Obama 'cancelled missions to kill bin Laden three times after getting cold feet'

[JKing106]

Your "rules" make me think one word: sociopath.

:thumbsup:

 

[PJABBER]

Looks like we will be reading a first hand account of the raid by one of the DEVGRU SEALs that was there.

I like the title, No Easy Day. It comes from one of the sayings that the Teams use, "The only easy day was yesterday."

Book Will Describe Raid That Killed Bin Laden
By JULIE BOSMAN / NYT / WP
August 22, 2012

3:38 p.m. | Updated

A detailed first-person account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, written under a pseudonym by a member of the Navy SEALs who participated in the mission and was present at bin Laden’s death, will be released next month, the publisher said on Wednesday.

The book, “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden,” which is scheduled to be released on Sept. 11, has been a tightly held secret at the publisher, Penguin. It promises to be one of the biggest books of the year, with the potential to affect the presidential campaign in the final weeks before the election.

The author’s name will be listed as Mark Owen by Dutton, an imprint of Penguin. For security reasons, he used a pseudonym and changed the names of other SEAL members.

A former member of SEAL Team 6, the author was a team leader in the operation that resulted in the death of Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011. According to a description of the book provided by the publisher, the author gives a “blow-by blow narrative of the assault, beginning with the helicopter crash that could have ended Owen’s life straight through to the radio call confirming Bin Laden’s death,” and is “an essential piece of modern history.”

Penguin officials would not say to what extent the book was vetted by government agencies. Colonel Tim Nye, the chief spokesman for the military’s Special Operations Command, said he would reserve comment until he had an opportunity to read the book.

The author also recalls his childhood in Alaska, his grueling preparation to become a member of the SEALs and other previously unreported SEAL missions. He completed 13 combat deployments since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and retired within the last year.

A co-writer, Kevin Maurer, is the author of four books and was embedded with Special Forces in Afghanistan six times.

The book could get caught up in the politically charged arena of the presidential campaign. That’s what happened with another planned narrative account of the raid, a film by Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, “Zero Dark Thirty.” That film was originally scheduled for release in October, but was moved to December after Republicans said it would help dramatize one of the president’s signature achievements right before the election. The project also prompted complaints from some Republicans that the administration had provided improper access about the raid to the filmmakers, a charge the White House denied.

In August 2011, The New Yorker published an account of the raid that was so detailed it included information about what the pilot of a Black Hawk helicopter was thinking as the aircraft was on the verge of crashing. That article relied on interviews with officials who had debriefed members of the SEALs team, not with the individuals themselves.

Bookstores were first given a few clues about the book last month. One independent bookstore owner said in July that she was told only that Dutton had added a “big, major book” written by an anonymous author to its fall list.

Members of Dutton’s sales staff were given a detailed description of the book during a conference call with executives on Wednesday.

The publisher is expecting a major best seller, with a planned print run of 300,000 copies in hardcover, according to a person familiar with the plans.

Because the book is written under a pseudonym, the author will appear in disguise during television interviews to promote the book. At least one major network prime-time appearance has been planned, a person familiar with the plans said, and during interviews on television and radio, the author’s voice will be altered.

From other news stories...

"The book was vetted by a former special operations attorney. He vetted it for tactical, technical, and procedural information as well as information that could be considered classified by compilation and found it to be without risk to national security," Christine Ball, a spokeswoman for the publisher, Dutton, told Reuters.

Dutton, which is a member of the Penguin Group (USA), said the Navy SEAL author's experience culminated with "Operation Neptune Spear" in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he led one of the assault teams on bin Laden's compound and was "one of the first men through the door on the third floor of the terrorist leader's hideout and was present at his death."

The Navy SEAL is described as a former member of the U.S. Special Warfare Development Group, commonly known as SEAL Team Six, who was involved in hundreds of missions around the world.

His name and the names of the other SEALs mentioned in the book were changed for security reasons, the publisher said. The majority of the proceeds from the book will go to charities that support families of fallen Navy SEALs, the publisher said.

"It is time to set the record straight about one of the most important missions in U.S. military history," the Navy SEAL author said in the book, according to the publisher's statement. "'No Easy Day' is the story of ‘the guys,' the human toll we pay, and the sacrifices we make to do this dirty job."

 

[zinfamous]

^ will love to read that.

The New Yorker article published several months ago (based on the debriefings) was a freaking fantastic read.

 

[zinfamous]

As everyone knows, I am often critical of Obama (there is just so much to dislike about the guy and his actions), but this is not one of them. Regardless of how much he tried to position others to take the fall if it failed (like he does so often in other things), he could not have escaped the blame had this one gone wrong.

He gets kudos for doing the right thing here.

link?

 

[werepossum]

*buzzer*

Nice try possum, but it doesn't take a Clausewitz to see the clear differences between the raid in Pakistan, and the battle at Tora Bora. The two are different animals in foresight as well as hindsight.

You are comparing an active warzone in a lawless region to penetrating the airspace of an "ally" that just might send in it's Airforce? Really? The "my way or the highway" Cheney admin, renowned for telling anyone who didn't like their agenda to screw off, suddenly was concerned about some Pashtun goat herders who were sticking around on the battlefield? Are you fucking kidding me?

I like how you bring up accountability, as if we've had any real measure of it with Iraq in regards to the burdens of the CiC you listed. Puh-lease.

Are you aware that our invasion of Afghanistan was the very first successful since the Pashtuns took the country? The British got thrown out twice, the Soviets got thrown out. Before the Pashtuns' and the Mughals' conquests, the Macedonians and the Mongols got thrown out - or more accurately, found the region easy to take but harder to hold than it was worth. This is the most warlike region in the world, hard men who are literally happy to die killing you. The "Cheney administration" wasn't concerned about Pashtun goat herders, they were exquisitely aware that unless we were perceived as merely helping one bunch of Afghanistanis take on another bunch of Afghanistanis - if ever we were perceived as invading Afghanistan - our invasion was doomed. We'd be fighting 99% of the nation. A lot of things Bush did, as a lot of things Obama is doing, are things that are merely necessary, not at all what we want to be doing.

 

[kage69]

Are you aware that our invasion of Afghanistan was the very first successful since the Pashtuns took the country? The British got thrown out twice, the Soviets got thrown out. Before the Pashtuns' and the Mughals' conquests, the Macedonians and the Mongols got thrown out - or more accurately, found the region easy to take but harder to hold than it was worth. This is the most warlike region in the world, hard men who are literally happy to die killing you. The "Cheney administration" wasn't concerned about Pashtun goat herders, they were exquisitely aware that unless we were perceived as merely helping one bunch of Afghanistanis take on another bunch of Afghanistanis - if ever we were perceived as invading Afghanistan - our invasion was doomed. We'd be fighting 99% of the nation. A lot of things Bush did, as a lot of things Obama is doing, are things that are merely necessary, not at all what we want to be doing.

I will have to disagree with you on the success part. Last I checked Americans are still stationed there and dying.
To make this one engagement's possible collateral some kind of lynch pin on homogenous national sentiment, lol, oh you...
I really don't find the "image" retort to be convincing at all. We're talking about rugged high altitude mountain areas, places occupied and scouted by the enemy months prior. Hardly popular avenues of transit with civilians. Especially so when ordinance has been flying around so much lately! I don't see how anything unfortunate could have been worse than mistakenly bombing a wedding or training exercise, both incidents which have enraged the populace repeatedly. Have I missed a revolt of some kind?

As Fury mentioned in the above linked article, this kind of executive imposed restraint was unheard of when the enemy was in our crosshairs before.

You spend time referencing local history, noting the ease with which the natives politick, yet oddly make no recognition to the role played by cold hard cash in that neck of the woods. Strange omission indeed considering we're talking about a land of mercenaries and warlords. If you've done any research at all into our opening days in Afghanistan after 9/11, you know of the role of payoffs in these affairs and why our guys flew in bales of cash. Also, you do realize the Northern Alliance was compromised of different cultures, yes?

Necessary, yes perhaps. For what, though, is the question... I see a pretty good distinction between the necessity of temporarily violating an "uncooperative ally's" airspace to take out a high value target, and the necessity of keeping a threat present to advance a separate endeavor into bullshit and loss later.

I'm not going to turn this into a thread about Iraq though... I'm hungry.

 

[JKing106]

"I'm not concerned about Bin Laden."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PGmnz5Ow-o

 

[MooseNSquirrel]

Stupidity - Share it!

 

[cybrsage]

link?

It did not fail for him to throw others under the bus.

 

[cybrsage]

"I'm not concerned about Bin Laden."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PGmnz5Ow-o

You made an entire post without calling someone a racist or interjecting race! I suspect someone has hijacked your account.

But on your post, I also believe Bush was not concerned about a zillion other things which did not have much power any longer. Not being concerned does not mean ignored.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

You think someone like him has principles?

Good point, but it sure is funny how the entire GOP talking head contingent did a 180 and totally forgot about that idea once Obama got elected.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Hmmm...is this close enough to being scatalogical and therefor in violation of Perknose's rule change? I think it is close, but you are on the safe side of the line. Just be careful.



Ah, so that is why he has the "I am pouting" look on his face...because they interrupted one of his reads?



Be careful, you have entered the scatological area, though it is not being used as an insult. Just a friendly warning.

Wow, trolling and outright OT thread crapping from our #1 troll....who woulda thought that?

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

It did not fail for him to throw others under the bus.

Like he said, link to proof of your claim, or admit you lied and made it up.

Without proof, that is willful misinformation.

 

[Blackjack200]

link?

Oh, he doesn't need a link for that because he used his typical slimeball tactic of suggesting without accusing.

It's like if I said "Regardless of how frequently cybrsage had sex with trans sexuals in the back of his el camino (like he does so often in other things), if he had done it in a public restroom, that would have been a crime."

 

[JKing106]

You made an entire post without calling someone a racist or interjecting race! I suspect someone has hijacked your account.

But on your post, I also believe Bush was not concerned about a zillion other things which did not have much power any longer. Not being concerned does not mean ignored.

When you make a post not slobbing authority's knob, I'll graciously return the compliment.

 

[hal2kilo]

Are you aware that our invasion of Afghanistan was the very first successful since the Pashtuns took the country? The British got thrown out twice, the Soviets got thrown out. Before the Pashtuns' and the Mughals' conquests, the Macedonians and the Mongols got thrown out - or more accurately, found the region easy to take but harder to hold than it was worth. This is the most warlike region in the world, hard men who are literally happy to die killing you. The "Cheney administration" wasn't concerned about Pashtun goat herders, they were exquisitely aware that unless we were perceived as merely helping one bunch of Afghanistanis take on another bunch of Afghanistanis - if ever we were perceived as invading Afghanistan - our invasion was doomed. We'd be fighting 99% of the nation. A lot of things Bush did, as a lot of things Obama is doing, are things that are merely necessary, not at all what we want to be doing.

Successful? You mean it's over? And we said we won! Yea!