Quote:
Originally Posted by StanF18
Hey folks: Did not mean to sound like a groupie when I kicked off the thread. But I also think it's fair to say that W's swagger and tough talk had most folks hopeful that Bin Laden would have been long dead (or captured) before the end of Bush's first term, let alone his SECOND term.
I mean yeah, no-duh it WAS special ops and the SEAL DEV-GRU boyz that deserve credit for this mission. But that is exactly my point: Bush's master plan was to basically go in and blow up the entire Middle East with 20-kiloton MOABs and large scale mechanized cavalry invasions. And seven years later, we had a lot of bomb craters and dead camels and pissed-off Baghdad shopkeepers....but no Osama. There simply was not the same focus on SPECIAL OPS and targeted assasinations of Qaeda leaders that Obama has emphasized ever since taking office. Bush had such a hard-on for getting his licks in on Saddam in Iraq, that it allowed the Taliban to come back to relevance in Afghanistan and Pakistan after they were soundly defeated at the end of 2001.
Sometimes instead of being an indiscriminate cowboy and going in with all guns blazing, it's better to stop and think...and apply your resources (i.e. SEALs, Delta, etc.) in a smarter and more precise fashion. You get more done, with fewer dead camels  |
Thanks for the clarification. I was thinking you were insane.
I still have to disagree with your overall assessment. While W went in initially all hot and bothered, the trend at the point and the types of places they though Osama was dictated the heavy handed approach. As time went on and Osama ran from cave to cave he obviously became more and more comfortable that he wasn't going to be found. He ditched all satellite phone communication and probably had the protection of the Pakistanis, and he felt safe to hole up in that compound figuring the stupid Americans wouldn't find him hiding in almost plain sight. The resolve to get Osama didn't start with Obama. It started with W. Fortunately Obama kept it going so credit to him for that.
Likewise, I don't think Obama flipped the switch two years ago and focused efforts on intelligence in the region and spec ops. I think that had already started which is supported by the revelation that they had been watching the courier for at least two years. I think the strategy had already transformed before Obama took office. Unlike Al Gore who invented the Internet, Obama didn't single handedly change the strategy.
One has to remember that we had never faced a threat and an enemy like Osama. This was all new and so was fighting the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan. I applaud Obama for not jamming out and actually making the order to drop in on Osama but everything was in motion long before he took the reins.