We may not know for years or decades what pieces of intelligence Obama had regarding bin Laden and his compound. But considering Obama’s predecessor relied on the same intelligence agencies Obama relied on, and knowing how that turned out re. WMDs, Obama had a tough call to make. I’m curious what others would have done in the same situation.
I’ll go first. I would have made the same call Obama made.
I would like to believe I would have made the same decision as Obama. Of course I don’t know the specifics. One thing for sure - I have not been disappointed that I canvassed and voted for the man.
I would have done the same, but I might have suggested they work a little harder to capture him alive — such things as throwing a couple of flash-bang grenades to temporarily blind him and use of rubber bullets or a tazer. Of course, I’m not sure what the effect of having him in solitary confinement in Guantanamo would have on the rest of his organization and the world.
I’ll go first. I would have made the same call Obama made.
Absolutely I would have made the same decision. Bin Laden was proactively an enemy combatant who was making war against the United States. He may have been a stateless person, but that doesn’t make his activities anything less than what they were.
I suspect that the reason Bin Laden has evaded US efforts for so long was due to support from Pakistan. Every time the US would try to take action he would be tipped off by someone in the Pakistani government. The intelligence in this raid and the execution of this raid was done independently of Pakistan. That’s why he wasn’t prepared.
I suspect that the reason Bin Laden has evaded US efforts for so long was due to support from Pakistan.
Maybe. It’s not as if Bin Landen wanted for supporters in that country.
The ugly political reality is that the Pakistani government is walking a tightrope where on the one hand, they aspire to be a modern state but on the other hand, have to deal with Islamist extremists who enjoy a lot of support in the tribal areas.
We can’t readily turn our backs on them, as all this will do is drive them into the hands of the extremists and other nations who are only too happy to support them because they are, if not hostile to U.S. interests, actively seek to severely limit U.S. influance. It’s a case of damned if we do, even more damned if we don’t.
Equal Opportunity Curmudgeon - 06 May 2011 06:19 PM
Bin Laden was proactively an enemy combatant who was making war against the United States.
According to Noam Chomsky there is very little evidence to support such a claim. I don’t know what to make of the Chomsky’s article. How does one challenge what he has to say?
Equal Opportunity Curmudgeon - 06 May 2011 06:19 PM
Bin Laden was proactively an enemy combatant who was making war against the United States.
According to Noam Chomsky there is very little evidence to support such a claim. I don’t know what to make of the Chomsky’s article. How does one challenge what he has to say?
Yes I would have,it would have been just as good to take him alive though.For intellegence.I think that any which way we got a hold of him,his life was basically done for.As for Chomsky,he seems like a very,very,very sensitive gentleman.
According to Noam Chomsky there is very little evidence to support such a claim. I don’t know what to make of the Chomsky’s article. How does one challenge what he has to say?
With Ossama Bin Laden’s own words. Had he been watching CNN today, he might have noticed Christian Amanpour’s presentation of the man going in front of the cameras and doing exactly that.
One looks mighty silly claiming the man never declared war on Americans when there’s a recording of him doing this.
According to Noam Chomsky there is very little evidence to support such a claim. I don’t know what to make of the Chomsky’s article. How does one challenge what he has to say?
Simple. Tell Noam and anyone who takes him seriously to please resume taking their meds.
I would have done the same, but I might have suggested they work a little harder to capture him alive — such things as throwing a couple of flash-bang grenades to temporarily blind him and use of rubber bullets or a tazer.
The reports so far do seem to indicate that the President ordered it a kill-not-capture raid.
And while it is easy for all of us to sit back and speculate on what we would have done in the President’s shoes, he and especially the commandos who carried out the raid, had to actually deal with the life-or-death situation. And if there is one thing we all know about these filthy Islamofascists is that the one and only way they get their jollies is by strapping bombs to their bodies to try and killa s many innocents as possible. So I am sure just such a very real possibility was foremost in the minds of the men who entered that room. Heck, their intelligence sources may even have suggested he would be wearing one. So if bin Laden had clothes on of any kind, I don’t think any reasonable person could be faulted for shooting him in the head instead of anything else that could have set off a bomb vest.
According to Noam Chomsky there is very little evidence to support such a claim. I don’t know what to make of the Chomsky’s article. How does one challenge what he has to say?
Simple. Tell Noam and anyone who takes him seriously to please resume taking their meds.
What meds would that be? 500mg of Patriox twice daily?
