Media Matters: Anti-Obama SEALs "Don't have guts"

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says loose lips sink ships...

Navy SEAL to release book on bin Laden raid
Thu August 23, 2012 - Although CNN has confirmed the SEAL's name, the network agreed not to publish his identity; The book is due to come out September 11; The Navy SEAL author uses a pen name, the publisher says; Controversial movie about the raid due out in December

A book company said Wednesday that it will release on September 11 a firsthand account of the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Christine Ball, director of marketing and publicity for Dutton, a subsidiary of Penguin Group USA, said the book was written by a Navy SEAL under a pen name. The book is entitled "No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden." About two dozen U.S. Special Operations forces and two helicopters were involved in the raid early May 2, 2011, in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that killed bin Laden. The former Navy SEAL was on the Bin Laden raid, according to Pentagon officials. The 36-year-old chief petty officer left the Navy as a highly-decorated commando in April, but he could be subject to criminal prosecution, they said.

His military awards include five Bronze Stars with a special combat designation and a Purple Heart. He led others under fire at least seven times, Pentagon officials said. The book account includes the stealth helicopter crash that could have killed the author and his teammates, his publisher said. U.S. Special Operations Command has not reviewed the book or approved it, a Defense Department official said. Officials only recently became aware the former SEAL was writing a book but were told it encompasses more than just the raid and includes vignettes from training and other missions. They would like to see a copy, the official said, to make sure no classified information is released or the book contains any information that might out one of the team members. Officials have been told that some of the profits are going to charity.

About two dozen U.S. Special Operations members and two helicopters were involved in the raid early May 2, 2011, in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that killed bin Laden. The raid occurred in a span of 38 minutes, after CIA reports of repeated sightings of a tall man doing "prison yard walks" around the yard of the housing compound in Abbottabad, which was under constant surveillance, an official said on condition of anonymity a few days after the raid. U.S. authorities did not definitively determine beforehand that the man was bin Laden, but they eventually concluded that there was enough evidence to go through with the operation. One helicopter made a hard landing when it apparently came too close to a wall. It landed inside the western side of the compound with its tail rotor over the southern wall.

The first man killed in the mission -- which the U.S. official said was code-named Operation Neptune Spear -- was the Kuwaiti courier who had worked for bin Laden. He was shot dead after a brief gunfight in a guest house. From that point on, it is believed no other shots were fired at the U.S. forces, the official said -- which contrasts with early U.S. government reports describing the operation as a "firefight." The troops then moved into the compound's three-story main building, where they shot and killed the courier's brother. As they went upstairs and around barricades, one of bin Laden's sons rushed at them and was killed. Neither of these men had weapons either on them or nearby, the official said. The U.S. official said that the team then entered the third-floor room where bin Laden was, along with his Yemeni wife and several young children. The al Qaeda leader was moving, possibly toward one of the weapons that were in the room, when he was shot, first in the chest and then in the head. He never had a gun in hand but posed an imminent threat, according to the U.S. official.

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Questions raised after SEAL's identity revealed
August 23rd, 2012 - The author of the controversial but yet-to-be-published book, "No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden," wrote it under the pseudonym Mark Owen.

The book's publisher said the special operations forces team member did not want to reveal his name to protect himself and his family. But only a day after a New York Times first reported the book was coming out, Fox News reported the author's real name on its website and posted photos of him in combat gear. Later Thursday, the Associated Press also revealed Owen's real name. When CNN asked Pentagon officials if they could confirm the author's identify, it was asked not to report his name out of concern for his former colleagues who could still be active. On Thursday, the New York Times said the book's publisher, Dutton, put out a statement after Owen's name was revealed.

"Mark Owen, like every SEAL he has served with, has put his life on the line time and again for his country for more than a decade. Sharing the true story of his personal experience in "No Easy Day" is a courageous act in the face of obvious risks to his personal security. That personal security is the sole reason the book is being published under a pseudonym. We respectfully request that all news organizations and all Americans consider these facts when deciding whether to pursue or publicize his real identity," the statement said.

The Pentagon will not say how many news organizations asked the Pentagon about the author's real name and were asked not to reveal it for security reasons. A senior Pentagon official said Fox News did not contact the Department of Defense ahead of revealing the author's name. Fox did not respond to a request for comment. The AP said it was not asked by the Pentagon to withhold the name. The author and the book's publisher did not answer calls for comment. TV interviews with the author must be put in shadow, and similar interviews for print would not reveal his real identity in order to keep the protection he is seeking, according to news reports.

News organizations have been asked to sign a non-disclosure document in order to do the interviews. Pentagon officials told CNN that Owen and the publishing company did not submit the manuscript through the proper Department of Defense channels to check if secret tactics, techniques and procedures were revealed about the 2011 bin Laden mission. "Mark Owen" spent more than a decade in the military and left the service last April, Pentagon officials said. If classified military or intelligence information is found to have been revealed in the book, Owen could be charged by the Department of Justice.

Source

 

[bucs90]

A person who has true mental strength will NOT be offended by mere sound waves. Yes, sound waves. When someone speaks something, just words, it is nothing more than sound waves. How can a person with world class mental strength be offended by fucking sound waves?? I can see how Al Sharpton would be offended by someone saying the N word. He's weak.

Men of true inner strength dont give a fuck what someone says. Sound waves can't hurt me, or anyone else, unless you are weak.

 

[tinydancer]

That is an excellent description of far right extremists, weeds, and noxious as well.

We can see what is happening with Rep Akin, an excellent example of the sickness rampant in the far right.

What on earth are you blathering on about and how do you justify it in this thread?

Are you insane? Is this sickness taking hold?

 

[Lovebears65]

I have many Seal friends. And they are NOT gutless .. Again who was it that actually went in and did the mission to kill bin laden???. oh yeah Seal team 6 while Obama was golfing .. Yeah that is a great comparison

 

[California Girl]

These guys are nutters and I'm surprised the GOP isn't running away from them.

Benjamin Smith, a spokesman for Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc. — the group attacking President Barack Obama for taking credit for the operation that killed Osama bin Laden — has called Obama “Commander-in-Chief Hussein Mao-bama” and has questioned whether he is a Muslim or a citizen of the U.S.

Smith has also posted articles suggesting that the late conservative media provocateur Andrew Breitbart was murdered and posted his support for Republican congressional candidate Ilario Pantano, who was accused in a double murder as a Marine in Iraq.

OPSEC’s extensive ties to the Republican party had already been well documented, but an anonymous webpage has been collecting highlights from Smith’s Facebook page that show the former Navy SEAL expressing some controversial opinions.

Smith, who did not respond to Foreign Policy’s request for comment, also wrote after Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address that Obama must have used “some bad tan lotion because he looked like an old bruised Banana which made me think that Harry Belafonte was walking out to give his rendition of ‘Day-O’ before ‘ole’ suck and blow’ was to come out and enlighten us with his blasphemous spew.”

OPSEC Spokesman A Birther, Has Called Obama A Communist | TPMMuckraker

 

[California Girl]

I have many Seal friends. And they are NOT gutless .. Again who was it that actually went in and did the mission to kill bin laden???. oh yeah Seal team 6 while Obama was golfing .. Yeah that is a great comparison

You know 'many' SEALs? Most of them don't actually tell anyone - and there aren't that many of them to start with.

 

[Lovebears65]

I have many Seal friends. And they are NOT gutless .. Again who was it that actually went in and did the mission to kill bin laden???. oh yeah Seal team 6 while Obama was golfing .. Yeah that is a great comparison

You know 'many' SEALs? Most of them don't actually tell anyone - and there aren't that many of them to start with.

Hubby worked with the seals when we lived in New Orleans. That is how I know them... He was in Special warfare for a few years of his career.. in fact his child hood friend was in seal team 6 but retired before the bin ladin raid..

 

[California Girl]

I have many Seal friends. And they are NOT gutless .. Again who was it that actually went in and did the mission to kill bin laden???. oh yeah Seal team 6 while Obama was golfing .. Yeah that is a great comparison

You know 'many' SEALs? Most of them don't actually tell anyone - and there aren't that many of them to start with.

Hubby worked with the seals when we lived in New Orleans. That is how I know them... He was in Special warfare for a few years of his career..

Oh, ok. That sounds plausible.

 

[Two Thumbs]

If this guy had said this to a SEAL's face, he'd have no face left.

Media Matters senior fellow Eric Boehlert said on Thursday that a group of former Navy SEALS “don’t have guts” after the special forces operators launched a media campaign condemning the Obama administration’s national security leaks.

“#kindalame former Navy SEALs don’t have guts to admit they’re running a GOP, anti-Obama campaign; http://nyti.ms/N2nYYj ” Boehlert wrote on Twitter Thursday morning.

Navy SEAL responds after Media Matters staffer says Obama-critical SEALs

Actually I think most SEALS would just laugh at him, then walk away.

There's really nothing that can be done for someone that childish.

 

[editec]

Oh goodie!

An opportunity for some of us to either say we were SEALs, say we have best friends that are SEALs, ramble on about about how much we all admire SEALs' ability to kick ass, and of course every post is always the opportunity wax poetic about how much we all hate Obama.

Because you know, we can never have too many hero-worshipping, lets-all-agree-to-be-childish-haters, circle jerks here on USMB.

 

[Stephanie]

I guess unless you are a John Kerry testifying against your own service members you are now considered a, gutless nutter if you speak out against Obama

I bet mediamatters was all up in arms over Iraq Veterans against Bush who by the way the Democrats, embraced

 

[daveman]

A person who has true mental strength will NOT be offended by mere sound waves. Yes, sound waves. When someone speaks something, just words, it is nothing more than sound waves. How can a person with world class mental strength be offended by fucking sound waves?? I can see how Al Sharpton would be offended by someone saying the N word. He's weak.

Men of true inner strength dont give a fuck what someone says. Sound waves can't hurt me, or anyone else, unless you are weak.

People's words can't hurt you unless you give them the power to do so.

Why give anonymous strangers that much control over you?

 

[Claudette]

If this guy had said this to a SEAL's face, he'd have no face left.

Media Matters senior fellow Eric Boehlert said on Thursday that a group of former Navy SEALS “don’t have guts” after the special forces operators launched a media campaign condemning the Obama administration’s national security leaks.

“#kindalame former Navy SEALs don’t have guts to admit they’re running a GOP, anti-Obama campaign; http://nyti.ms/N2nYYj ” Boehlert wrote on Twitter Thursday morning.

Navy SEAL responds after Media Matters staffer says Obama-critical SEALs

Actually I think most SEALS would just laugh at him, then walk away.
There's really nothing that can be done for someone that childish.

Childish is the word.

I agree. Those guys would probably LTAO and walk away. Nothing like a good laugh. God love em.

 

[daveman]

Oh goodie!

An opportunity for some of us to either say we were SEALs, say we have best friends that are SEALs, ramble on about about how much we all admire SEALs' ability to kick ass, and of course every post is always the opportunity wax poetic about how much we all hate Obama.

Because you know, we can never have too many hero-worshipping, lets-all-agree-to-be-childish-haters, circle jerks here on USMB.

Sorry. We forgot you lefties had the exclusive franchise on those here. And the DNC has the nationwide franchise.

Our bad.