Rumsfeld details how Bush built up special operations unit. Obama says thank you.
Okay that last part was just to get your attention. But if President Obama were being truthful he’d be giving a big Obama fist pump right now to Bush 43. He knows it. Now you know it.
Last night Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense under George W. Bush, agreed with Sean Hannity that George Bush does indeed deserve a good deal of credit for the capture and killing of OBL. Listen how Rumsfeld gives President Obama a great deal of credit for going in and getting Osama bin Laden. But also listen how Rumsfeld details all of the things that George Bush did laying the groundwork for that capture and kill, Including increasing the numbers of special forces, providing more funding for special forces, and providing better equipment. It’s news you can use.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXJcGT1Bxb0
Honestly … there is little question Bush’s primary concern was he safety and security of the Republic. He did a magnificent job despite the howls from even small libertarians like myself. I still wrestle with the warrentless wiretapping … but that too helped lead us to OBL.
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Historically, controversial former presidents follow one of two “Three Rs” paths.? They are Revered, Reevaluated, and Reviled or they are Reviled, Reevaluated, and Revered.
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Jimmy Carter has followed the former path, while, Harry Truman’s place in history is the latter.? Thirty to fifty years in the future, George W. Bush may well be in the Truman sphere while Mr. Obama is on a trajectory to join Mr. Carter in everlasting opprobrium.
This is typical Rumsfeld trying to redeem himself after creating the fiasco in Iraq. This the man most responsible for the most mismanaged war in our history. A war that has cost us the unnecessary loss of thousands of American lives and wasted hundreds of billions of our taxpayer dollars.
If President Bush’s “?primary concern was he safety and security of the Republic” how did he allow 9/11 to happen?
“How did Bush allow 9/11 to happen?”? You were almost respectable up to that point.? I guess it is easy to give full credit for a disaster that was decades in the making to a guy that was in office a mere 8 months and change if you can give full credit for catching OBL to a guy that has been in office for a bit more than two years and politically fought every step leading up to the capture for years prior to that.
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Just worry about the fiasco in the Middle East, particularly Libya…
If Pres. Bush had gone after OBL instead of going after Saddam, he would have gotten all the credit. But, he listened to Rumsfeld et al…….
I’d be more likely to give credit to the intelligence analysts and armed forces who were involved. There is a difference between giving credit to go forward with an operation (executive decisions) and actually completing the mission.
You just can’t give our President a little credit.? Of course it’s the intell and armed forces who were involved.? Does??Obama need to be in on the raid with the SEALS also to get some credit.? It was a great TEAM effort.? Top to bottom.? Pres. Obama made a gutsy call.? He’s the coach who calls the plays and his team executed perfectly.?
And by the way, when President Obama made the announcement about killing Bin Laden, he praised everyone, including the intell and armed forces and even gave some credit to Bush.? That was made very clear.? And he did it more then once.?
I can hardly wait for the “gutsy call” with respect to Libya, Syria, Tunisia (too late) and Egypt (way too late).
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He can take full credit for these quagmires.
The Dems can’t stop? kissing up to Seal Team 6 – the same people they called Cheney’s assassination squad.? Two faced Liberalism at it’s best. Good thing the Seals killed that piece of crap, or Holder and ACLU would have been bitching about his Miranda rights.
Kissing up to the SEAL team?? The SEAL team deserves every bit of praise from either side. And for once, can we put aside the aminosity between Rep & Dems and just enjoy a great event in history.? Fact of the matter is, some of you can’t ‘because it happened?on the watch of a Democratic President.? It’s? more important for you to berate our President because he’s a Dem,? then to just enjoy the fact we got rid of one of the most evil people in history.
I think you missed the point: Don was pointing out that the Dems are now kissing up to the group(s) that they previously reviled and denigrated.
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I give ?bama his 23.5% of the credit, thank him for resisting his lefty tendencies, and hope he never lives up to his promises of dismantling the things that Bush built that gave us this victory.
I think you missed the point.? Bush had 8 years to hunt down Bin Laden and he struck out.? I wish he didn’t .? But he did.? Big Whiff!? Obama steps to the plate and in 2 years, hits a grand slam.? I know it’s hard for some of your right wingers to swallow that but maybe you’ll put your ego’s aside and join the rest of America in celebrating this momentous event.? I”m sure if it happened under Bush’s watch, you would be singing a different tune.
No, you miss the point: the time required to catch OBL was cumulative.? The clock didn’t start on January 20, 2009.? I am just as happy about OBL’s death as I would be if it happened on 9/12.? My comment stands.
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And as for “big whiffs”, why is the story of this historic moment being rewritten, moment by moment?
Why is it being rewritten moment by moment? Because in the age of 24×7 news channels, internet, tweets, etc, the media demand info and stories of events such as these are released as information comes in from all different sources and at all different times.? It happens with every major breaking news event.
So you only give Obama 25% of the credit.?
So, if Obama failed, would Bush take 75% of the blame?
Can’t have it both ways, although you all try too….
It isn’t the media, it is Carney, the voice of the administration, and others, changing the story.
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As for the amount of blame bestowed on Bush, sure, 75% would have been realistic.? You would put 100% on him.
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My comment stands.
In addition, this SEAL team put their lives on the line deep in Pakistani territory, in the dark of night, not knowing what they would come up against to accomplish something that took 10 years to accomplish.? I doubt you would of had the guts to do what they did.? Kiss up…NO!? Commend, Thank, Appreciate…You Bet!
See above.? Thank you for noting that it took 10 years to accomplish this victory, not two or less.
Yep.? And like I said above, Bush struck out.? Obama put it out of the park!
Oh and all of you who keep wanting to give Bush all the credit.? Intell and interrogation have been in use for years.? It’s nothing new that Bush created.? The intel and the interrogation would have happened anyways.?
I just remember Bush conceding that “he honestly wasn’t that interested in Bin Laden”.? He gave up!? So he deserves some of the credit why?? He picked up his ball and went? home because his team couldnt’ find him.
To use your baseball analogy, the bases were loaded by Bush, and ?bama was the one in the lineup to make the winning hit.
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Nobody said to give Bush all the credit.? The intel gathering and interrogation techniques used to get the information that led to OBL were openly criticized by the very liberals taking credit for the kill.? Guantanamo ring a bell?? Waterboarding?
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Publicly diminishing OBL’s importance is in no way “picking up the ball and going home”.? But you wish it was.? The “team” is the same: the military.
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Just out of curiosity: was the infamous 7 minutes that Bush continued to read “My Pet Goat” to schoolkids on 9/11 equivalent to the 16 hours ?bama took to make a “gutsy decision”??? A lot can happen in 16 hours…
Bases loaded??? LOL.? That was funny.? Bush didnt’ have a clue.? Not a freaking clue.? All they can take credit for..MAYBE…is a name.?From there it was good ol’ fashioned dective work.? Yeah it took 10 years, only because Bush yielded a big fat zero.
You just lost all credibility in your argument by resorting to ad hominem attacks and baseless claims.
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I win.
Steve M is correct.
Sammy, you just rose high in my book of fair and balanced RVO writers. This was a fascinating exchange and I should just not comment, because I have nothing enlightening to add. But, of course I will. The only thing I will fault Bush for is he was incredibly loyal to Rumsfield and I think he should have replaced him earlier. Furthermore, the Navy Seals are the best trained and extraordinary men and I believe that they should be used more. However, my bias is that the liberal press would have skewered Bush if he used them and Obama will get a pass.
Dims, let it go. Be glad that it finally happened. I wish it happened years ago. I would have been happy then.
Likewise, sammy.? But middle can’t bear to do what he/she demands of others: give credit where credit is due.
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I hope ?bama gets Za-Wahiri too!
Like I said, if you want to take 75% of the credit, would you take 75% of the credit if Obama failied.? Somehow I doubt it.
Then of course, you are taking 75% for the state of the economy too, and 75% for everything else that might be wrong in this country?
Nooooo.? That’s different right?
See above.? Your doubts, like your facts, are unfounded.? As for the economy, before the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007, the deficit was shrinking.? But that would not be conducive to a 2008 win, would it?? Any objective analysis will demonstrate that the deficit took off when the Democrats took control of the purse strings of the economy.? Unfortunately for you (and all of us), the deficit began to spiral with the election of ?bama, going from roughly a half trillion to almost $2 trillion and counting.? Bush has his share of the blame, but it is infinitesimal compared to that of the Democrats and ?bama, and becoming more so every day.
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But you knew that, didn’t you?
I seem to remember a time when the Yemini’s would have handed over OBL but Clinton wouldn’t do it.