SEALs slam Obama for taking credit for bin Laden

[bodecea]

If you know what it's like at sea you'd know it's windy as fuck. That's what causes the chop or better known as "swells" or wave action at sea. It all depended on how windy it was that day. Bush never would have given that speech on the flight-deck of his own choice. There is enough room in an empty hanger-deck for the speech, but someone decided to hold it on the flight-deck. Big mistake, but somebody wanted the photo-op. Hardly anyone would be able to hear him and he would have had gusts of wind blowing on him that would have turned it into a joke. So they probably came in close a day early to get the speech done.
I heard Bush helo'd off anyway, but they had to wait for the draft report before they went in. It took me a couple of weeks to learn it by heart and it was a pain in the ass doing it, but I didn't mind it too much cuz I knew we were going in.

They did not come in a day early...they stayed a day late.

Families waited....some who had flown down from WA (Lincoln's homeport).

They knew they waited for a presidential photoop using a multi-billion dollar prop. We all knew.

tissue?

Oh, they got over it...Military families are tough. Doesn't mean they were fooled tho.

 

[Jarhead]

However, both were looking for a military photo op

True....but only one deserved the right.

And his photo op was two fold...it gave him props (or so his people thought) and it gave some very brave men and women the honor and golden opportunity to be addressed live by the commander in chief. Very few of us get (got) that honor.

Honor. Ever been involved with a VIP/photoop visit Jarhead. 1 part honor, 2 parts pain in the ass...and in this case....1 part having to wait one more day from a LONNNG deployment to get home.

I am sorry Bodecea. I now doubt you are/were military. I never doubted it before....but now I do. Sorry. You do not sound like military when you compare an extra day on your island in return for such an honor.

The Honor to be addressed live by the Commander in Chief trumps ALL.......ESPECIALLY after a long mission.

 

[rightwinger]

One was a candidate.

The other was the Commander in Chief.

You sir, were never military. You will never understand the thrill of being addressed live by the Commander in Chief.

However, both were looking for a military photo op

True....but only one deserved the right.

And his photo op was two fold...it gave him props (or so his people thought) and it gave some very brave men and women the honor and golden opportunity to be addressed live by the commander in chief. Very few of us get (got) that honor.

It was a blunder that haunted Bush the rest of his presidency

 

[bodecea]

True....but only one deserved the right.

And his photo op was two fold...it gave him props (or so his people thought) and it gave some very brave men and women the honor and golden opportunity to be addressed live by the commander in chief. Very few of us get (got) that honor.

Honor. Ever been involved with a VIP/photoop visit Jarhead. 1 part honor, 2 parts pain in the ass...and in this case....1 part having to wait one more day from a LONNNG deployment to get home.

I am sorry Bodecea. I now doubt you are/were military. I never doubted it before....but now I do. Sorry. You do not sound like military when you compare an extra day on your island in return for such an honor.

The Honor to be addressed live by the Commander in Chief trumps ALL.......ESPECIALLY after a long mission.

As I said...the Honor is there...but so is the pain in the ass work involved. Maybe it's because I was PAO for a while. Maybe it's because I personally do not get starry eyed over VIP visits because I've had too much of the 'behind the scenes' work tossed at me. Whatcha gonna do.

 

[Rocko]

They did not come in a day early...they stayed a day late.

Families waited....some who had flown down from WA (Lincoln's homeport).

They knew they waited for a presidential photoop using a multi-billion dollar prop. We all knew.

tissue?

Oh, they got over it...Military families are tough. Doesn't mean they were fooled tho.

If they got over it, all is well. Now we can all proceed with ensuring Obama becomes a one term president.

 

[mudwhistle]

They did not come in a day early...they stayed a day late.

Families waited....some who had flown down from WA (Lincoln's homeport).

They knew they waited for a presidential photoop using a multi-billion dollar prop. We all knew.

tissue?

Oh, they got over it...Military families are tough. Doesn't mean they were fooled tho.

The last people to know the exact hour the ship is pulling in is the famillies of the crew.

My guess is several pilots requested to meet the president and see him tailhook land. It was a balsy move and they wanted the honor to witness it.

Plus Secret Service came on board and screened the ship as per SOP, and media members had to be airlifted on and off the ship.

Once filght-ops is secured the exact fuel usage and aircraft on and off-loaded had to be assertained and submitted to the Damage Control desk and the draft report finished and submitted to the Captain.

In case you don't know, a ship that size displaces over 80,000 tons of water and the keel sinks around 35' in the water depending on the weight of the ship at that time. So they have to know the exact draft before entering port or the Channel Master won't allow them to enter.

 

[mudwhistle]

In San Diego I don't think it's as critical as Pearl Harbor. We were not allowed to enter port during low-tide at pearl.

 

[bodecea]

tissue?

Oh, they got over it...Military families are tough. Doesn't mean they were fooled tho.

If they got over it, all is well. Now we can all proceed with ensuring Obama becomes a one term president.

Yes, they got over it.....of course, that was not the issue....what was the issue is that this was a blatant, expensive, fail photo op stunt by the Bush Administration. No doubts there.

 

[Jarhead]

However, both were looking for a military photo op

True....but only one deserved the right.

And his photo op was two fold...it gave him props (or so his people thought) and it gave some very brave men and women the honor and golden opportunity to be addressed live by the commander in chief. Very few of us get (got) that honor.

It was a blunder that haunted Bush the rest of his presidency

It sure was.

But his blunder was a moment of honor that will be embedded in the minds of those personnel for the rest of their lives.

Some are saying that Obama pulled the same thing yesterdeay....and calling it a blunder......Me? I see it as the same thing...a moment/honor that will be embedded in the minds in those service men and women for the rest of their lives.

Only those that want to criticize the Commander in Chief called it a blunder back then and call it a blunder yesterday.

 

[bodecea]

tissue?

Oh, they got over it...Military families are tough. Doesn't mean they were fooled tho.

The last people to know the exact hour the ship is pulling in is the famillies of the crew.

My guess is several pilots requested to meet the president and see him tailhook land. It was a balsy move and they wanted the honor to witness it.

Plus Secret Service came on board and screened the ship as per SOP, and media members had to be airlifted on and off the ship.

Once filght-ops is secured the exact fuel usage and aircraft on and off-loaded had to be assertained and submitted to the Damage Control desk and the draft report finished and submitted to the Captain.

In case you don't know, a ship that size displaces over 80,000 tons of water and the keel sinks around 35' in the water depending on the weight of the ship at that time. So they have to know the exact draft before entering port or the Channel Master won't allow them to enter.

You are really grasping at straws now, aren't you?

So...tell me, you were there?

 

[rightwinger]

Oh, they got over it...Military families are tough. Doesn't mean they were fooled tho.

If they got over it, all is well. Now we can all proceed with ensuring Obama becomes a one term president.

Yes, they got over it.....of course, that was not the issue....what was the issue is that this was a blatant, expensive, fail photo op stunt by the Bush Administration. No doubts there.

At the time the "Mission Accomplished" photo was taken, Bush and his advisors firmly believed the "They will treat us as liberators" nonsense. He had easily defeated Saddam Hussein, how hard could it be to keep the peace?

The Lincoln speech was to be George Bushs defining moment as President. He had won the war and this was his chance to spike the football

 

[Katzndogz]

The difference is, the military respected Bush, they don't respect obama.

If useless photo ops are the discussion, the most useless and overused was the phonied up situation room photo where the regime was in the situation room pretending to watch the Bin Laden raid go down.

 

[Jarhead]

However, both were looking for a military photo op

True....but only one deserved the right.

And his photo op was two fold...it gave him props (or so his people thought) and it gave some very brave men and women the honor and golden opportunity to be addressed live by the commander in chief. Very few of us get (got) that honor.

Honor. Ever been involved with a VIP/photoop visit Jarhead. 1 part honor, 2 parts pain in the ass...and in this case....1 part having to wait one more day from a LONNNG deployment to get home.

Again...I am getting some very strange signals coming from you. You are speaking from an ideological standpoint and not from a military standpoint......and true military see their postions from a military standpoiint first and an ideological standpoint last.

A congressperson is a VIP.....a Senator.....Secretary of State....Vice President. When they visit for political expediency, there is no honor to the troops.....no more of an honor than Bob Hope.......

The President is Commander in Chief. He/She is not considered a VIP.

 

[Jarhead]

The difference is, the military respected Bush, they don't respect obama.

If useless photo ops are the discussion, the most useless and overused was the phonied up situation room photo where the regime was in the situation room pretending to watch the Bin Laden raid go down.

I have many friends and relatives who are active military who do not approve of Obama's policies.

But they respect Obama as their commander in chief.

Just as they do not get to choose their field general...or their platoon leader....or their 4 star general...they do not get to choose their Commander in Chief.

But they will always respect their superiors.

 

[TitanPanther]

There may be a lot of reasons to slam Obama on his domestic policies but his decision to give the green light to the Navy Seals shouldn't be taken lightly...and he does deserve some of the credit.

After all of the intelligence gathering, all of the meetings between Obama and those analysts involved, military, CIA, etc., the general consensus was..."we just don't know for sure if bin Laden is actually there, maybe, maybe not", pretty much came down to a 50/50 chance of a successful operation to get bin Laden. Some of the analysts gave it a 70% chance of success, some gave it as low as a 30% chance. There was nothing cut and dried about it.

I'll give Obama kudos for putting his political ass on the line here. Had the mission gone wrong, American lives lost along with the obvious political blowback, Obama would have been in the proverbial meat grinder...and he knew it. It would have been Jimmy Carter all over again. Instead of pulling a Bill Clinton, he gave the thumbs up.

And spiking the football during election time is a given for any politician, Obama certainly didn't invent that one and he won't be the last to indulge himself. True, he could have been more humble in taking the credit but he would have been the first politician that did.

 

[Jarhead]

There may be a lot of reasons to slam Obama on his domestic policies but his decision to give the green light to the Navy Seals shouldn't be taken lightly...and he does deserve some of the credit.

After all of the intelligence gathering, all of the meetings between Obama and those analysts involved, military, CIA, etc., the general consensus was..."we just don't know for sure if bin Laden is actually there, maybe, maybe not", pretty much came down to a 50/50 chance of a successful operation to get bin Laden. Some of the analysts gave it a 70% chance of success, some gave it as low as a 30% chance. There was nothing cut and dried about it.

I'll give Obama kudos for putting his political ass on the line here. Had the mission gone wrong, American lives lost along with the obvious political blowback, Obama would have been in the proverbial meat grinder...and he knew it. It would have been Jimmy Carter all over again. Instead of pulling a Bill Clinton, he gave the thumbs up.

And spiking the football during election time is a given for any politician, Obama certainly didn't invent that one and he won't be the last to indulge himself. True, he could have been more humble in taking the credit but he would have been the first politician that did.

you left out one small item.

If he did NOT give the go ahead, it would have been the end of his political career as well.

I give him kudos for doing what he did.....but why he did it, we will never really know...was it political fear of NOT doing it...was it the political rewards of success....or was it just Obama being Presidential as he should have been.....

 

[bodecea]

The difference is, the military respected Bush, they don't respect obama.

If useless photo ops are the discussion, the most useless and overused was the phonied up situation room photo where the regime was in the situation room pretending to watch the Bin Laden raid go down.

Who says the Military does not respect our current President?

 

[Jarhead]

The difference is, the military respected Bush, they don't respect obama.

If useless photo ops are the discussion, the most useless and overused was the phonied up situation room photo where the regime was in the situation room pretending to watch the Bin Laden raid go down.

Who says the Military does not respect our current President?

Of course they do. He is their Commander in Chief.

They may not like his policies....they may not like the personlaity of their CO or XO.....but they will always respect them.

 

[bodecea]

True....but only one deserved the right.

And his photo op was two fold...it gave him props (or so his people thought) and it gave some very brave men and women the honor and golden opportunity to be addressed live by the commander in chief. Very few of us get (got) that honor.

Honor. Ever been involved with a VIP/photoop visit Jarhead. 1 part honor, 2 parts pain in the ass...and in this case....1 part having to wait one more day from a LONNNG deployment to get home.

Again...I am getting some very strange signals coming from you. You are speaking from an ideological standpoint and not from a military standpoint......and true military see their postions from a military standpoiint first and an ideological standpoint last.

A congressperson is a VIP.....a Senator.....Secretary of State....Vice President. When they visit for political expediency, there is no honor to the troops.....no more of an honor than Bob Hope.......

The President is Commander in Chief. He/She is not considered a VIP.

Let me say it for the THIRD time....of course there is Honor....but there is also the logistics of a VIP visit. Let me give examples. I was stationed at Pt Mugu when Reagan was President. Every 3 day weekend.....EVERY 3 day weekend, Airforce One came and they kept it in our hanger (pre 747 days). That meant they taxi'd in next to our hangar, the helo's were there, the SS was there, the press was there, government officials of all stripes were there. Business ground to a halt. People could not get on or off base for a few hours...and other things I will not talk of, but are part of the process. Simply put....it got OLD after awhile. Yes, see the President...wave at him...maybe even shake his hand....but, don't expect me to get starry eyed. I'm not that way....regardless of who the President is.

BTW....I've met a few sports and movie stars in my time....I have the same attitude.

 

[TitanPanther]

you left out one small item.

If he did NOT give the go ahead, it would have been the end of his political career as well.

I give him kudos for doing what he did.....but why he did it, we will never really know...was it political fear of NOT doing it...was it the political rewards of success....or was it just Obama being Presidential as he should have been.

I doubt his political career would have suffered much for giving a thumbs down. His liberal base is certainly not going to forsake him, the minorities would remain in his corner and the independents wouldn't crucify him for refusing to gamble the lives of Americans on a risky adventure none of his analysts could agree on in the first place.

The real political risk was giving the thumbs up and having another military tragedy like the Iranian rescue attempt.