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| SEALs slam Obama for using them as 'ammunition' in bid to take credit for bin Laden killing | |
| 2012-05-01 | |
The SEALs spoke out to MailOnline after the Obama campaign released an ad entitled ‘One Chance’. In it President Bill Clinton is featured saying that Mr Obama took ‘the harder and the more honourable path’ in ordering that bin Laden be killed. The words ‘Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?’ are then displayed. Besides the ad, the White House is marking the first anniversary of the SEAL Team Six raid that killed bin Laden inside his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan with a series of briefings and an NBC interview in the Situation Room designed to highlight the ‘gutsy call’ made by the President. Mr Obama used a news conference today to trumpet his personal role and imply that his Republican opponent Mr Romney, who in 2008 expressed reservations about the wisdom of sending troops into Pakistan, would have let bin Laden live. ‘I said that I'd go after bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him, and I did,’ Mr Obama said. ‘If there are others who have said one thing and now suggest they'd do something else, then I'd go ahead and let them explain it.’ Ryan Zinke, a former Commander in the US Navy who spent 23 years as a SEAL and led a SEAL Team 6 assault unit, said: ‘The decision was a no brainer. I applaud him for making it but I would not overly pat myself on the back for making the right call. ‘I think every president would have done the same. He is justified in saying it was his decision but the preparation, the sacrifice - it was a broader team effort.’ Mr Zinke, who is now a Republican state senator in Montana, added that MR Obama was exploiting bin Laden’s death for his re-election bid. ‘The President and his administration are positioning him as a war president using the SEALs as ammunition. It was predictable.’ Mr Obama has faced criticism even from allies about his decision to make a campaign ad about the bin Laden raid. Arianna Huffington, an outspoken liberal who runs the left-leaning Huffington Post website, roundly condemned it. She told CBS: ‘We should celebrate the fact that they did such a great job. It's one thing to have an NBC special from the Situation Room... all that to me is perfectly legitimate, but to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do.’ Campaigning in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Mr Romney responded to a shouted question by a reporter by saying: ‘Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order.’ A serving SEAL Team member said: ‘Obama wasn’t in the field, at risk, carrying a gun. As president, at every turn he should be thanking the guys who put their lives on the line to do this. He does so in his official speeches because he speechwriters are smart. ‘But the more he tries to take the credit for it, the more the ground operators are saying, “Come on, man!” It really didn’t matter who was president. At the end of the day, they were going to go.’ Chris Kyle, a former SEAL sniper with 160 confirmed and another 95 unconfirmed kills to his credit, said: ‘The operation itself was great and the nation felt immense pride. It was great that we did it. ‘But bin Laden was just a figurehead. The war on terror continues. Taking him out didn’t really change anything as far as the war on terror is concerned and using it as a political attack is a cheap shot. ‘In years to come there is going to be information that will come out that Obama was not the man who made the call. He can say he did and the people who really know what happened are inside the Pentagon, are in the military and the military isn’t allowed to speak out against the commander- in-chief so his secret is safe.’ Senior military figures have said that Admiral William McRaven, a former SEAL who was then head of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) made the decision to take bin Laden out. Tactical decisions were delegated even further down the chain of command. Mr Kyle added: ‘He's trying to say that Romney wouldn't have made the same call? Anyone who is patriotic to this country would have made that exact call, Democrat or Republican. Obama is taking more credit than he is due but it's going to get him some pretty good mileage.’ A former intelligence official who was serving in the US government when bin Laden was killed said that the Obama administration knew about the al-Qaeda leader’s whereabouts in October 2010 but delayed taking action and risked letting him escape. ‘In the end, Obama was forced to make a decision and do it. He knew that if he didn’t do it the political risks in not taking action were huge. Mitt Romney would have made the call but he would have made it earlier – as would George W. Bush.’ Brandon Webb, a former SEAL who spent 13 years on active duty and served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said: ‘Bush should get partial credit for putting the system in place. ‘Obama inherited a very robust package with regards to special ops and the intelligence community. But Obama deserves credit because he got bin Laden – you can’t take that away from him. ‘My friends that work in Special Operations Command (SOCOM) that have been on video teleconferences with Obama on these kill or capture situations say that Obama has no issue whatsoever with making decisions and typically it's kill. He’s hitting the kill button every time. I have a lot of respect for him for that.’ But he said that many SEALs were dismayed about the amount of publicity the Obama administration had generated about SEAL Team Six, the very existence of which is highly classified. ‘The majority of the SEALs I know are really proud of the operation but it does become “OK, enough is enough – we’re ready to get back to work and step out of the limelight.” They don’t want to be continuously paraded around a global audience like a show dog. ‘Obama has a very good relationship with the Special Operations community at large, especially the SEALs, and it’s nice to see. We had the same relationship with George W. Bush when he was president.’ It was ‘stretching a little much’ for Mr Obama to suggest only he would have made the decision. ‘I personally I don't think Romney would have any problem making tough decisions. He got a very accomplished record of making decision as a business professional. ‘He may not have charisma but he clearly has leadership skills. I don’t think he'd have any problem taking that decision.’ Clint Bruce, who gave up the chance of an NFL career to serve as a SEAL officer before retiring as a lieutenant after nine years, said: ‘We were extremely surprised and discouraged by the publicity because it compromises the ability of those guys to operate. ‘It’s a waste of time to speculate about who would and wouldn’t have made that decision. It was a symphony of opportunity and intelligence that allowed this administration to give the green light. We want to acknowledge that they made that decision. ‘Politicians should let the public know where they stand on national security but not in the play-by-play, detailed way that has been done recently. The intricacies of national security should not become part of stump speeches.’ | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #11 Understandably, the SEALS resent the blatent exploitation of the event. OK, but as the sentiment from them suggestsÂ…oh well. And for everyone elseÂ… let it go. People appear like absolute twits for criticizing the President on this one. The O-Campaign planned this obvious stick in the eye. And obviously the bait was irresistible. ItÂ’s one of their classic twofers. Always...always...watch the other hand with these guys. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2012-05-01 20:15 |
| #10 That's right, Bill Clinton. The guy who passed up numerous opportunities to take out Osama before the 9/11 hi-jackings. 15 years later, "Obama has no issue whatsoever with making decisions and typically it's kill. He's hitting the kill button every time. I have a lot of respect for him for that." I don't. The purpose of his first term has been to campaign for a second term. He just doesn't want to get blamed for letting the wrong guy go. So everyone dies. Good thing the military gets to pick the targets. |
| Posted by: RandomJD 2012-05-01 19:56 |
| #9 Audacity of hypocracy? How about Obama with Bill Clinton putting together a 7 minute commercial spiking the ball on Osama's death and claim Mitt Romney would not have done it. That's right, Bill Clinton. The guy who passed up numerous opportunities to take out Osama before the 9/11 hi-jackings. |
| Posted by: George Unique7923 2012-05-01 18:30 |
| #8 Obama has as much responsibility for the killing of OBL as he does for the killing of the Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. If he takes credit for one - he should also take responsibility for the other. After all it was his administration which went ahead with F&F. (The previous gunrunner under Bush was very limited, operated with the cooperation of the Mexican authorities and was ended). |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2012-05-01 14:52 |
| #7 Navy SEALs Against Obama |
| Posted by: Beavis 2012-05-01 12:47 |
| #6 Kinda hard for the military to diss the guy who could very well send them into harm's way. |
| Posted by: gorb 2012-05-01 12:16 |
| #5 JohnQC- Yes, where's Pat Fitzgerald when we need him? |
| Posted by: jack salami 2012-05-01 10:43 |
| #4 (Besoeker)#2: Rita Lavelle of the EPA served 6 months in a Federal prison, was on probation for 5 years, and had to pay a $10,000 fine for contempt charges--she was convicted of lying to Congress. Comtempt charges are being drawn for Holder for lying to Congress over Fast and Furious. However, it is hard to determine if anything will come of it. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2012-05-01 10:26 |
| #3 Was there any conclusion of the SF operators who were killed a couple weeks later that if it was or was not a trap set because the specific team was called out? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2012-05-01 10:08 |
| #2 I'm more interested in who will |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-05-01 01:28 |
| #1 The SEALS shot bin Laden? I thought Obambi fast roped into the compound and bored him to death with a speech. Much more painful than way. |
| Posted by: Steven 2012-05-01 00:36 |