From the U.K. Mail Online: Serving and former US Navy SEALs
have slammed President Barack Obama for taking the credit for killing
Osama bin Laden and accused him of using Special Forces operators as
‘ammunition’ for his re-election campaign.
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....
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.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2137636/SEALs-slam-Obama-using-ammunition-bid-credit-bin-Laden-killing-election-campaign.html#ixzz1taKN7Gyl
At the Prairie Café...
5 hours ago
Oh, for crying out loud. If Dubya had made the same order, with the same results, the celebrating would still be going on. And if Obama's raid had failed? You guys would be dumping on HIM, not Seal Team 6, HIM. You know it, and I know it.
ReplyDeleteProper credit was given to the military at the time. I think Obama has been remarkably restrained up til now, and I don't see what is so off limits here.