But That's Me, and I Was Just Thinking

Political pundits use words like “gutsy” to describe the President’s authorizing the raid on Bin Laden’s compound by Seals Team 6. As a soldier, I see things a little differently. I would expect no less from my Commander-in-Chief. The President, when presented with the over whelming evidence that Bin Laden was holed up in the compound, had the Constitutional responsibility and duty to act upon the intel.

There are a couple of things, though, that are troubling to me that are taking place. We have American war -fighters who are daily putting their lives on the line to protect ours, and we owe them no less than insuring that we provide them with the equipment and wherewithal to do their jobs. So, when I hear things being said and events being politicized, it upsets me.

You may remember the Jessica Lynch fiasco of a few years ago. The story was that she had been captured when the convoy she was in became lost and was attacked by Iraqi troops. Most of her team was killed during the attack and that she grabbed a weapon and fought to the bitter end and was captured. She was in a hospital in Baghdad and was rescued by an elite special ops team. However, as it turns out, some genius in the publicity department of the military decided that they needed a “feel good” event to bolster the American pride. And someone concocted the rescue of Specialist Jessica Lynch. Then brought in a crack team to bring her out. We all felt great, and the politicos began patting themselves on their backs. But like all ruses, the story began to unravel the truth came out. Had I been part of that Special Ops team, I would have been looking for that publicity mogul.

Now with OBL assuming room temperature, I see the politicos once again taking credit, and I also see things that are troubling to me.

First, the story keeps changing. First we had the feel good 40 minute firefight, a stealth Black Hawk helicopter going down and being blown in place on the way out. Then we learn, welllllllll – maybe it wasn’t a firefight after all. In fact, OBL was really unarmed, but the others in the compound were armed and part of the firefight. OBL’s wife was used as a shield and was killed – oops, it was his daughter and she was there to watch her father killed. No, it was his wife, after all, and she was shot in the leg and survived. Then it was, wellllll, actually, no one was armed, but there was a secret room with weapons ----- and the last one I heard today was that an AK-47 and a handgun were within the reach of OBL. I would rather not hear the details on how he was killed than to have a Hollywood production with alternate endings.

This was a special ops “kill” mission, as special ops missions are. You don’t send in the Seals to Mirandize the enemy.

Next, I hear that several computers and hard drives were captured and we cultivated a treasure-trove of intel. Why do I need to know that? Why alert all the other bad guys that we know a ton of stuff? That’s like announcing a surprise party for someone on Facebook.

And what about the picture? I would like to see it, but it isn’t necessary. Why did it take so long to decide not to show it and why agonize over a reason? He didn’t need a reason – he is the President. Then why was the CIA Chief, Leon Panetta, marched out to the press to announce that the photos would be released by 2 PM the next day, only to have an administration spokesman announce later that Pinetta never said that …. It isn’t like the video isn’t all over You Tube. This isn’t the 80s or 90s, you know. If I was Panetta and was being thrown under the bus like that, I tell the President to take his SecDef job and shove it. Then I would go work on Hillary’s primary campaign.

And now I hear that the CIC is going to meet with members of Seals Team 6 tomorrow. Why? These guys are stealth and their identities should never be known to anyone outside their immediate command. I only hope and pray that there are no cameras present because the minute these guy’s pictures go up on the internet, a huge target is painted on them and their families. No, this is a mistake and this is a precedent that should not be set.

There are many good things to be taken out of the operation last Sunday, so why do the politicos have to jump in once again and screw it all up. But that’s me, and I was just thinking.