swiftboat part 2

cirrrocco

Golden Member
Sep 7, 2004
1,952
78
91
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/15/us-usa-campaign-binladen-ad-idUSBRE87E01F20120815

A group of former U.S. intelligence and Special Forces operatives is set to launch a media campaign, including TV ads, that scolds President Barack Obama for taking credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden and argues that high-level leaks are endangering American lives.

"Mr. President, you did not kill Osama bin Laden, America did. The work that the American military has done killed Osama bin Laden. You did not," Ben Smith, identified as a Navy SEAL, says in the film.

Chad Kolton, a former spokesman for the office of Director of National Intelligence during the George W. Bush administration who now represents OPSEC, also said the group's message and make-up are nonpolitical.


lol. here we go again. I hope the obama campaign hits back real fast and not let this gain any traction
 

Phokus

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
22,994
779
126
We all know George Bush was responsible for taking down Osama Bin Laden. First he dismantled the CIA group that was resonsible for hunting Bin Laden down.

Then he publicly stated he didn't care about Bin laden.

A true American Hero. Great leader or greatest leader?
 

Charles Kozierok

Elite Member
May 14, 2012
6,762
1
0
Something bad happened? Obama's to blame.

Something good happened? Obama's to blame for falsely taking credit.

Heads-I-win-tails-you-lose politics at its finest. Perfectly crafted for the biased and the stupid.
 

nehalem256

Lifer
Apr 13, 2012
15,669
8
0
We all know George Bush was responsible for taking down Osama Bin Laden. First he dismantled the CIA group that was resonsible for hunting Bin Laden down.

Then he publicly stated he didn't care about Bin laden.

A true American Hero. Great leader or greatest leader?

Well obviously if you are looking for someone you don't want him to know you are
 

Phokus

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
22,994
779
126
Sad thing is, i can't fucking tell if nahelem is joking or not, because this is the exact shit that conservatives actually believe. Poe's law and all.
 

cybrsage

Lifer
Nov 17, 2011
13,021
0
0
I think I now understand what Obama meant by transparency. The rest of us call it leaking classified information.
 

Steeplerot

Lifer
Mar 29, 2004
13,051
6
81
Sad thing is, i can't fucking tell if nahelem is joking or not, because this is the exact shit that conservatives actually believe. Poe's law and all.

It actually sounds plausible, this was the President that got strategically outmaneuvered by a freaking pretzel.
 

JKing106

Platinum Member
Mar 19, 2009
2,193
0
0
We all know George Bush was responsible for taking down Osama Bin Laden. First he dismantled the CIA group that was resonsible for hunting Bin Laden down.

Then he publicly stated he didn't care about Bin laden.

A true American Hero. Great leader or greatest leader?

You forgot the close personal and business ties to the Bin Laden family.
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
15,622
8,150
136
So I guess the President didn't give them the order to do it, "America" did. The President didn't put his second term in jepoardy by authorizing the takedown, "America" took the risk of not being re-elected. The President didn't give those SEALS any praise at all, "America" did. The President had absolutely nothing to do with authorizing/ordering the SEALS to illegally enter another nation, risk all manner of international retaliation and kill Bin Laden for 9/11....."America" did.

Hell, even President Obama himself said that "America" (Americans) did it in his own words:

"A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body." - Pres. Obama

So funny how it was Pres. Obama himself that gave the SEALS credit for killing Bin Laden and Kolton says Pres. Obama took the credit for himself?

Why doesn't Chad Kolton ask those SEALS who carried out the operation how they feel about the swiftboat attack that Kolton and cohorts are mounting, and see if they feel the same way when these heroic SEALS know first hand that Pres. Obama gave them credit for the operation.
 
Last edited:

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
> "Mr. President, you did not kill Osama bin Laden, America did. The work that the American military has done killed Osama bin Laden. You did not,"

"You didn't build that" part 2?

"Our factories made the bullets and guns, and our tax dollars paid for the copter fuel. So Mr. Obama you did not kill Bin Laden all by yourself."

The funny thing is, I don't recall Obama ever claiming that he pulled the trigger . . . .
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
15,622
8,150
136
> "Mr. President, you did not kill Osama bin Laden, America did. The work that the American military has done killed Osama bin Laden. You did not,"

"You didn't build that" part 2?

"Our factories made the bullets and guns, and our tax dollars paid for the copter fuel. So Mr. Obama you did not kill Bin Laden all by yourself."

The funny thing is, I don't recall Obama ever claiming that he pulled the trigger . . . .

In support of your comment:

"The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as commander in chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who's been gravely wounded.
So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda's terror: Justice has been done.
Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who've worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice." - Pres. Obama

"We" = America.
 

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
13,306
3
0
Obama loves to credit himself with this, but the fact is it happened on his watch and he gave the final order. That he didn't pull the trigger or gather the intelligence is going to be a campaign against him fighting uphill. It's a waste of breath and space; nobody cares. It won't be possible to swift boat him on this. It was a highly popular operation that he personally approved. Most people don't care about the rest.
 

JKing106

Platinum Member
Mar 19, 2009
2,193
0
0
"A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body." - Pres. Obama
 
Jan 25, 2011
17,010
9,440
146
"A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body." - Pres. Obama

Hey now, none of that stuff. Obama has personally been running around telling anyone who will listen about how he walked up to Osama bin Laden and smote him.
 

Thump553

Lifer
Jun 2, 2000
12,836
2,620
136
As if wishy-washy Romney would have ever, in a million years, issued an order to send in the Seals. At the very most he would have bombed the area and we would never know what happened to OBL.

I find it supremely ironic the GOP is so bent out of shape about this supposed security leak when they had no problem at all with Cheney authorizing Scooter Libby to leak classified information to the media for the specific purpose of making a current undercover CIA operative look bad for partisan purposes. Now that was real patriotism!
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
Aug 22, 2001
31,689
31,557
146
I think I now understand what Obama meant by transparency. The rest of us call it leaking classified information.
Something the last administration would NEVER engage in, right? :thumbsdown:
 
Oct 16, 1999
10,490
4
0
"A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body." - Pres. Obama

Braggart!
 

werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
463
126
Obama loves to credit himself with this, but the fact is it happened on his watch and he gave the final order. That he didn't pull the trigger or gather the intelligence is going to be a campaign against him fighting uphill. It's a waste of breath and space; nobody cares. It won't be possible to swift boat him on this. It was a highly popular operation that he personally approved. Most people don't care about the rest.
About how I see it. He greatly overplayed his hand on his original announcement - the "I love me some me" speech. He should have not awarded himself any credit while sending his supporters out to praise him. But that's just politics - what would have best benefited Obama himself, not whether he deserves credit. In reality a President gets credit or blame for most everything that happens on his watch, and in killing Usama he took a very real political risk he could easily have avoided. This operation took much more Presidential involvement than do most things for which a President takes credit, and he deserves his kudos.

These people have a point about the leaks; those are very bad. But by tying it into an attack on his taking credit where he is legitimately due credit, they undermine their own argument. "America" didn't kill bin Laden, SEALs did, and while they deserve the lion's share of the credit for risking their lives to do so, Obama, the CIA, and military intelligence all deserve their share as well.

Incidentally I'm still very supportive of the original Swift Boaters. They forced Kerry to backtrack on several outright lies, including slanderous attacks on his fellow Swift Boaters (e.g. claiming that both other boats fled the area after one boat struck a mine when in fact Kerry's boat was the only boat to flee the area.)