Even with the unrelenting criticism from the GOP, no one has been more critical of President Obama than liberals on issue after issue. The obvious difference is that liberal critics typically use facts. But despite the President having kept a promise of finding Osama bin Laden, it now appears that those from every political stripe either refuse to give the President credit or give him only partial credit.
Why should President Obama share credit with President Bush in Osama bin Laden’s death? In reference to bin Laden, in 2004 President Bush said, “I truly am not that concerned about him”. President Bush was focused on his war, the war in Iraq - a war entered into without the intelligence that would warrant such an invasion and a war with no connection to 911 or Osama bin Laden. Cost of the Iraq war - $788 billion and counting. Lives lost - one is too many.
Experts are coming forward and explaining in detail how this mission unfolded and how President Obama utilized the CIA and special operations military to make this happen. Right after getting in office the President moved necessary resources from Iraq to this mission, dedicating special resources to find and kill Osama bin Laden. Although intelligence gathering had been going on for years, without the necessary determination and leadership from President Obama this could not have happened.
Despite the rumors and spin, there is no conclusive evidence to the claim that information received via waterboarding helped with this mission. The determination to defend Dick Cheney (the Vice President with five military deferments) is remarkable when we consider what our torture policy means to our US troop safety abroad. Even if important intelligence was obtained by torture, the Bush Administration should then be considered completely incompetent for not having used that intelligence to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. How many years did they need?
Some liberals are convinced that in 2007 the late Benazir Bhutto claimed Osama bin Laden was “murdered”, even though just a few words spoken in a single interview contradict everything else she ever said on the topic. While discussing Daniel Pearl, Bhutto said that Omar Sheikh "murdered" Osama bin Laden. She uses a word of moral condemnation - “murdered” - instead of “killed” - making it strongly suspect that she meant to say Omar Sheikh murdered Daniel Pearl. It is likely she was lost in her train of thought about the Jihadist who wanted to kill her and inadvertently substituted the wrong name.
The latest gripe is that the President’s actions were illegal – made mostly by right-wing deniers that would be climbing over each other to congratulate a GOP president for this accomplishment. Pakistan is repeatedly accused of knowingly harboring terrorists. Despite arguments against our current policy, many have argued that our countries national security must supersede the rights of known terrorist or any special consideration for countries that choose to ignore terrorists and grant them a safe-haven. Throughout our history we have made exceptions to the rule of “due process”. It’s remarkable that any Republican would fault Obama on this action while simply ignoring the illegal actions of the Bush Administration.
There is no war with these criminals. Despite the inane insistence that we must call this a “war on terrorism” – the slogan only elevates the status of these lunatic killers. Taking them out cheaply, quickly, with efficient covert operations seems much more logical than what we have been doing for nearly a decade. No one can argue the endless waste of both dollars and the cost of human life in both Iraq and Afghanistan. If there is a common sense effective alternative we would be foolish not to utilize that alternative.
Before we all join the new “Deathers” movement and refuse to believe that Osama bin Laden was in fact killed in this raid in Pakistan, consider that these conspiracy theories are being quickly discredited with facts. And if this President was going to pull Osama bin Laden out of a hat to win reelection in 2012, you would think he would have at least waited till an election year; the general election is 20 months from now. By this time next year this will all be a distant memory.
Skeptics and deniers like Glenn Beck might want to consider that their exhausting conspiracy theories and constant cynicism has made them an irrelevant nuisance. This President was successful where President Bush was not, and everyone including the bitter “right” needs to get over that fact. This was Obama’s “Mission Accomplished” – an actual accomplishment unlike the chest thumping we saw eight years ago.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray released the following statement on May 1st-
“The President’s announcement tonight is tremendous news for all Americans and for counterterrorism efforts worldwide. The superb work of our military and intelligence communities have led to the death of the mastermind of the worst attack in our nation’s history. It is indeed a great moment. I applaud our troops, intelligence operatives, and the Administration for never wavering in this important goal in the broader war on terrorism.
This is a particularly important day for the thousands of Americans who lost a family member, friend or loved one nearly ten years ago. And all of our thanks go to those who have been lost in our military efforts and to our veterans and their families.
This is indeed a significant moment and one that will continue to propel our efforts to root out terrorists wherever they reside. We must continue to remain vigilant and focused on the protection of the American people.”
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