CDZ What Will be Obamas Legacy?

[Vigilante]

Big BLACK meeting yesterday at the White House, about Ferguson and the PROBLEM WITH POLICE!!!!

During his day-long set of meetings, Obama's guests included Mayors Bill de Blasio of New York, Tom Barrett of Milwaukee, Michael Nutter of Philadelphia, Martin Walsh of Boston, and Karen Freeman-Wilson of Gary, Indiana.
Civil rights representatives included Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League; Janet Murguía, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza; and Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network.

NOWHERE is there any representation by any CONSERVATIVE organization or any Conservative Black of any kind! Yes, a LEGACY of RACIAL BIGOTRY, DISHARMONY, TENSION and DIVISION is what the CHIEF RIOTER will receive years after he's gone!

 

[rightwinger]

All that says and implies is that if the risk is too high, the mission is not to go forward. It says nothing about protecting the president from blame.

National Security Experts Disagree http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474.html

“And it was to proceed according to the risks, only according to the risks that had been outlined to the president. And if he encountered anything else, he had to check back. And you better believe that if anything else had been encountered and the mission had failed, then the blame would have fallen on McCraven. That’s what that’s about.”


That letter will hound the OBL decision right down into the history books. That's, my friend, was blatant lawyerly ass covering. No two ways around it!

This order demonstrates that Obama insisted on being in command. He wanted to know all the risks of the mission and to be informed immediately if those risks had changed or if new risks had surfaced. If he wanted to pass the blame he would have given the order and then walked away.

The killing of bin Laden was a risky move by the president but paid off big time. Republican bitching that "Obama didn't kill anyone, SEALS did" shows how petty they are and how partisan they can be when acknowledging anything the President has accomplished

 

[Conservative65]

The very facty that the rightwing cannot acknowledge ANY positive accomplishment from Obama shows how partisan they are in assessing his lasting legacy

Fail and you didn't do that are their only tools

When he has a positive accomplishment, I'll give him credit. That the leftwing gives him more credit on things where he doesn't deserve it shows me that they are trying to create a legacy where they know one wouldn't exist. They simply can't let their black President look bad.

 

[Conservative65]

The ONE supposed accomplishment of Obuma has been DEFLATED by his own words.....

And Osama bin Laden did not fly planes into the WTC....but he did order it

The problem is Obama takes credit and is given credit by his supporters as if he was on the raid. Regularly, it's stated that he killed bin Laden as if he took the shot.

He ordered the mission. If the SEALS were killed or captured, it would have been Obama who took the blame

A point about giving a president credit for ordering an attack. When Carter ordered the mission on the US Embassy in Tehran, and the copter went down, killing Americans, he was fully blamed for the failure. But, according to the Right on this thread, when such a mission is a success, the president deserves no acclaim. He's at fault if it doesn't work, but he's not to be praised if it does. According to the right wing anyway, as long as the president is not a republican. Had the president been a republican when OBL was killed, he'd have gotten all kinds of acclaim from the Right. That's the problem with this thread: it's just a vehicle for the right wing to put down Obama, despite reality.

The problem is when a President wants credit when something goes well but runs like a coward when things go poorly.
Early in his first term, the left would say Obama hadn't been in office long enough to get blame for the economy. However, if something went well, he had apparently been in office long enough to get credit. The problem with the bin Laden deal is that the left makes it out as if Obama took the kill shot. Typical of his kind to take credit for something beyond or what he didn't do.

 

[rightwinger]

The very facty that the rightwing cannot acknowledge ANY positive accomplishment from Obama shows how partisan they are in assessing his lasting legacy

Fail and you didn't do that are their only tools

When he has a positive accomplishment, I'll give him credit. That the leftwing gives him more credit on things where he doesn't deserve it shows me that they are trying to create a legacy where they know one wouldn't exist. They simply can't let their black President look bad.

Killing bin Laden

Positive accomplishment or not?

 

[Carla_Danger]

I think Obama's legacy will be "cleaning up the Bush mess."

 

[rightwinger]

I think Obama's legacy will be "cleaning up the Bush mess."

That is what we brought him in to do

 

[Ernie S.]

Was there a representative from the St Louis Rams? How about a police officer or 2?

The players "chose to ignore the mountains of evidence released from the St. Louis County Grand Jury this week," the police association said in a statement.

"The gesture has become synonymous with assertions that Michael Brown was innocent of any wrongdoing and attempting to surrender peacefully when Wilson, according to some now-discredited witnesses, gunned him down in cold blood," the police association wrote.

The statement quoted the association's business manager, Jeff Roorda, as saying that "it is unthinkable that homegrown athletes would so publicly perpetuate a narrative that has been disproven over and over again."


"I'd remind the NFL and their players that it is not the violent thugs burning down buildings that buy their advertisers' products. It's cops and the good people of St. Louis and other NFL towns that do."

Rams players Ferguson gesture angers police - CNN.com

 

[Publius1787]

All that says and implies is that if the risk is too high, the mission is not to go forward. It says nothing about protecting the president from blame.

National Security Experts Disagree http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474.html

“And it was to proceed according to the risks, only according to the risks that had been outlined to the president. And if he encountered anything else, he had to check back. And you better believe that if anything else had been encountered and the mission had failed, then the blame would have fallen on McCraven. That’s what that’s about.”


That letter will hound the OBL decision right down into the history books. That's, my friend, was blatant lawyerly ass covering. No two ways around it!

This order demonstrates that Obama insisted on being in command. He wanted to know all the risks of the mission and to be informed immediately if those risks had changed or if new risks had surfaced. If he wanted to pass the blame he would have given the order and then walked away.

The killing of bin Laden was a risky move by the president but paid off big time. Republican bitching that "Obama didn't kill anyone, SEALS did" shows how petty they are and how partisan they can be when acknowledging anything the President has accomplished

The Commander in Chief always has the initiative to take charge. The president knew of the risks. But he needed an out if the mission failed. Essentially, what that letter says is if unforeseen circumstances happen so as to jeopardize the mission the president can claim that the intelligence community failed to do their due diligence, and therefore, the President is blameless because he didn't get the whole picture. Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his.

 

[rightwinger]

All that says and implies is that if the risk is too high, the mission is not to go forward. It says nothing about protecting the president from blame.

National Security Experts Disagree http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474.html

“And it was to proceed according to the risks, only according to the risks that had been outlined to the president. And if he encountered anything else, he had to check back. And you better believe that if anything else had been encountered and the mission had failed, then the blame would have fallen on McCraven. That’s what that’s about.”


That letter will hound the OBL decision right down into the history books. That's, my friend, was blatant lawyerly ass covering. No two ways around it!

This order demonstrates that Obama insisted on being in command. He wanted to know all the risks of the mission and to be informed immediately if those risks had changed or if new risks had surfaced. If he wanted to pass the blame he would have given the order and then walked away.

The killing of bin Laden was a risky move by the president but paid off big time. Republican bitching that "Obama didn't kill anyone, SEALS did" shows how petty they are and how partisan they can be when acknowledging anything the President has accomplished

The Commander in Chief always has the initiative to take charge. The president knew of the risks. But he needed an out if the mission failed. Essentially, what that letter says is if unforeseen circumstances happen so as to jeopardize the mission the president can claim that the intelligence community failed to do their due diligence, and therefore, the President is blameless because he didn't get the whole picture. Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his.

Not being informed of the risks would have been an out. Being informed step by step of what was happening means he knew and approved of it. Win or lose, Obama was calling the shots

Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his

You actually believe that?

Obama made an incredibly brave political decision that night. Mens lives depended on it and any failure would have been hung on Obama just like it was hung on Carter. Obama made the decision with the most risk that night. He could have just bombed the compound and be done.
Sending in SEALS was incredibly risky and almost failed. The first helicopter crashed but was expertly landed on the wall. It could have just as easily flipped over and killed all the men inside. If that had happened there is a good chance the mission would have been aborted with Obama taking the blame for the botched mission.

 

[Publius1787]

All that says and implies is that if the risk is too high, the mission is not to go forward. It says nothing about protecting the president from blame.

National Security Experts Disagree http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474.html

“And it was to proceed according to the risks, only according to the risks that had been outlined to the president. And if he encountered anything else, he had to check back. And you better believe that if anything else had been encountered and the mission had failed, then the blame would have fallen on McCraven. That’s what that’s about.”


That letter will hound the OBL decision right down into the history books. That's, my friend, was blatant lawyerly ass covering. No two ways around it!

This order demonstrates that Obama insisted on being in command. He wanted to know all the risks of the mission and to be informed immediately if those risks had changed or if new risks had surfaced. If he wanted to pass the blame he would have given the order and then walked away.

The killing of bin Laden was a risky move by the president but paid off big time. Republican bitching that "Obama didn't kill anyone, SEALS did" shows how petty they are and how partisan they can be when acknowledging anything the President has accomplished

The Commander in Chief always has the initiative to take charge. The president knew of the risks. But he needed an out if the mission failed. Essentially, what that letter says is if unforeseen circumstances happen so as to jeopardize the mission the president can claim that the intelligence community failed to do their due diligence, and therefore, the President is blameless because he didn't get the whole picture. Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his.

Not being informed of the risks would have been an out. Being informed step by step of what was happening means he knew and approved of it. Win or lose, Obama was calling the shots

Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his

You actually believe that?

Obama made an incredibly brave political decision that night. Mens lives depended on it and any failure would have been hung on Obama just like it was hung on Carter. Obama made the decision with the most risk that night. He could have just bombed the compound and be done.
Sending in SEALS was incredibly risky and almost failed. The first helicopter crashed but was expertly landed on the wall. It could have just as easily flipped over and killed all the men inside. If that had happened there is a good chance the mission would have been aborted with Obama taking the blame for the botched mission.

Yes, I believe that. Obama is incapable of making brave political decisions without political cover. Hence he put off immigration until after the election. Obama isn't stupid. He's a lawyer. That memo was certainly a lawyerly way of covering his ass. If the mission was botched you would have never heard about it. If the media found out Obama would have fired all those involved releasing only enough information necessary to implicate those who serve. Indeed, he would have his behind classification. Being that the raid was successful, the White House declassified a crap load to make the White House look good. Now we have a doctor serving life in prison for his ignorance on the importance of classification. For Obama, the importance of keeping classified sources and methods took a back seat to political opportunism.
Pakistan Gives Bin Laden Hero 33 Years Obama Does Nothing
" the Obama Administration used Afridi to help find Bin Laden, spiked the football repeatedly about the Bin Laden killing, then abandoned Afridi by publicly confirming his participation."

 

[Ernie S.]

All that says and implies is that if the risk is too high, the mission is not to go forward. It says nothing about protecting the president from blame.

National Security Experts Disagree http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474.html

“And it was to proceed according to the risks, only according to the risks that had been outlined to the president. And if he encountered anything else, he had to check back. And you better believe that if anything else had been encountered and the mission had failed, then the blame would have fallen on McCraven. That’s what that’s about.”


That letter will hound the OBL decision right down into the history books. That's, my friend, was blatant lawyerly ass covering. No two ways around it!

This order demonstrates that Obama insisted on being in command. He wanted to know all the risks of the mission and to be informed immediately if those risks had changed or if new risks had surfaced. If he wanted to pass the blame he would have given the order and then walked away.

The killing of bin Laden was a risky move by the president but paid off big time. Republican bitching that "Obama didn't kill anyone, SEALS did" shows how petty they are and how partisan they can be when acknowledging anything the President has accomplished

The Commander in Chief always has the initiative to take charge. The president knew of the risks. But he needed an out if the mission failed. Essentially, what that letter says is if unforeseen circumstances happen so as to jeopardize the mission the president can claim that the intelligence community failed to do their due diligence, and therefore, the President is blameless because he didn't get the whole picture. Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his.

Not being informed of the risks would have been an out. Being informed step by step of what was happening means he knew and approved of it. Win or lose, Obama was calling the shots

Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his

You actually believe that?

Obama made an incredibly brave political decision that night. Mens lives depended on it and any failure would have been hung on Obama just like it was hung on Carter. Obama made the decision with the most risk that night. He could have just bombed the compound and be done.
Sending in SEALS was incredibly risky and almost failed. The first helicopter crashed but was expertly landed on the wall. It could have just as easily flipped over and killed all the men inside. If that had happened there is a good chance the mission would have been aborted with Obama taking the blame for the botched mission.

An incredibly brave political decision??? Wow! He could have been embarrassed? The SEALs could have been dead, but obama is the hero?

 

[rightwinger]

All that says and implies is that if the risk is too high, the mission is not to go forward. It says nothing about protecting the president from blame.

National Security Experts Disagree http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474.html

“And it was to proceed according to the risks, only according to the risks that had been outlined to the president. And if he encountered anything else, he had to check back. And you better believe that if anything else had been encountered and the mission had failed, then the blame would have fallen on McCraven. That’s what that’s about.”


That letter will hound the OBL decision right down into the history books. That's, my friend, was blatant lawyerly ass covering. No two ways around it!

This order demonstrates that Obama insisted on being in command. He wanted to know all the risks of the mission and to be informed immediately if those risks had changed or if new risks had surfaced. If he wanted to pass the blame he would have given the order and then walked away.

The killing of bin Laden was a risky move by the president but paid off big time. Republican bitching that "Obama didn't kill anyone, SEALS did" shows how petty they are and how partisan they can be when acknowledging anything the President has accomplished

The Commander in Chief always has the initiative to take charge. The president knew of the risks. But he needed an out if the mission failed. Essentially, what that letter says is if unforeseen circumstances happen so as to jeopardize the mission the president can claim that the intelligence community failed to do their due diligence, and therefore, the President is blameless because he didn't get the whole picture. Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his.

Not being informed of the risks would have been an out. Being informed step by step of what was happening means he knew and approved of it. Win or lose, Obama was calling the shots

Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his

You actually believe that?

Obama made an incredibly brave political decision that night. Mens lives depended on it and any failure would have been hung on Obama just like it was hung on Carter. Obama made the decision with the most risk that night. He could have just bombed the compound and be done.
Sending in SEALS was incredibly risky and almost failed. The first helicopter crashed but was expertly landed on the wall. It could have just as easily flipped over and killed all the men inside. If that had happened there is a good chance the mission would have been aborted with Obama taking the blame for the botched mission.

An incredibly brave political decision??? Wow! He could have been embarrassed? The SEALs could have been dead, but obama is the hero?

Very true...and the blame for sending them into harms way would have rested with Obama

One of the burdens of leadership

 

[rightwinger]

All that says and implies is that if the risk is too high, the mission is not to go forward. It says nothing about protecting the president from blame.

National Security Experts Disagree http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474.html

“And it was to proceed according to the risks, only according to the risks that had been outlined to the president. And if he encountered anything else, he had to check back. And you better believe that if anything else had been encountered and the mission had failed, then the blame would have fallen on McCraven. That’s what that’s about.”


That letter will hound the OBL decision right down into the history books. That's, my friend, was blatant lawyerly ass covering. No two ways around it!

This order demonstrates that Obama insisted on being in command. He wanted to know all the risks of the mission and to be informed immediately if those risks had changed or if new risks had surfaced. If he wanted to pass the blame he would have given the order and then walked away.

The killing of bin Laden was a risky move by the president but paid off big time. Republican bitching that "Obama didn't kill anyone, SEALS did" shows how petty they are and how partisan they can be when acknowledging anything the President has accomplished

The Commander in Chief always has the initiative to take charge. The president knew of the risks. But he needed an out if the mission failed. Essentially, what that letter says is if unforeseen circumstances happen so as to jeopardize the mission the president can claim that the intelligence community failed to do their due diligence, and therefore, the President is blameless because he didn't get the whole picture. Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his.

Not being informed of the risks would have been an out. Being informed step by step of what was happening means he knew and approved of it. Win or lose, Obama was calling the shots

Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his

You actually believe that?

Obama made an incredibly brave political decision that night. Mens lives depended on it and any failure would have been hung on Obama just like it was hung on Carter. Obama made the decision with the most risk that night. He could have just bombed the compound and be done.
Sending in SEALS was incredibly risky and almost failed. The first helicopter crashed but was expertly landed on the wall. It could have just as easily flipped over and killed all the men inside. If that had happened there is a good chance the mission would have been aborted with Obama taking the blame for the botched mission.

Yes, I believe that. Obama is incapable of making brave political decisions without political cover. Hence he put off immigration until after the election. Obama isn't stupid. He's a lawyer. That memo was certainly a lawyerly way of covering his ass. If the mission was botched you would have never heard about it. If the media found out Obama would have fired all those involved releasing only enough information necessary to implicate those who serve. Indeed, he would have his behind classification. Being that the raid was successful, the White House declassified a crap load to make the White House look good. Now we have a doctor serving life in prison for his ignorance on the importance of classification. For Obama, the importance of keeping classified sources and methods took a back seat to political opportunism.
Pakistan Gives Bin Laden Hero 33 Years Obama Does Nothing
" the Obama Administration used Afridi to help find Bin Laden, spiked the football repeatedly about the Bin Laden killing, then abandoned Afridi by publicly confirming his participation."

Your memo proves that Obama insisted on being involved in the process at all times. If he wanted political cover he would have given broad approval and left the specifics of the mission and execution up to his underlings.....THAT would have provided an out

 

[Bush92]

Most far left President in history that led his party to defeat in two successive mid-terms and exposed how out of touch with the American people democrats have become. His actions on immigration and Ferguson have damaged the party for a generation. "White flight."

 

[Publius1787]

National Security Experts Disagree http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474.html

“And it was to proceed according to the risks, only according to the risks that had been outlined to the president. And if he encountered anything else, he had to check back. And you better believe that if anything else had been encountered and the mission had failed, then the blame would have fallen on McCraven. That’s what that’s about.”


That letter will hound the OBL decision right down into the history books. That's, my friend, was blatant lawyerly ass covering. No two ways around it!

This order demonstrates that Obama insisted on being in command. He wanted to know all the risks of the mission and to be informed immediately if those risks had changed or if new risks had surfaced. If he wanted to pass the blame he would have given the order and then walked away.

The killing of bin Laden was a risky move by the president but paid off big time. Republican bitching that "Obama didn't kill anyone, SEALS did" shows how petty they are and how partisan they can be when acknowledging anything the President has accomplished

The Commander in Chief always has the initiative to take charge. The president knew of the risks. But he needed an out if the mission failed. Essentially, what that letter says is if unforeseen circumstances happen so as to jeopardize the mission the president can claim that the intelligence community failed to do their due diligence, and therefore, the President is blameless because he didn't get the whole picture. Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his.

Not being informed of the risks would have been an out. Being informed step by step of what was happening means he knew and approved of it. Win or lose, Obama was calling the shots

Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his

You actually believe that?

Obama made an incredibly brave political decision that night. Mens lives depended on it and any failure would have been hung on Obama just like it was hung on Carter. Obama made the decision with the most risk that night. He could have just bombed the compound and be done.
Sending in SEALS was incredibly risky and almost failed. The first helicopter crashed but was expertly landed on the wall. It could have just as easily flipped over and killed all the men inside. If that had happened there is a good chance the mission would have been aborted with Obama taking the blame for the botched mission.

An incredibly brave political decision??? Wow! He could have been embarrassed? The SEALs could have been dead, but obama is the hero?

Very true...and the blame for sending them into harms way would have rested with Obama

One of the burdens of leadership

Ahhhh, the burdens of leadership.

Indeed, and when they get killed you simply run out to the airport against their families wished so you can get a photo op in front of some dead Navy Seals. When asked why he did it they simply pointed to the photo and said "We didn't show the caskets, we only showed the President saluting. Ahhh the burdens of leadership. There's nothing like a president rushing out to get a photo op with dead SEALs against the wishes of their loved ones. Then you write standardized form letters (The white house calls them "personal letters") to their parents. Classy Confirmed Obama Sent Form Letters to Families of Fallen SEALs 8230 Update Bush Comforted Troops The Gateway Pundit

Obama Shamefully Uses Navy SEAL Deaths for Photo Op Capitol Commentary

Obama s Shameful Photo-Op

Leadership: Disrespecting grieving families, the president sneaks a photographer into the ceremony honoring the SEALs who died in Afghanistan. The presidential scrapbook and campaign are more important.
We thought perhaps the White House had received a sufficient dose of condemnation as well as some sensitivity training over a planned Sony film hyping President Obama's "gutsy call" regarding the successful Navy SEAL mission that killed Osama bin Laden. The film was to be released three weeks before the 2012 vote. We were wrong.
When 30 U.S. Special Operations forces, including Navy SEALs from SEAL Team 6, the unit that got the world's most-wanted man, were subsequently shot down in a helicopter, the nation mourned its heroes. The White House, it seems, loaded its cameras.
Nineteen of the families asked for no media coverage of the ceremony at Dover, Del. When President George W. Bush was in office, the anti-war media clamored for photos of flag-draped coffins. The Pentagon honored their request for privacy and said any public depiction of the scene would violate the wishes of the families.
So why and how did a photo of President Obama, in silhouette no less, saluting the return of the remains of these brave men find its way to the White House website as its "Photo of the Day"? Did they not get the memo? For what purpose was the photo taken?
If for historical purposes and posterity, we might understand. This photo by a White House photographer was immediately and widely distributed. The Pentagon said it had no knowledge the picture and others had been taken and noted that it hadn't rejected media requests to take pictures of officials at the ceremony as long as they depicted no caskets.

.........................................
Obamateurism of the Day Hot Air

Most of the officials who attended the ceremony, including the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, routinely travel with photographers, but they honored the wishes of the families and left their photo people behind… with one notable exception.
Guess who. …
None other than our humble President, Barack Obama, had a lovely photograph of himself raising a salute in silhouette. The White House distributed the photo among the media, and posted it on the official White House web site as Photo of the Day. The Associated Press made a point of not running it, because they said they won’t publish government images of events the media has been denied access to.

 

[Publius1787]

National Security Experts Disagree http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577374552546308474.html

“And it was to proceed according to the risks, only according to the risks that had been outlined to the president. And if he encountered anything else, he had to check back. And you better believe that if anything else had been encountered and the mission had failed, then the blame would have fallen on McCraven. That’s what that’s about.”


That letter will hound the OBL decision right down into the history books. That's, my friend, was blatant lawyerly ass covering. No two ways around it!

This order demonstrates that Obama insisted on being in command. He wanted to know all the risks of the mission and to be informed immediately if those risks had changed or if new risks had surfaced. If he wanted to pass the blame he would have given the order and then walked away.

The killing of bin Laden was a risky move by the president but paid off big time. Republican bitching that "Obama didn't kill anyone, SEALS did" shows how petty they are and how partisan they can be when acknowledging anything the President has accomplished

The Commander in Chief always has the initiative to take charge. The president knew of the risks. But he needed an out if the mission failed. Essentially, what that letter says is if unforeseen circumstances happen so as to jeopardize the mission the president can claim that the intelligence community failed to do their due diligence, and therefore, the President is blameless because he didn't get the whole picture. Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his.

Not being informed of the risks would have been an out. Being informed step by step of what was happening means he knew and approved of it. Win or lose, Obama was calling the shots

Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his

You actually believe that?

Obama made an incredibly brave political decision that night. Mens lives depended on it and any failure would have been hung on Obama just like it was hung on Carter. Obama made the decision with the most risk that night. He could have just bombed the compound and be done.
Sending in SEALS was incredibly risky and almost failed. The first helicopter crashed but was expertly landed on the wall. It could have just as easily flipped over and killed all the men inside. If that had happened there is a good chance the mission would have been aborted with Obama taking the blame for the botched mission.

Yes, I believe that. Obama is incapable of making brave political decisions without political cover. Hence he put off immigration until after the election. Obama isn't stupid. He's a lawyer. That memo was certainly a lawyerly way of covering his ass. If the mission was botched you would have never heard about it. If the media found out Obama would have fired all those involved releasing only enough information necessary to implicate those who serve. Indeed, he would have his behind classification. Being that the raid was successful, the White House declassified a crap load to make the White House look good. Now we have a doctor serving life in prison for his ignorance on the importance of classification. For Obama, the importance of keeping classified sources and methods took a back seat to political opportunism.
Pakistan Gives Bin Laden Hero 33 Years Obama Does Nothing
" the Obama Administration used Afridi to help find Bin Laden, spiked the football repeatedly about the Bin Laden killing, then abandoned Afridi by publicly confirming his participation."

Your memo proves that Obama insisted on being involved in the process at all times. If he wanted political cover he would have given broad approval and left the specifics of the mission and execution up to his underlings.....THAT would have provided an out

He did leave the specifics to his underlings. What? You think Obama was qualified to lead the mission from the White House? If it went bad here's how it would have went down. One of Obamas generals would have said "Sir, we need to abort." Presidents response: uhhhhhhhhhhhhh "OK."

The only thing Obama did was make the decision. And even when he did that he left room for an political exit strategy.

 

[rightwinger]

This order demonstrates that Obama insisted on being in command. He wanted to know all the risks of the mission and to be informed immediately if those risks had changed or if new risks had surfaced. If he wanted to pass the blame he would have given the order and then walked away.

The killing of bin Laden was a risky move by the president but paid off big time. Republican bitching that "Obama didn't kill anyone, SEALS did" shows how petty they are and how partisan they can be when acknowledging anything the President has accomplished

The Commander in Chief always has the initiative to take charge. The president knew of the risks. But he needed an out if the mission failed. Essentially, what that letter says is if unforeseen circumstances happen so as to jeopardize the mission the president can claim that the intelligence community failed to do their due diligence, and therefore, the President is blameless because he didn't get the whole picture. Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his.

Not being informed of the risks would have been an out. Being informed step by step of what was happening means he knew and approved of it. Win or lose, Obama was calling the shots

Trust me, the only brave decision made that night came from those who risked losing their jobs and/or lives. Obama was certainly going to keep his

You actually believe that?

Obama made an incredibly brave political decision that night. Mens lives depended on it and any failure would have been hung on Obama just like it was hung on Carter. Obama made the decision with the most risk that night. He could have just bombed the compound and be done.
Sending in SEALS was incredibly risky and almost failed. The first helicopter crashed but was expertly landed on the wall. It could have just as easily flipped over and killed all the men inside. If that had happened there is a good chance the mission would have been aborted with Obama taking the blame for the botched mission.

An incredibly brave political decision??? Wow! He could have been embarrassed? The SEALs could have been dead, but obama is the hero?

Very true...and the blame for sending them into harms way would have rested with Obama

One of the burdens of leadership

Ahhhh, the burdens of leadership.

Indeed, and when they get killed you simply run out to the airport against their families wished so you can get a photo op in front of some dead Navy Seals. When asked why he did it they simply pointed to the photo and said "We didn't show the caskets, we only showed the President saluting. Ahhh the burdens of leadership. There's nothing like a president rushing out to get a photo op with dead SEALs against the wishes of their loved ones. Then you write standardized form letters (The white house calls them "personal letters") to their parents. Classy Confirmed Obama Sent Form Letters to Families of Fallen SEALs 8230 Update Bush Comforted Troops The Gateway Pundit

Obama Shamefully Uses Navy SEAL Deaths for Photo Op Capitol Commentary

Obama s Shameful Photo-Op

Leadership: Disrespecting grieving families, the president sneaks a photographer into the ceremony honoring the SEALs who died in Afghanistan. The presidential scrapbook and campaign are more important.
We thought perhaps the White House had received a sufficient dose of condemnation as well as some sensitivity training over a planned Sony film hyping President Obama's "gutsy call" regarding the successful Navy SEAL mission that killed Osama bin Laden. The film was to be released three weeks before the 2012 vote. We were wrong.
When 30 U.S. Special Operations forces, including Navy SEALs from SEAL Team 6, the unit that got the world's most-wanted man, were subsequently shot down in a helicopter, the nation mourned its heroes. The White House, it seems, loaded its cameras.
Nineteen of the families asked for no media coverage of the ceremony at Dover, Del. When President George W. Bush was in office, the anti-war media clamored for photos of flag-draped coffins. The Pentagon honored their request for privacy and said any public depiction of the scene would violate the wishes of the families.
So why and how did a photo of President Obama, in silhouette no less, saluting the return of the remains of these brave men find its way to the White House website as its "Photo of the Day"? Did they not get the memo? For what purpose was the photo taken?
If for historical purposes and posterity, we might understand. This photo by a White House photographer was immediately and widely distributed. The Pentagon said it had no knowledge the picture and others had been taken and noted that it hadn't rejected media requests to take pictures of officials at the ceremony as long as they depicted no caskets.

.........................................
Obamateurism of the Day Hot Air

Most of the officials who attended the ceremony, including the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, routinely travel with photographers, but they honored the wishes of the families and left their photo people behind… with one notable exception.
Guess who. …
None other than our humble President, Barack Obama, had a lovely photograph of himself raising a salute in silhouette. The White House distributed the photo among the media, and posted it on the official White House web site as Photo of the Day. The Associated Press made a point of not running it, because they said they won’t publish government images of events the media has been denied access to.

Touching picture....thanks for sharing

 

[ninja007]

I think Obama will be remebered as a good, but not great, president.

I would expect him to rank around the middle of the pack - certainly ahead of Bush Snr and Jnr, but hardly up there with any of the greats.

His major achievement may still be healthcare - it's a little too soon to tell on that - but also restoration of the US's battered reputation abroad, and decent work restoring the US economy to life after the meltdown.

I think the other lasting legacy of this period will be the bitterness, hatred and contempt of the extreme right wing in US, who to my mind have set new lows in anti-patriotism and political debate unprecedented in the developed world. It's been halfway between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy era - with an unhealthy dose of illiteracy thrown in.

 

[Ernie S.]

Agreed