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Home Front: Politix
The Killing of Osama bin Laden
2015-05-11
by Seymour M. Hersh
...he of My Lai fame, Abu Ghraib, and more recent adventures.
[LondonReviewOfBooks] Gates wasn't the only official who was distressed by Obama's decision to speak without clearing his remarks in advance, the retired official said, 'but he was the only one protesting. Obama didn't just double-cross Gates, he double-crossed everyone. This was not the fog of war. The fact that there was an agreement with the Pakistanis and no contingency analysis of what was to be disclosed if something went wrong -- that wasn't even discussed. And once it went wrong, they had to make up a new cover story on the fly.' There was a legitimate reason for some deception: the role of the Pakistani walk-in had to be protected.
Much, MUCH more at link - it's a long one. If the story has legs, ho-boy!
Excellent find BU. Yes, regrettably it's a Seymour Hirsch piece, but the veracity of the following items has always been problematic: the Pakistani 'air space' story, the 'burial at sea,' the unchallenged Abbottobad compound surveillance site, the imprisoned Dr. Shakeel Afridi scapegoating, the Non-Disclosure Statements (NDS) of mission participants, the 'mechanical failure' and helo crash, the totally unobstructed and unchallenged extraction, the Document Exploitation (DOCEX) failure, the made-for-teevee movie, the WH situation room photo, the WH 'outing' of the specific unit(s) taking part, lastly and possibly the most troubling, the braggadocios O'Neill malarkey and exploitation of Fox News.

The author has probably got it right. It was an cash & carry, presidential election campaign stunt. I'll never see another 7 minute mile, but I'd be delighted to go jogging with the author's source.
Except that Seymour's a pathological liar. I noticed that about the time he wrote on KAL007 shortly after I worked it.
Posted by:Blossom Unains5562

#11  Well, while we are at it, here's one of the comments on Blossum's linky, for your amusement:


the war on terror is a lie
on May 11, 8:14 PM said:
Bin laden died on december 15, 2001 of kidney failure and is buried at tora bora. The cia had several bin laden doubles and it was a bin laden double that was killed in the raid and then the seal team that was involved in the raid was put on one helicopter that was shot down and all were killed.

Charles Strange the father of Michael Stange one of the seals on the helicopter that was shot down said that his son and the others were set up to be killed, dead men tell no tales, google Charles Strange for the truth about the raid.



Have fun, LOL
Posted by: KBK   2015-05-11 20:36  

#10  Mia Culpa, y'all. Looks like I posted a dud.

Former top CIA official told us what he really thinks of Hersh's wild Osama bin Laden conspiracy theory [LINK]
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562   2015-05-11 19:49  

#9  American Spectator: Thoughts on Seymour Hersh’s Claims About the Bin Laden Raid & The Media Reaction [LINK]


Posted by: Blossom Unains5562   2015-05-11 18:54  

#8  
Posted by:    2015-05-11 18:20  

#7  Possibly. "Retired senior intelligence official" does leave a lot to the imagination. Same with the multitude of so-called Pakistan sources. Perhaps more interesting are the two "longtime consultants to the Special Operations Command."
Posted by: Pappy   2015-05-11 17:21  

#6  I'm not buying the retired CIA source bit. Offset possibly.

Posted by: Besoeker   2015-05-11 17:10  

#5  Sooo... just to get everything on one page:

1. The primary source is a "retired" Klingon.

2. The Klingons got a walk-in, verified the info, coordinated the op and awarding of incentives with the Paks that mattered.

3. After much machination and gyration, the White House approved the op and ensured the Pal gov't would cooperate.

4. SOF did the op. Nobody knows where the body is.

5. POTUS released the Op results, against whatever agreement was supposedly made, screwing both the Paks, DOD, and SOF.

6. Scramble for a cover up story. Or two. Or three. Or revisions to all and sundry.

7. Non-disclosures ordered for those SOF involved. Things get deleted, or re-filed by senior officers (possibly under orders, possibly to keep their troops from being screwed further.) Frame up for one PAK doc working part-time for the Klingons. Klingons manage to get singed in Congress, but nothing worse.

8. POTUS gets re-elected (GM is alive and bin Ladin is dead?). Everything he does after re-election is "principled" and meets with Mr. Hersh's approval. But Mr. Hersh condemns the 'USG' for its habitual lies and cover-ups.
Posted by: Pappy   2015-05-11 16:53  

#4  Too much inside baseball for a foreign source.
Posted by: Besoeker   2015-05-11 16:19  

#3  I dislike the Obama Administration as much as most but to me it seems like everything Seymour is accusing the administration ofare the kind of things you would lie about to cover a source.

He says they got info from an ex-Pak Intelligence guy claiming the reward. Well you don't straight up admit that or he'll be dead and nobody will come looking to claim rewards in the future. Most of the other lies follow from that.


  • If Seymour is telling the truth he probably just got this guy killed.

  • If Seymour is being played by Pak Intelligence (or lying) he just got this guy killed.


Journalism at its finest.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2015-05-11 14:40  

#2  OK, Hersh's a pathological liar. But so is Zero. And Hersh's story makes more sense.
Posted by: Glenmore   2015-05-11 07:49  

#1  Except that Seymour's a pathological liar. I noticed that about the time he wrote on KAL007 shortly after I worked it.

Sadly, this.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2015-05-11 05:29  

00:00