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The Spectacle Blog
Obama partisans are quick to credit him for the spectacular SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Fair enough. Obama is the commander-in-chief, and the mission happened on his watch.
Never mind that our military and intelligence agencies had been gunning for the world’s most wanted terrorist ever since September 11, 2001 — well before Obama was even a United States Senator, let alone President of the United States.
Indeed, the raid was the culmination of nearly a decade of careful military and intelligence work that spanned two administrations, Bush’s and Obama’s. And, in this sense, it really occurred — and would have occurred — irrespective of who was in the White House.
Nevertheless, Obama made the right decision to carry through on the raid; and he wisely opted to kill bin Laden through the use of ground troops rather than aerial bombardment. (Ground troops increased the likelihood that we would actually kill bin Laden, decreased the likelihood of collateral damage, and showed Islamic terrorists and the world that we are not afraid to risk American blood in the pursuit of victory.)
But will Obama partisans be as quick to fault their man for tying the hands of future commanders in chief? Of course not. However, they should, because, as I explain in a piece over at the Daily Caller, Obama wants to undo military and defense investments that enabled our forces to get bin Laden. Thus, he is
irresponsibly calling for a wholesale gutting of the U.S. defense budget. He’s calling for a massive and unconscionable $400 billion in cuts to current and future defense spending. This after he already cut the defense budget by that same amount during his first two years in office.
This is bad public policy and must be resisted. Otherwise, Obama’s successors in the Oval Office may be as hamstrung and embarrassed militarily as too many of his predecessors were.
Jimmy Carter’s failed “Desert One” hostage rescue attempt, for instance, floundered because of our lack of forward operating bases and state-of-the-art helicopters. And, in response, the Marine Corps developed and procured the revolutionary V-22 Osprey “tiltrotor” aircraft. This to address limitations in aircraft speed, range and survivability identified in the failed “Desert One” operation.
Yet, in the wake of the bin Laden killing, many Obama partisans are urging for a wholesale withdrawal from Afghanistan and Eurasia, and even for cancelation of the V-22.
This makes no military sense and is bad public policy which must be resisted. Gutting the defense budget and reverting to Fortress America may play well on the Left, but these are dangerous and half-baked ideas that will inevitably and rightly undermine Obama in the eyes of history.
View all comments (21) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by John R. Guardiano
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/05/10/in-the-wake-of-bin-laden-what
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Occam's Tool| 5.10.11 @ 3:54PM
They will say that Mr. Obama was full of what Norman Mailer would refer to as "shit."
Conservative Bob| 5.10.11 @ 4:01PM
In answer to the question posed by the headline; In all of the decisions he has made as president he got one right.
....along the lines of even a blind squirrel will occasionally find a nut.
occasionally find a nut.
LiveFreeOrDie| 5.10.11 @ 4:16PM
History should say Obama was the President who needed a 16 hour nap to decide whether or not to authorize the action.
solidground| 5.10.11 @ 4:33PM
History should say that the entire course of events was out of Obama's hands. He simply was traveling on the back of an irresistible force he had no hand in starting and really, very little in governing -- that of finding and killing Bin Laden. But of course now, true to his narcissism, he cannot resist taking the bow. Poseur.
PCC| 5.10.11 @ 5:24PM
One needn't be an "Obama partisan" to call for the wholesale withdrawal of U.S. troops from the AfPak shithole, most especially now that Bin Laden is dead.
ncatty| 5.10.11 @ 5:35PM
Amen, brother. If not now, when?
Skippy| 5.11.11 @ 3:17PM
Today.
That would satisfy Prince Bambo's base and get them off the "Obama is a warmonger" schtick.
That might help him, but it would help our troops a lot more.
I, for one, am tired of watching Americans die for this sewer.
Can anyone here tell me where the political will is to stay there any longer?
I have heard none.
john dubose| 5.10.11 @ 5:33PM
If the governments of the middle east were reasonable nation states, OBL would have been rounded up and either tried there or extradited to the US in October of 20o1. Instead, our president violated our own standards to send our military to kill an individual. This may have been necessary, but it is a BAD precedent.
Conservative Bob| 5.10.11 @ 7:12PM
John how is it a bad precedent, this private individual by his own admission tried to kill roughly 58,000 people in NYC alone. He celebrated repeatedly killing over 3,000. He did not confront our army on the battle field instead he attacked innocent men women and children as they went about their daily lives.
On the contrary I think it was exactly the right thing to do. The message is if you attack the people of the United States we will hunt you down and kill you.
I think it is the appropriate response to all terrorists. Make war on innocent civilians forfeit ALL expectations of civil treatment. These are not criminals they are a murderous scourge on society. We do ourselves and organized society a great disservice by dissembling as it relates to our treatment of these monsters throughout the world. They hide behind women and children, hide their weapons in holy places attack children and innocents to force a change on society that they no hope of achieving through the ballot box. Want to stop terrorism respond in the only coin they respect and understand violence. Kill them whenever and where ever you find them. When you bomb school buses, cafe or office buildings, intentionally target innocent non combatants you surrender your membership card in the human race and forfeit all expectation of humane treatment.
We should adopt the same approach for terrorists and pirates alike, commit and act of terrorism or piracy face execution.
Leslie| 5.10.11 @ 9:50PM
That "approach" could be applied to American citizens, too. Bad precedent? Definitely yes.
Conservative Bob| 5.11.11 @ 9:28AM
Leslie,
With all due respect, it would be difficult for these savages to treat our folks more brutally than they have consistently done from the beginning. Did you see what they did to Nick Burg, or Daniel Pearl or the service men they have captured? I believe all were tortured to death. Burg's head was slowly sawn off on camera.
Their actions were not were not in response to our “approach” to anything it was simply an expression of the brutal barbaric nature.
LiveFreeOrDie| 5.11.11 @ 10:33AM
Non sequitur. That's a huge leap and pure fantasy.
Michael L. Hauschild| 5.10.11 @ 7:25PM
History will record four words in reference to Obama’s role in the demise of Bin Laden, “Right time, right place.”
solidground| 5.10.11 @ 8:08PM
... and one lucky SOB who had to have his arm twisted behind his back to finally pull the trigger.
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Wayne | 5.11.11 @ 7:23AM
History will say that the US President shot down a pathetic old man in a foreign nation in cold blood while the citizens cheered.
Conservative Bob| 5.11.11 @ 9:37AM
That 'pathetic old man' should have considered this possibility before he began planning to murder innocent non-combatants. The message here is pretty simple launch an unprovoked attack on innocent civilians and we will hunt you down and kill you. No matter how long it takes no matter where you go.
The ‘pathetic old man’ essentially died by his own hand the moment he put his plan into action.
LiveFreeOrDie| 5.11.11 @ 10:33AM
Non sequitur. That's a huge leap and pure fantasy.
Larry| 5.11.11 @ 12:20PM
That's a simple question. Comrade Golfer did the only thing that any president could have and should have done. In other words, he did his job (for a change). He did what WE are paying him to do (for a change). I'm sick of hearing about his "gutsy decision".
History will show that it was George Bush's policies that led to the killing of Bin Laden. History will show that Comrade Golfer opposed all of these policies and that if his policies had been in place, he'd be on his knees apologizing to Bin Laden for those nasty buildings being in the way while some of his boys were out for an early morning flight. After all, America is down right mean nation.
That's how history will remember the in-lieu president.