact mission & success, then they would love it & go crazy over the snuff photos of OBL.

[seabeyond]

12. officers would not precede in an unknown situation like this. without

knowing the number of people, weapon, bombs, suicide kills. they would not proceed. this it a totally different operation than a police procedure and i think that is the two different perceptions that we are seeing and why some see it so obviously one way and another groups sees so clearly another.

[Pachamama]

14. That be true often, but not always. They go in to a house with various degrees of info too.

I disagree that there is not a valid comparison because like John Kerry so famously stated in the 2004 elections, the approach to catching and stopping terrorists is to treat it as a law enforcement action. This was executed beautifully by our trained Navy Seals, but based on discussions I have had with law enforcement people, they view this as very similar, although none of them would ever compare themselves w/ Navy Seals Team 6. That's like someone who is a commercial pilot trying to compare themselves to the Blue angels. They might Have lots of training, even specialized SWAT & anti-terrorism task force courses, but they know these were the elite.

[seabeyond]

15. i disagree. it is night and day difference. kerrys reference to police operation is investigation

instead of a military war taking over a country. and htat is exactly what was done and how they succeeded. at the point of getting obama, it was not police procedure. no police would try to detain.

[Pachamama]

20. I don't want nor need to even bother arguing or debating this issue with you

Police operation = investigation & execution.....

"Instead of a military war taking over a country and that is exactly what was done and how they succeeded"..... What? We are at war with Pakistan and took over? Or rather it was a mission that very similar to a police action involved specifically trained individuals that had their orders to find a criminal, a murderer who if he hadn't been killed, would be brought back to the Justice system to stand trial. What makes this situation "unique", is that if making a police action analogy, it was executed in an analogy situation where say the NY Police flew into Canada & took action on a place where a criminal they wanted was or DEA going into Mexico to kill a known drug dealer & not informing the local jurisdiction. Whether it was a situation like that or the one that occurred in abbottsbad, they both break numerous border agreements, sovereign countries borders & international laws.

Meanwhile, I replied to your posts because I fully agreed with your original assessment that they went into the compound not knowing it was rigged explosively or other surprises. But you are entitled to your opinion & my info on this and info coming directly out of law enforcement officers mouths on this topic of comparision this week is in agreement with what I stated.

So we can just agree to disagree.

Ps: you meant "getting Osama" not Obama - FYI. Seems to be a common mistake. That's why I just refer to him as Bin Ladin.

[seabeyond]

24. i agree. it is just a matter of disagreeing on this. i didnt read your post soon enough for an edit

have made the mistake SO many times. i need to shift to bin laden, too. thanks.

[alphafemale]

18. That's why we didn't send "police officers."

We sent Navy. Fucking. SEALS.

Police officers will stand and watch a women being beaten to death by her husband while waiting for "backup."

Police officers allowed people to needlessly bleed to death at Columbine.

I have zero fucking tolerance for "police procedure."

[Pachamama]

21. Not all cops are this way

I happen to know law enforcement that have integrity, honor & truly care about the community & citizens they serve. I'm sorry you have experienced otherwise. They would be sorry too because a few bad eggs taint the honor of ones who are good.

[alphafemale]

23. I cannot and will never trust cops. not. ever.

They have way too much unquestioned power to be brutes.

[Raffi Ella]

6. Yes Sir!

And it took a Democrat to take that Risk.

THANK YOU MR.President! :patriot:

[alphafemale]

19. + a higher number than the age of the universe x ten to millionth power.

:patriot:

[gordianot]

7. It will take years to fully digest how amazing this action really is and will be legend.

Many books will be written the episode will be debated and dissected for years to come. Expect movies as a story it will not go away.

[alphafemale]

17. yep. people will be talking about this 500 years from now.

Bin Laden was given a death far more merciful than he deserved.

[Pachamama]

22. I agree...

I lost friends in 9/11.....I have seen the pain their deaths caused to their families. I confess that while I wasnt jumping & dancing in the streets when I heard he died, I think that the right decision was made in burying in a respectable manner & at sea so no body could become a site of worship. But one of the friends of mine who died in the world trade center, his wife said she hoped there was a wood chipper on the back of the USS Carl Vinson when they "put him in the sea". I admit, I think that would have been more appropriate when I think of how all his victims died.

[Pachamama]

8. I'm going to do what was done for 8 years of Bu$h/Cheney to those who question our President:

You want to question our President Obama's decision in how he ordered this mission & how it ended? Why do you hate America so much? How unpatriotic! Wow! Are you a terrorist sympathizer? Are you? Now STFU!!!!!

:grr:

[fishwax]

9. k/r

:kick:

[Pachamama]

11. Kick & return

[somone]

13. Obama deserves every kudo for this

Now, end the bullshit wars.

[alphafemale]

16. I'm very very glad those SEAL's did their mission.

Fuck Bin Laden and his "gentle smiling face."

[JoePhilly]

25. No, No, .... the SEALs were supposed to stand outside the compound and shout ...

COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!!

:shrug: