Rescuing two hostages in Somalia is the latest brilliant success by the Navy SEALs, the same special operations force that found and killed Osama bin Laden in his Pakistan hideout last May.
In the raid last week, the several dozen commandoes, including SEALs and CIA operatives, parachuted into the midnight darkness, shed their chutes and hiked two miles to the compound where an intelligence tip had said the hostages were held. They stormed the stronghold, killed nine people in a firefight, and brought out the hostages, aid workers Jessica Buchanan, 32, of Ohio and Poul Thisted, 60, of Denmark, without a single injury. American helicopters picked them up and carried them to safety.
The SEALs, organized in 1961 as a counterguerrilla force in Vietnam, were named for their sea, air and land capability. They have not always been so successful.
In the 1983 invasion of Grenada, one of their two transport planes missed its drop zone and four SEALs drowned off the island’s coast. And just last August, 17 SEALs were killed when Taliban fighters shot down their helicopter with a rocket when it was taking them to help U.S. Army Rangers in an attempt to capture a senior Taliban leader.
SEAL teams continue to operate off the coast of Somalia, where they shot and killed three Somali pirates and freed Captain Richard Phillips, skipper of the hijacked American-flag freighter Maersk Alabama. Soon they will be operating there from a floating commando “mothership” being fashioned from a retired amphibious assault vessel.
With the recent successes behind them, the SEALs will be featured in a movie, “Act of Valor,” opening Feb. 24. And a book that tops the best-seller lists, “American Sniper,” is by Chris Kyle, who served with the SEALs and is said to have shot and killed 150 enemies.
Like many of their exploits, the recent hostage rescue depended on first-rate intelligence, detailed planning, skill, courage and, of course, good luck.
It was to the SEALs’ credit, as well as to that of their commander-in-chief, President Obama. He made the daring decision to undertake the raid. He got the word of its success just as he was preparing to deliver his State of the Union address. Any slip-up could have caused a spectacular failure with devastating political consequences. The 1980 collapse of a secret mission to rescue the 52 American hostages held in Iran, when two of the planes caught fire, humiliated President Jimmy Carter and doomed his re-election.
It is the Seals who get credit for everything not Obama. Where is the proof positive that Osama Bin Laden was taken out. When Bush was President and Saddam Hussein was captured they showed pictures and provided evidence of the capture. How is it that Bin Laden was captured in Pakistan and buried at sea in the Atlantic a few hours later when geographically it would be impossible for a Helicopter to fly from Pakistan to a ship at sea in the Atlantic. Something does not add up. Weeks after the raid members of the team are killed in a helicopter crash. Something is wrong with Obama’s story and I am sure the Seals know it and it will come out.
It’s up to the president to decide whether the odds favor a successful mission.
Also, bin Laden was not buried in the Atlantic. He was buried in the Arabian Sea.
Personally, I think he was stuffed and put up in the Atrium at the CIA HQ in Langley.
Yes, I fear it’s true. OBL is hiding with Elvis and JFK. Some will go to great lengths to discredit this presidency. It only makes them look foolish.
One doesn’t have to say a word to discredit this president.
All his other failures speak for themselves.
Like saving GM and Chrysler from complete collapse?
Bin Laden was dropped off the side of the carrier Vincent in the North Arabian Sea, not the Atlantic Ocean. Representatives of both parties, including big Obama critic, Rep. Peter King of New York, were given access to the photos and intelligence confirming Bin Laden’s capture and killing and came away convinced. The helicopter crash occurred 3 months after the Pakistan raid and while it took the life of SEAL team members, we will never know how many, if any, of those killed participated in the Bin Laden killing.
You are correct it was the Arabian Sea and the aircraft carrier was the Carl Vinson. They claim he was buried in honor of the Islamic tradition. Like he gave one hoot about our traditions or lives. I still don’t believe it and I wouldn’t believe any politician in Washington. The only people I would believe would be the Navy Seals and they haven’t been allowed to say anything. I believe Bin Laden died a few years before because of kidney disease and I believe this whole thing is nothing but political. Where is there one shred of evidence that this happened? Where is the proof positive? I’ll Bet you can’t answer that. I wouldn’t believe Obama if my life depended on him. Promises made and promises not kept. He has discredited himself and done a dis-service to this country.
Burial at sea is not an Islamic tradition, however burial within the first 24 hours is. No country would accept his body for burial and allow it to become a shrine to his memory. Can you blame them? Dumping his body at sea was the ultimate insult to bin Laden, not an honor.
The Cheney and Albright comments can be debunked if you choose to research beyond conspiracy sites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb3fesK-4S4
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/captured.asp
If Osama bin Laden had died in 2001 or 2003 and the Bush administration had proof, it would have been used as a tool in 2004 or 2008 to re-elect Bush or elect McCain. Killing him in May, 2011, a year and a half before the next election goes against the political theory you espouse.
Debunked? Really? Do tell.
Cheney, ” Osama bin laden had no connection to 9/11″… Please, debunk away…
Albright? She spoke out of school….did you give her a polygraph? Or are you referring to the back,peddling she did after the comment? Come on..
You guys believe everything they tell you?
Staged war room photos? Why?
Yeah, we caught the most wanted terrorist and decided to bury him at sea? Hahaha, ok, I have some ocean front to sell you in brewer too.
Circular argument goes nowhere.
And you believe everything “your guys” tell you? LOL
No, it’s about critical thinking. The whole thing just doesn’t add up.
When the same corprorations that profit and lobby for war control the media….well…
Can you explain what happened to the eight year pursuit of WMD in Iraq??
While I have my reservations about any president, Obama is OK in my book in regards to this particular situation. Also you must remember the video of Hussein was captured via video phone via onlookers, which then was distributed to local media outlets, circumventing the US government all together. President Bush, his staff, the military had no say whether this would be released or not.
You should rest assured that he is Dead resting in peace, at sea. I know people who know other people and assured me that this is true. What you should be concerned about is the character of the people they paid the reward money to.
Easy answer.
“People
sleep peaceably in their beds at night only
because
rough men stand ready to do violence on
their behalf.”
Quote form George Orwell Used by the Navy Seals.
We thank whatever higher power you believe in that we have not only the Seals but all our military to do just.
What doesn’t add up is your “geographical” knowledge of the region, the Escape Flight Plan, and your understanding of the Bin Laden mission.
You also assume that SEALs can independently initiate operations like the Bin Laden raid. Only the president has the authority to press the attack button. He was also the man who pledged to kill Bin Laden months before the actual assault. The Team carried out his orders after months of planning, in which he took an active part to help assure its success.
A public explanation about the disposal of Bin Laden’s remains showed that he was buried at sea (Arabian) before sunset in accordance with his religious beliefs. Photos of the corpse were withheld from the public due to their gruesome nature. A bullet shattered Bin Laden’s head. The Hussein pictures were sold to the highest media bidders by witnesses to the execution.
Inferring some kind of a conspiracy exists surrounding the crash of a chopper in Afghanistan carrying some members of the same team that hit Bin Laden, is pure speculation. According to the military, the chopper was not shot down. Mechanical difficulties were blamed by flight engineers.
Do you trust your government?
I’m a Democrat and a Liberal and proud of it. I’d follow President Obama through the swamps, rivers and through the tides, up the hills, over the rocks and out of the skies. He is a leader.
I trust him. I do not trust republicans and their phony calls for bipartisanship. I do not trust men like George W. Bush and Richard Cheney who lied to the United States and the world about Saddam Hussein having WMD. They and Rove and Rumsfeld sacrificed thousands of young Americans and sacked a country displacing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Hussein was hanged. No WMD found. Republicans blindly defend the Bush-Cheney decision.
Government is only as good as the people who run it. In service we rely on NCOs as team leaders. President Obama is a fine leader.
Obama does not deserve the honor of holding the office of President. He is a campaigner not an executive. How is it that you go on a $4million vacation to Hawaii while the American people are out of homes, jobs, food, oil. Explain that! What exactly has he done to lead? Explain that. You wear your liberal badge and I’ll wear my American badge. This is the problem all the finger pointing. Obama blames the Republicans, the Republicans blame the Democrats. Nothing but labels. Where is the heart and soul of America. He said he would unite the country. Didn’t happen. He promised Hope…there is none. He promised change…we got it deeper in debt.
Being a Liberal isn’t a label, even though many of your ilk brand us as socialists, Marxists and communists – as one poster suggested.
I am an American. Get that right for s start.
Just because my views are not shared by you does not give you the right to label me, anyone, or the president. I raised my hand and did eight. That accounts for some credibility for being an American.
Just because you chant the ideology of the tea party republicans doesn’t make you a better American than anyone else who doesn’t share your viewpoints. Your distaste for the president is the same as most teapublicans.
As for campaigning – Sen. Mitch McConnell has had one goal since President took office: To make sure he is not elected for a second term. In the past three years while the teapublicans have campaigned every day and blocked every move to keep the country rolling and make sure the unemployed get their benefits, the republicans have blocked everything.
Republicans need to go back into the desert and find some WMD.
One…I am not a Republican. Two I am not a Tea Party. Three…I am an Independent….Four I am an American…Five I am a disabled Nam veteran. It is your Ilk that discredited nam vets and turned into the liberal movement. Before for that everyone was an American there was no liberal, no conservative, or other label. President Obama is a nice guy. He is an incompetent executive. The federal agencies are out of control under his leadership. Just the cost of regulatory burden on business rose by $44Billion last year. The EPA ignores Congress and willy nilly does what ever they want in terms of regulation and I still don’t like it that he is out golfing and vacationing on taxpayer money while the debt has risen more in 3 year under him than under 8 years of Bush. He spends more, bigger government and now he wants every one to be responsible for his mess. I don’t think so.
devonshire11
You sorry toad. No sweet and shining moment for all America and Americans is immune from slander and denigration of the commander in chief of our armed forces, from the likes of you. At least your partisan priorities are clearly defined for all to see.
You couldn’t be more off target. Simply applying critical thinking poses serious questions around the obl raid. Why would you kill this guy and try not to capture him? the account of the raid has never been consistent. He shot, he didn’t shoot, etc. burial at sea? Seriously? The sharia law lie was easily disproved. Why would you bury him at sea? — and there were staged war room photos.
Obl died ten years ago. Madeline Albright has mentioned as much. Dr. Steve pieczenik has admitted as much. Obl was seriously ill. This whole thing was shamelessly staged.
Anything rather than acknowledge Mr. Obama as a legitimate American leader is the what you’re all about.
Hey, the facts speak for themselves.
He died years ago. It was all theatre.
Research the names I mentioned.
And cheney is on record saying obl had no connection to 9/11
And tell Georgia Barry is legitimate. In there eyes he isn’t. And he is in contempt of court.
Did Cheney and Bush ever find WMD in Iraq?
It seems to me that a so called legitimate leader, as you say, wouldn’t invade countries illegally, defying the costitution he swore to uphold and know intimately. Not to mention murdering American citizens via drones and running guns in Mexico that have killed at least three that they tell us about. The aclu is suing over the al awaki murder. How about NDAA? Our rights are diminishing more everyday! How can you support this administration? Especially after the hypocrisy and blatant lies? Condoning torture in gitmo? Truly obscene and we may never live that down.
I find it hard to believe Amy American truly supports him…And i am no republican
Forget it. Cheney exuberantly supports torture and so does George W. Bush. President Obama stopped it. End story.
Things are chaotic in a gunfight. The SEALs had to make a quick decision on whether to try to capture him or shoot.
He was buried at sea because, in all likelihood, nobody wanted to be home of his grave. The United States also did not want his grave to become a memorial to his followers.
Do you know how foolish it would be for the administration and military to lie, only to have bin Laden show up alive later? Well, we haven’t heard from him, have we? And his own people acknowledge he’s dead.
That we wouldn’t want to have a trial, at least an interrogation, with the number one terrorist on the world is absurd. Ocean burial is pretty convenient. And apparently easily sold via the corporate media.
Not to mention the place he allegedly was hiding wasnt exactly fort knox. Seems he could’ve easily been taken. But that’s moot as he died ten years ago. Obviously
Good luck!
How about a response detailing why you choose to defend Obama?
How about a detailed analysis of why you hate the president?
“Wasn’t exactly Fort Knox?” Come on. Give the guys a break.
We broke through Pakistani air space and dropped raiders off a few yards from Pakistan’s top military academy. Fortunately, the Pakistanis weren’t expecting visitors and didn’t know what had happened until the raiders were back aboard their HQ.
Glad they wiped out Bin Laden. Bringing him back for trial would have created another long winded republican debate on whether to try him in a military court or civilian court, and where – Gitmo or Brooklyn.
Have you ever been exposed to a situation similar to what these raiders were exposed to? Would you have told Bin Laden to raise his hands when he was going for his Ak? This was not a knock on the door “Good evening, Mam, is Mr Bin Laden home?”
Not as absurd as an eight year war by Bush and Cheney looking for WMD in Iraq.
Your question: “Why would you kill this guy and try not to capture him?” illustrates your political unwillingness and anti-Obama stance, to accept what actually took place in that Pakistan compound when Bin Laden was killed.
Much of the Team’s account of the raid has been publicized in the media. Graphic imagery showed raiders navigating their way through a strange dark building. One raider chased a man up a flight of stairs. At the top, the man turned and attempted to fire on his pursuer. He was shot dead. It was Bin Laden. Given the gravity of the face to face confrontation, there was no time for bargaining. It was kill or be killed.
All of the raider’s actions were watched on closed circuit TV by the president and his staff at the White House. Witnesses aboard the aircraft carrier corroborated evidence that the man shot was Bin Laden.
The raid was a major success. One republicans and their tea party gang refuse to honor, which is an insult to the participants and planners.
To land by helicopters in he middle of a Parkistan penthouse compound in pitch black darkness, only a few yards from Parkistan’s top military academy without being noticed, was a major achievement. Killing Bin Laden and grabbing as many secret papers as possible was the ultimate success. The papers have led to successful military operations in Afghanistan against the Taliban.
Republicans have been unable to give President Obama any credit for fulfilling his promise. They conveniently ignore the fact that George W. Bush had washed his hands of any attempt to kill the man who planned 9/11. Instead, he and Cheney initiated a war against Iraq based on the false assumption that Saddam Hussein had WMD.
Keeping the mouth piece Obama, The seals are one of our great teams and reflect the spirit of most of us in this country! God bless these young men and woman.
Without the Man’s finger on the trigger – the Seals and other special units don’t go anywhere.
Thank you Navy Seals. And thank you to
all those who serve and have served.
Our warriors are the best the world has seen since the lions of Judah.Proud to have served and proud to supports those who serve now.Though I in no way support the current administrations socialist agenda,Pres Obama should be honored for allowing our men and women in the armed forces to do there jobs without all the political games.
When you get lumped with a two trillion deficit for two wars half way around the world looking for fictional WMD., you have to do something to keep the country running.
The GOPers would never say “Good Job” to President Obama. They’re republicans !
WAY TO GO!! KEEP ROCKIN!!
I’m glad all the best in Special Forces are on our side.
You can’t help but love these special forces guys who usually wind up working for the FBI SWAT team
when they leave the service, eh?
see link for full story
http://fortheloveofthedogblog.com/news-updates/fbi-agent-indicted-in-shooting-death-of-neighbors-dog
FBI Agent Indicted in Shooting Death of Neighbor’s Dog
By Admin, on July 10th, 2008
Update 7/13/09 – Dog Killing FBI Agent Gets a “Slap on the Wrist” VIDEO
Sassy
was just a 3 lb Chihuahua, walking on Estes Road near Lorena in TX when
her life was cut short by an FBI sniper with a pellet gun. Jason Davis
had the hard task of telling his 8 yr old daughter that her little dog
would not becoming home.
Cyndi Mitchell, who lives across the street from FBI agent, Lovett
Leslie Ledger, told authorities that she witnessed Ledger shoot the dog
in front of her house with a pellet rifle on Feb. 29.
Mitchell has said that her dogs were barking and she went to the door and saw Sassy walking on Estes Road in front of her house.
The dog lurched to one side upon being shot, then rolled into a yard where she died, she has said.
“I’ve never heard a noise like that from an animal,” Mitchell said, describing it as “a screaming sound.”
As neighbors gathered around the fallen dog, Ledger took the pellet
gun, turned and walked inside his house with one of his children.
Initially when confronted by authorities about the crime, Ledger lied but changed his story when witnesses came forward.
Yesterday a McLennan County grand jury indicted 39-year-old Lovett
Leslie Ledger Jr. for cruelty to animals, a state jail felony punishable
by up to two years in a state jail and a $10,000 fine.
Ledger, a sniper and member of the FBI SWAT team, remains on active duty during criminal and FBI internal investigation.
Yep! you betcha we love them. Seems like you can’t
stand anything that has to do with people who serve.
Maybe you should be thanking these people and hope
you never are in a position that they have to save your
rear end. Fortunately they wouldn’t care that you can’t
say anything good about them, they still would bail
you out.
yep love of serial killers is a natural love
Ooops, this just in…..
see link for full story
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1999-01-28/news/agent-of-deception/
Agent of Deception
Jerry Sullivan’s descent into gambling, alcoholism, and crime began and ended with the FBI.
Bob Norman Thursday, Jan 28 1999
Aaron Sanchez, sitting in his office on the second floor of the Miami
FBI office, ordered supervisory special agent Jerry Sullivan to show him
the money. All $129,324 of it, along with records detailing where it
had been.
Nine months had passed since the cash was seized from a Deerfield Beach
check-cashing/loan-sharking joint run by Nicholas “The Little Man”
Corozzo, reputed to be John Gotti’s heir apparent as boss of the Gambino
crime family. Federal Bureau of Investigation rules dictate that
confiscated money must be processed into evidence within ten days of
seizure. On the morning of May 30, 1997, as Sanchez, an assistant
special agent in charge of the FBI in Miami, peered across his desk at
Sullivan, the money still hadn’t arrived in the evidence room.
Fellow agents had repeatedly asked Sullivan, a 25-year FBI veteran who
ran the organized crime unit, to produce the money. Over and over, he
lied. Sanchez finally had enough of the subterfuge and made his demand.
No problem, Sullivan replied. All he needed was an hour.
Sullivan went to his office for a moment before slipping out and driving
his government-issue 1990 white Lincoln Town Car north to his
Plantation home. He tossed some clothes, a hair dryer, a toothbrush, and
toothpaste into a bag, and wrote a note telling his wife, Catherine,
that he loved her. Then he drove off. After withdrawing $400 from a
nearby bank, he sped onto Alligator Alley, heading west across the
Everglades. At some point he stopped and called home, leaving a message
for Catherine, telling her again that he loved her. Agents in Miami,
meanwhile, were frantically trying to call and page him. Fearing
Sullivan was going to kill himself, they began an intensive FBI manhunt.
What has this to do with praise for a successful raid against the world’s worst terrorist?
Republican jealousy – still searching for WMD.
Pretty sad to think that some of these posters disbelieve that terrorist Bin Laden is resting on the bottom of the Arabian Sea.
No one is more surprised than me by how good a war-fighter President Obama has turned out to be. He has correctly identified the enemy — al Qaida — and wreaked havoc upon its leadership wherever it exists around the world. While the Bush-Cheney team had given up on even finding bin Laden, Obama made him a priority target for our military soon after taking office.
Once found, a lesser man would have lobbed cruise missiles into Pakistan. But Obama issued the order for an extremely risky special operation that not only killed bin Laden but gathered intelligence that allows us to continue the fight. Obama trusted the SEALs so much he bet his presidency on them.
Bush started well with the CIA-led operations in Afghanistan that decapitated the Taliban. He should have stopped there and let the Afghans pick up the pieces. Instead he put in a land army that’s still there a decade later propping up a corrupt government. And then Bush took his eye completely off the ball, lied to the American people and invaded Iraq — all of it on the federal credit card.
As for Iraq, we’ve never been given a straight answer to the big question: Why?
Eliminating Saddam Hussein was great for Iran and the Saudis. No so good for us.
How true.
You’d think some of these who show their distaste for the president and debunk the Bin Laden operation would spend a few moments asking themselves: Why did we go into Iraq?