Bin Laden raid: 10 years after

[Gil Bang 25898]

Interesting conversation here

 

[WhatTheBuck 28713]

Way to drop the ball, Dubya. He was living in comfort in Pakistan all that time you incompetent dumbfuck.

 

[4th&Five 41461]

I heard the news while boarding a flight from PHX back to Austin. The Gourds were on the flight and as he got on Kevin announced it to the whole plane. My wife and I sat by Max Johnston and he read Us Weekly the whole way home. Bizarre image. CSB. 

[Francisco 2.0 32342]

Politico has an oral history of the events leading up to and including the raid.  Damn, this article reads like something Clancy wrote:

 

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/04/30/osama-bin-laden-death-white-house-oral-history-484793

 

Quote

On the morning of May 1, 2011, most Americans had never heard of Abbottabad. By that night, the dusty midsize city near the mountains of northwest Pakistan was the center of the biggest story in the world. A team of U.S. Navy SEALs had just descended by helicopter on a high-walled mansion there in the dark of night, located the globe’s most hunted man and killed him.

 

Quote

The effort to track and execute Osama bin Laden, which took place 10 years ago this weekend, was the most closely held operational secret in modern American history—a highly sensitive, politically fraught and physically risky mission that involved breaching the sovereign territory of a purported U.S. ally to target an icon of international violence and terror.

 

Quote

Once his death was announced in a hastily organized late Sunday night presidential address, much of the initial attention focused on the bravery and skill of the SEAL operators who flew in and conducted the attack. Other popular culture, like the movie Zero Dark Thirty, would later center on the years of work by the analysts who traced the elusive bin Laden to his compound. But the operation also stands as a fascinating window into the most rarefied zone of presidential decision-making: Barack Obama had sole authority to approve an act with huge consequences and huge risks, one that could easily sink his presidency if it went bad. And, with a decade’s hindsight, there was another consequential domestic political subplot at work that week, too: On the day between when Obama approved the operation and when Seal Team Six helicoptered in, the president kept a long-scheduled date at the White House Correspondents Association dinner, where he publicly roasted celebrity real estate developer-turned-TV host Donald Trump for pumping up the “birther” conspiracy theory that he wasn’t a real citizen.

 

Quote

The bin Laden raid that President Obama greenlit that Friday in late April—code-named Operation Neptune’s Spear—was the culmination of months of intricate preparation that reached across the capital and around the globe, from full-scale SEAL dress rehearsals in North Carolina to deep Washington legal debates over whether the mission would be “kill or capture,” all planned around a small, precise physical model of the Abbottabad compound that traveled back and forth from CIA headquarters in suburban Virginia to the West Wing. The tense moments as the raid unfolded half a world away yielded one of the most famous inside-the-room photographs in presidential history, Pete Souza’s portrait of 14 people crammed into a White House Situation Room anteroom—a moment of high drama that included Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and two future current Cabinet secretaries.

 

 

Quote

The full story of how, and why, America’s top security officials decided to pull the trigger that night in May has never been told. This oral history—the story inside the West Wing and U.S. intelligence agencies as Neptune’s Spear coalesced over the fall of 2010 and spring of 2011—is based on extensive original interviews with nearly 30 key intelligence and national security leaders, White House staff, and presidential aides—including some who have never spoken publicly before, and roughly half of those pictured in Souza’s famous photograph. Their accounts, from the White House, CIA headquarters and Afghanistan itself, paint a never-before-seen view of the most momentous decision of Barack Obama’s presidency.

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by Francisco 2.0

[High Plains Drifter 10977]

 

interesting, thanks for posting.

 

best president in my lifetime.

 

 

[Hookah Horns 3082]

Can't believe that was a decade ago. 

[Gil Bang 25898]

3 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Politico has an oral history of the events leading up to and including the raid.  Damn, this article reads like something Clancy wrote:

 

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/04/30/osama-bin-laden-death-white-house-oral-history-484793

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MIKE LEITER: Everyone was calling everyone. I was honored to call one of the family members of the 9/11 victims; I called the House Homeland Security Committee and Janet Napolitano. While I was in the Situation Room, I overheard one of the White House operators, saying, “Oh, I’m so sorry—I didn’t know you didn’t work for President Clinton anymore. Do you know where I can reach him?” President Obama was calling his predecessors, George W. Bush and President Clinton. The operator is trying to find President Clinton. I looked at him and I said, “Hold on one minute.” And I stepped back into the main room, Hillary was there, and I said, “Madam Secretary, I’m really sorry to bother you, but do you have your husband’s phone number?”

[BrickHorn 18194]

I’d Love To Change the World: Ten Years After

 

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

Got the news on my laptop while my wife was showering and putting on lingerie....Saved news until morning. Not worth distracting from the mood.

So: ten years ago, I got laid. 

[C-Man 27057]

I actually met Robert O'Neill and shook his hand at Katy Trail Icehouse many, many moons ago. He was dating one of my good buddy's (and client's) female employees at the time.

Oh, and is Zero Dark Thirty like immediate stop down have-to-watch-until-it-ends for anybody else? That movie is incredible.

[CooterBrown 17913]

I like that the first person to acknowledge it publicly, even before Obama, was The Rock. WTF.

[OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys 2059]

I remembered being surprised at the burial at sea.  You had to figure there would be conspiracy theories for ever that we didn’t really get him and the best way to defeat those would be a body.  But to my shock, nothing like that ever took off.  Pleasantly surprised. 

Edited May 1, 2021 by OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys

[Gil Bang 25898]

5 hours ago, OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys said:

I remembered being surprised at the burial at sea.  You had to figure there would be conspiracy theories for ever that we didn’t really get him and the best way to defeat those would be a body.  But to my shock, nothing like that ever took off.  Pleasantly surprised. 

Trumpism didn't quite yet have a foothold.  

[Red Five 40665]

Yeah, if that happened now? "A new poll shows that 89% of republicans don't believe bin Laden is dead". 

[Homercles 10205]

Just read No Easy Day again, always a good read when I get into the SpecOps rotation...compared to Lone Survivor, it’s refreshingly lacking in chest thumping patriotism and excessive railing on liberals, which (for me) sort of ruins LS as a novel, and doesn’t surprise me his account was challenged over time.  

[Nivek 16860]

Trumpism didn't quite yet have a foothold.  

I do remember republicans (tahoe et al) on the old site bending over backwards to try to lay credit on President Bush.

I will always be impressed that President Obama made that first call to President Bush and offered him a chance to share the spotlight and even more impressed that President Bush turned him down. And how both of then credited the people who worked so hard to find and then carry out the raid.

That seemed at the time to be the norm that I had taken for granted.

[Guest Lobo]

On 5/1/2021 at 4:38 AM, OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys said:

I remembered being surprised at the burial at sea.  You had to figure there would be conspiracy theories for ever that we didn’t really get him and the best way to defeat those would be a body.  But to my shock, nothing like that ever took off.  Pleasantly surprised. 

I don't know that McRaven ever told the story publicly to the media, but he's told gathered groups while at UT System, so maybe there's a record it somewhere.  But the story of the aircraft carrier, the tape measure, and the CPO receiving the order to prepare the body in the Islamic tradition.  It's fascinating but also fucking hilarious.  You got the impression he was holding onto the story in case any conspiracy theories arose about the success of the mission.  He wasn't gonna let his guys get dragged down the Alex Jones wormhole. 

But yeah, that raid happens tonight...35% of the country wouldn't believe it because their guy would say something like, "You know...a lotta people are saying the new administration didn't really get Bin Laden.  Lotta smart people.  All the evidence is there, everybody knows it.  It's a sham so they can try to win re-election.  Everybody knows it.  Biggest coverup in U.S. military history.  Fake mission.  Fake Ops.  Lotta people are telling me this.  Fake Ops."

Thankfully the men and women that stood the watch that night did so in a different era.  May they know peace and honor.  And I thank them for delivering the hammer of justice halfway around the world that night.  

Edited May 3, 2021 by Lobo

[bad_teammate 13132]

likely that the massive amount of extrajudicial and illegal activities we undertook, including the OBL raid itself, were intended to cover up just how much Saudi involvement there was in 9/11 an other terrorist activities across the world

I'm sure the guy is dead, though

[Don Johnson 4745]

 

[Francisco 2.0 32342]

1 hour ago, Nivek said:

I do remember republicans (tahoe et al) on the old site bending over backwards to try to lay credit on President Bush.

I will always be impressed that President Obama made that first call to President Bush and offered him a chance to share the spotlight and even more impressed that President Bush turned him down. And how both of then credited the people who worked so hard to find and then carry out the raid.

That seemed at the time to be the norm that I had taken for granted.

 

One of the things that article impressed on was how much of a secret this was (obviously) and that they were able to keep it.  This kind of operation could have never happened in the Trump administration, because the dumbass would have gone on Twitter and said shit like "Where's Bin Laden? Stay Tuned!" 

Plus, as leaky as that White House was, the schematics of the compound would have been on Facebook.

 

 

 

[DonkeyCigars 144]

I was at a bar and it was not a small bar, and it was crowded and loud, and I distinctly remember a huge tv being cut to and the press coming on to talk about OBL being killed and the entire bar goes silent and everyone watched for the next 3-4 minutes. 

The mind always remembers things like this in the most romantic way possible, but I promise that's how I remembered it. If I were brisket I would have said the DJ played a patriotic song and we all sang the star bangled banner and a WWII vet stood up and with a single tear in his eye he started the USA chant, and everyone bought him a beer and he turned into an eagle and flew away, but even in my boring version I recall a few minutes of "American" or "Patriotic" unity that I haven't felt since. Maybe one day historians will report that was the last unifying moment of the American republic. I don't know.

I also might have remembered this differently because I voted for Obama in '08 and would have felt like my team was doing good work. I didn't have nearly as much money 10 years ago. Thanks, Obama (sincerely).

Edited May 3, 2021 by DonkeyCigars

[Wally Pryor 5244]

On 4/30/2021 at 4:45 PM, Gil Bang said:

 

Interesting conversation here

 

 

 

Great piece.  Seeing McRaven, a hardened, military chief, get emotional about the Ft Campbell visit tells you a lot. 

[DonkeyCigars 144]

McRaven, cashing in on his political heroism for millions of bucks. If it weren't so obvious and expected (and the same thing we would all do). This move is the equivalent of a sports star doing an endorsement deal:

Quote

The investment bank Lazard has hired William McRaven, the retired Navy admiral who led the U.S. Special Operations Command, as a senior adviser for its financial advisory business. McRaven oversaw the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.

McRaven is the latest financial outsider to join Lazard. Memorably, the firm hired the late Vernon Jordan, the civil rights leader with a gold-plated Rolodex, in 2000. “It’s not a place that is big on golfing,” said Peter Orszag, the head of financial advisory at Lazard, himself a veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations. Bringing such people on board brings both intellectual “content” and deep relationships around the world, Orszag said.

 

[OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys 2059]

The effort right wingers go through to figure out how to dislike the guy that killed America’s number 1 enemy because of his political affiliation is moderately enjoyable.  Decorated military man. Rose as high as you can.  Longhorn to boot.  Politics over — quite literally — everything. 

[DigglerontheHoof 21065]

8 hours ago, DonkeyCigars said:

McRaven, cashing in on his political heroism for millions of bucks. If it weren't so obvious and expected (and the same thing we would all do). This move is the equivalent of a sports star doing an endorsement deal:

 

I see your cuntiness knows no bounds. 

[DonkeyCigars 144]

6 minutes ago, OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys said:

The effort right wingers go through to figure out how to dislike the guy that killed America’s number 1 enemy because of his political affiliation is moderately enjoyable.  Decorated military man. Rose as high as you can.  Longhorn to boot.  Politics over — quite literally — everything. 

Sir, you misunderstand me. I'm an avowed capitalist with a galaxy brain MBA who is pro-management consultant and pro-banker. 

I am not looking to figure out a way to dislike him; I look at this news as amazing and makes him more likable

Edited May 25, 2021 by DonkeyCigars

[Saint Tacky 1610]

On 5/1/2021 at 10:13 AM, Red Five said:

Yeah, if that happened now? "A new poll shows that 89% of republicans don't believe bin Laden is dead". 

... and that it was Bin Laden and al qaeda that stormed the Capitol on January 6th. 

[hpslugga 4044]

And that Bin Laden was financing ANTIFA along with George Soros and the Clinton Foundation

[F250 28691]

13 hours ago, OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys said:

The effort right wingers go through to figure out how to dislike the guy that killed America’s number 1 enemy because of his political affiliation is moderately enjoyable.  Decorated military man. Rose as high as you can.  Longhorn to boot.  Politics over — quite literally — everything. 

Isn't Donkey aggy?

[Satchel 6908]

13 hours ago, DonkeyCigars said:

Sir, you misunderstand me. I'm an avowed capitalist with a galaxy brain MBA who is pro-management consultant and pro-banker. 

I am not looking to figure out a way to dislike him; I look at this news as amazing and makes him more likable

Which kind of capitalism do you avow? It comes in a variety of flavors.

[Blotto 23434]

48 minutes ago, F250 said:

Isn't Donkey aggy?

it wouldnt  be too difficult to convince me he is the bastard offspring spawned after a forbidden night of passion between Rick Perry and TahoeHorn

Edited May 26, 2021 by Blotto

[F250 28691]

2 minutes ago, Blotto said:

it wouldnt too be difficult to convince me he is the bastard offspring spawned after a forbidden night of passion between Rick Perry and TahoeHorn

This literally made me laugh out loud.

 

[DonkeyCigars 144]

1 hour ago, F250 said:

This literally made me laugh out loud.

 

Me too, haha. Wait, who is TahoeHorn?

[6th Street 6357]

23 hours ago, DonkeyCigars said:

McRaven, cashing in on his political heroism for millions of bucks. If it weren't so obvious and expected (and the same thing we would all do). This move is the equivalent of a sports star doing an endorsement deal:

 

Lazard is a bucket shop bro. Hope that helps 

[DonkeyCigars 144]

13 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

Lazard is a bucket shop bro. Hope that helps 

Celebrity hires like this don't go to bulge brackets-- you really think Vernon Jordan or McRaven can add value? "pls fix" decks or run excel models?

These guys are paid ambassadors to show off at dinners and events and tell stories and have drinks. Mitt Romney he is not.