OBAMA...you didnt kill Usama Bin Laden

[regulator 0]

(CNN) -- A web video featuring former special forces officers accuses President Barack Obama of taking too much credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden and allowing classified information about the raid to become public.

The ad also includes former Navy SEALs.

The organization behind the ad, the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund, has posted the 22-minute web video on its website. A spokeswoman says the group has raised about $1 million toward an advertising campaign in some key swing states.

Over a picture of Obama, the video's narrator says that the group's mission is to stop politicians from using sensitive intelligence about the bin Laden raid and other clandestine programs for political benefit.

In a series of interviews, former military and intelligence officers accuse Obama of seeking political gain by disclosing successful secret operations.

"As a citizen, it is my civic duty to tell the president to stop leaking information to the enemy," says Benjamin Smith, identified in the video as a former Navy SEAL. "It will get Americans killed."

Another former Navy SEAL in the video, Scott Taylor, says of the bin Laden raid: "If you disclose how we got there, how we took down the building, what we did, how many people were there, that it's going to hinder future operations, and certainly hurt the success of those future operations."

Smith also criticizes the president for taking too much credit for the SEALs' raid.

"Mr. President, you did not kill Osama bin Laden. America did," he says. "We have become a political weapon. We are not."

Defense officials: Leaks didn't come from Pentagon

Smith said the ad campaign pays no heed to political affiliation, and the organization describes itself as nonpartisan and says its focus is on protecting intelligence agents and special operations officers, not on politics.

But it shares an office with two Republican political consulting firms in Alexandria, Virginia. Its spokesman Chad Kolton worked for the Bush administration as a spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence.

Taylor has run for the Republican nomination for Congress in Virginia; Smith said he is a registered Republican but votes independently.

As to who is funding the attack, which was first reported by Reuters, a spokeswoman for the organization would not disclose its donors.

Darrell West of the Brookings Institution says it is too soon to say whether this campaign could become as successful as the 2004 "Swift Boat" advertising campaign, which mounted a barrage of negative attacks on John Kerry's standing as a Vietnam war hero.

"Obama's strong suit actually is on national security. He's the guy who got bin Laden, and that's been a central claim of his campaign. So there's always a risk of the opposition coming in with this type of ad to try to undermine the president's credibility and take away what is really his strong suit," he said.

West said the video blames Obama for leaks without providing any evidence the leaks are his fault. But still, West said, "national security is a very sensitive issue for many people, that's an issue that swing voters take very seriously."

In recent campaign speeches, Obama has cited the killing of bin Laden as one of the campaign pledges he has fulfilled.

"I promised to go after al Qaeda and bin Laden, and we did it," he told an applauding audience Thursday.

The Obama campaign has even produced an ad called "One Chance" in which former President Bill Clinton praises Obama for ordering the secret raid to proceed.

But Vice President Joe Biden made an effort to share the credit Tuesday as he was offering the crowd a list of the administration's accomplishments.

"The man here pointed out, 'we also got bin Laden,'" Biden said. "Let me correct that. The president of the United States and the special forces got bin Laden."

And the head of special operations, Admiral Bill McRaven, a former SEAL himself, recently told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that credit was due to the president.

"At the end of the day," he said, "make no mistake about it: it was the president of the United States that shouldered the burden for this operation, that made the hard decisions."

But like other top officials, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, McRaven was highly critical of the recent leaks about clandestine operations.

"Are lives at risk? Absolutely," he said.

The White House has denied leaking secret information about clandestine operations, and two federal prosecutors have been assigned to investigate recent leaks about the Stuxnet virus and drone strike operations.

But in a recent speech in Reno, Nevada, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called the leaks "contemptible" and said they occurred on Obama's watch.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/16/politics/former-seals-obama/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[Skyrad 0]

Yet more pre election bi partisan bullshit.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[Andrewwhyte 1]

Let us be clear about one thing. If that raid had been botched the President, and the President alone would have worn it. Those of us old enough to remember the rescue attempt in Iran in 1980 are certain of that.

[airdvr 210]

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Let us be clear about one thing. If that raid had been botched the President, and the President alone would have worn it. Those of us old enough to remember the rescue attempt in Iran in 1980 are certain of that.

I'm old enough, and in reality the Joint Chiefs owned that boondoggle in the desert. I don't recall Carter being unduly harranged. In fact if anything he was criticized for waiting too long to make a rescue attempt. Still, it can't be an easy decision to send troops in harm's way. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Eagle_Claw

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[Channman 2]

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(CNN) -- A web video featuring former special forces officers accuses President Barack Obama of taking too much credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden and allowing classified information about the raid to become public.

The ad also includes former Navy SEALs.

The organization behind the ad, the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund, has posted the 22-minute web video on its website. A spokeswoman says the group has raised about $1 million toward an advertising campaign in some key swing states.

Over a picture of Obama, the video's narrator says that the group's mission is to stop politicians from using sensitive intelligence about the bin Laden raid and other clandestine programs for political benefit.

In a series of interviews, former military and intelligence officers accuse Obama of seeking political gain by disclosing successful secret operations.

"As a citizen, it is my civic duty to tell the president to stop leaking information to the enemy," says Benjamin Smith, identified in the video as a former Navy SEAL. "It will get Americans killed."

Another former Navy SEAL in the video, Scott Taylor, says of the bin Laden raid: "If you disclose how we got there, how we took down the building, what we did, how many people were there, that it's going to hinder future operations, and certainly hurt the success of those future operations."

Smith also criticizes the president for taking too much credit for the SEALs' raid.

"Mr. President, you did not kill Osama bin Laden. America did," he says. "We have become a political weapon. We are not."

Defense officials: Leaks didn't come from Pentagon

Smith said the ad campaign pays no heed to political affiliation, and the organization describes itself as nonpartisan and says its focus is on protecting intelligence agents and special operations officers, not on politics.

But it shares an office with two Republican political consulting firms in Alexandria, Virginia. Its spokesman Chad Kolton worked for the Bush administration as a spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence.

Taylor has run for the Republican nomination for Congress in Virginia; Smith said he is a registered Republican but votes independently.

As to who is funding the attack, which was first reported by Reuters, a spokeswoman for the organization would not disclose its donors.

Darrell West of the Brookings Institution says it is too soon to say whether this campaign could become as successful as the 2004 "Swift Boat" advertising campaign, which mounted a barrage of negative attacks on John Kerry's standing as a Vietnam war hero.

"Obama's strong suit actually is on national security. He's the guy who got bin Laden, and that's been a central claim of his campaign. So there's always a risk of the opposition coming in with this type of ad to try to undermine the president's credibility and take away what is really his strong suit," he said.

West said the video blames Obama for leaks without providing any evidence the leaks are his fault. But still, West said, "national security is a very sensitive issue for many people, that's an issue that swing voters take very seriously."

In recent campaign speeches, Obama has cited the killing of bin Laden as one of the campaign pledges he has fulfilled.

"I promised to go after al Qaeda and bin Laden, and we did it," he told an applauding audience Thursday.

The Obama campaign has even produced an ad called "One Chance" in which former President Bill Clinton praises Obama for ordering the secret raid to proceed.

But Vice President Joe Biden made an effort to share the credit Tuesday as he was offering the crowd a list of the administration's accomplishments.

"The man here pointed out, 'we also got bin Laden,'" Biden said. "Let me correct that. The president of the United States and the special forces got bin Laden."

And the head of special operations, Admiral Bill McRaven, a former SEAL himself, recently told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that credit was due to the president.

"At the end of the day," he said, "make no mistake about it: it was the president of the United States that shouldered the burden for this operation, that made the hard decisions."

But like other top officials, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, McRaven was highly critical of the recent leaks about clandestine operations.

"Are lives at risk? Absolutely," he said.

The White House has denied leaking secret information about clandestine operations, and two federal prosecutors have been assigned to investigate recent leaks about the Stuxnet virus and drone strike operations.

But in a recent speech in Reno, Nevada, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called the leaks "contemptible" and said they occurred on Obama's watch.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/16/politics/former-seals-obama/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

See the full video hear:

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-Xfti7qtT0&feature=g-logo-xit

[kallend 2,026]

Clever use of bandwidth to quote the entirety of the article from the OP. Well done.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[masterblaster72 0]

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Over a picture of Obama, the video's narrator says that the group's mission is to stop politicians from using sensitive intelligence about the bin Laden raid and other clandestine programs for political benefit.

I see, so it is okay to belittle someone's service in Vietnam for political benefit a la 2004 swiftboating. These same people who supported those tactics (or at very least were silent about them) are now telling us that the President is using a dirty tactic for political gain.

***"As a citizen, it is my civic duty to tell the president to stop leaking information to the enemy," says Benjamin Smith, identified in the video as a former Navy SEAL. "It will get Americans killed."

[Channman 2]

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Clever use of bandwidth to quote the entirety of the article from the OP. Well done.

OOPSEY...I made a booboo I guess I'll need to place myself into time out. Have a safe weekend.

[kelpdiver 2]

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Let us be clear about one thing. If that raid had been botched the President, and the President alone would have worn it. Those of us old enough to remember the rescue attempt in Iran in 1980 are certain of that.

I'm old enough, and in reality the Joint Chiefs owned that boondoggle in the desert. I don't recall Carter being unduly harranged. In fact if anything he was criticized for waiting too long to make a rescue attempt. Still, it can't be an easy decision to send troops in harm's way. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Eagle_Claw

History remembers Carter as the guy behind the failure.

I have to give these guys some credit for turning his "you didn't do that on your own" comment against him. Wonder if it will get any traction, however.

[Bertt 0]

This has Karl Rove written all over it.

You don't have to outrun the bear.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

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"As a citizen, it is my civic duty to tell the president to stop leaking information to the enemy," says Benjamin Smith, identified in the video as a former Navy SEAL. "It will get Americans killed."

I have never been that good with authority, but isn't the commander in chief at the top of the heap?

[Arvoitus 1]

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Clever use of bandwidth to quote the entirety of the article from the OP. Well done.

Oh the horror of transferring extra 4925 bytes.

Your rights end where my feelings begin.

[jinlee 0]

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History remembers Carter as the guy behind the failure.

I thought history remembers Carter as a failure.

[Andy9o8 2]

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I don't recall Carter being unduly harranged.

I call bullshit on that. I was a very politically-aware adult in my 20s when that occurred, and I remember it, and its consequences, very clearly. Carter was painted by it, and it was one of the biggest factors in costing him reelection.

[kawisixer01 0]

Remember it is also Obama who has dropped details of other operations. For example he recently admitted that the US is responsible for multiple cyber attacks on Iran and other countries, most specifically the stuxnet release to the enrichment facility. Now granted Kaspersky and company, working hand in hand with Russian intelligence had already internally traced it back to the US. But for Obama to smugly come right out and blurt it out all beaming with arrogant pride was a very very stupid mistake.

[RonD1120 62]

Additional reference:

http://conservativebyte.com/2012/08/navy-seals-start-swift-boating-obama/

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[kelpdiver 2]

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Remember it is also Obama who has dropped details of other operations. For example he recently admitted that the US is responsible for multiple cyber attacks on Iran and other countries, most specifically the stuxnet release to the enrichment facility. Now granted Kaspersky and company, working hand in hand with Russian intelligence had already internally traced it back to the US. But for Obama to smugly come right out and blurt it out all beaming with arrogant pride was a very very stupid mistake.

it was leaked by US officials long before any statement he made. It did seem like a treasonous act to me at the time....killed any remote remnants of plausible denialbility.

[kawisixer01 0]

There's a big dif between "leaked" and the president coming out and saying "yup that was us and we're gonna do more" with a big smirk on his face. Myself and many others in the controls community pretty much figured it was the work of the US all along, but when I read the news of Obama pretty much bragging about it my jaw hit the floor.

[nanook 1]

Don't mind me. Just being a little nit-picky.

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I'm old enough, and in reality the Joint Chiefs owned that boondoggle in the desert.

Joint Chiefs of Staff are not in any operational responsibility or control of military action. They are military expierience/advisors to the Office of the Presidency and provide logistical support (not orders) to the Theater Commanders like General Petraeus, Navy Fifth Fleet and others. Theater commanders' COC is the President via Sec Def.

_____________________________

"The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never know if they are genuine" - Abraham Lincoln

[airdvr 210]

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Don't mind me. Just being a little nit-picky.

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I'm old enough, and in reality the Joint Chiefs owned that boondoggle in the desert.

Joint Chiefs of Staff are not in any operational responsibility or control of military action. They are military expierience/advisors to the Office of the Presidency and provide logistical support (not orders) to the Theater Commanders like General Petraeus, Navy Fifth Fleet and others. Theater commanders' COC is the President via Sec Def.

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After the 1986 reorganization of the military undertaken by the Goldwater-Nichols Act, the Joint Chiefs of Staff does not have operational command of U.S. military forces. Responsibility for conducting military operations goes from the President to the Secretary of Defense directly to the commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands and thus bypasses the Joint Chiefs of Staff completely.

Might be the way it is now...I don't think it was in 1980.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[tkhayes 348]

I like how the group is made up of 'former' Spec Ops people.

So they actually were not involved in ANY WAY in the actual taking down of OBL - that's good to know, they somehow then are experts on the subject?

I do not remember the President taking all the credit....when did that happen exactly?

He sure would have taken the blame if it had gone to shit. If everyone in the room thinks that somehow this is an operation carried out by one person, then everyone is truly as ignorant as I think they are....and the credit has been handed out to all, exactly when and where it was due.

http://www.france24.com/en/20110507-us-barack-obama-hails-team-behind-bin-laden-raid maybe everyone missed that - oh yes, that's because it was reported on an INTERNATIONAL news feed instead of biased and politically motivated AMERICAN news feeds.

[Gravitymaster 0]

Have you seen the video?

[Gravitymaster 0]

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Yet more pre election bi partisan bullshit.

Have you seen the video?

[tkhayes 348]

Yes I did, have you?

[pirana 0]

Looks to me like just another emotional plea.

What secrets were divulged by Obama? Seriously, exactly what was disclosed in his supposed taking credit that would not have been obvious upon investigation?

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley