1. Osama bin Laden death: SEALs slam Obama for using them as 'ammunition... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2137636/Osama-bin-Laden-dea...
SEALs slam Obama for using them as
'ammunition' in bid to take credit for bin Laden
killing during election campaign
By Toby Harnden
PUBLISHED: 18:35 EST, 30 April 2012 | UPDATED: 10:42 EST, 1 May 2012
Serving and former US Navy SEALs have slammed President Barack Obama for taking the credit for killing
Osama bin Laden and accused him of using Special Forces operators as ‘ammunition’ for his re-election
campaign.
The SEALs spoke out to MailOnline after the Obama campaign released an ad entitled ‘One Chance’.
In it President Bill Clinton is featured saying that Mr Obama took ‘the harder and the more honourable path’ in
ordering that bin Laden be killed. The words ‘Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?’ are then displayed.
Besides the ad, the White House is marking the first anniversary of the SEAL Team Six raid that killed bin
Laden inside his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan with a series of briefings and an NBC interview in the
Situation Room designed to highlight the ‘gutsy call’ made by the President.
Scroll down for video
Taking credit: President Obama has used bin Laden's death as a campaign tool
Mr Obama used a news conference today to trumpet his personal role and imply that his Republican opponent
Mr Romney, who in 2008 expressed reservations about the wisdom of sending troops into Pakistan, would
have let bin Laden live.
‘I said that I'd go after bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him, and I did,’ Mr Obama said. ‘If there are others
who have said one thing and now suggest they'd do something else, then I'd go ahead and let them explain it.’
Ryan Zinke, a former Commander in the US Navy who spent 23 years as a SEAL and led a SEAL Team 6
assault unit, said: ‘The decision was a no brainer. I applaud him for making it but I would not overly pat myself
on the back for making the right call.
‘I think every president would have done the same. He is justified in saying it was his decision but the
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2. Osama bin Laden death: SEALs slam Obama for using them as 'ammunition... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2137636/Osama-bin-Laden-dea...
‘I think every president would have done the same. He is justified in saying it was his decision but the
preparation, the sacrifice - it was a broader team effort.’
Mr Zinke, who is now a Republican state senator in Montana, added that MR Obama was exploiting bin
Laden’s death for his re-election bid. ‘The President and his administration are positioning him as a war
president using the SEALs as ammunition. It was predictable.’
Target: Bin Laden, pictured in his compound in Pakistan, was killed a year ago
Mission: Senior figures gathered to watch Navy SEALs invade the compound
Mr Obama has faced criticism even from allies about his decision to make a campaign ad about the bin Laden
raid. Arianna Huffington, an outspoken liberal who runs the left-leaning Huffington Post website, roundly
condemned it.
She told CBS: ‘We should celebrate the fact that they did such a great job. It's one thing to have an NBC
special from the Situation Room... all that to me is perfectly legitimate, but to turn it into a campaign ad is one
of the most despicable things you can do.’
Campaigning in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Mr Romney responded to a shouted question by a reporter by
saying: ‘Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order.’
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3. Osama bin Laden death: SEALs slam Obama for using them as 'ammunition... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2137636/Osama-bin-Laden-dea...
A serving SEAL Team member said: ‘Obama wasn’t in the field, at risk, carrying a gun. As president, at every
turn he should be thanking the guys who put their lives on the line to do this. He does so in his official speeches
because he speechwriters are smart.
‘But the more he tries to take the credit for it, the more the ground operators are saying, “Come on, man!” It
really didn’t matter who was president. At the end of the day, they were going to go.’
Chris Kyle, a former SEAL sniper with 160 confirmed and another 95 unconfirmed kills to his credit, said: ‘The
operation itself was great and the nation felt immense pride. It was great that we did it.
‘But bin Laden was just a figurehead. The war on terror continues. Taking him out didn’t really change anything
as far as the war on terror is concerned and using it as a political attack is a cheap shot.
‘In years to come there is going to be information that will come out that Obama was not the man who made
the call. He can say he did and the people who really know what happened are inside the Pentagon, are in the
military and the military isn’t allowed to speak out against the commander- in-chief so his secret is safe.’
Rival: Mr Obama has questioned whether Mitt Romney would have done the same
Senior military figures have said that Admiral William McRaven, a former SEAL who was then head of Joint
Special Operations Command (JSOC) made the decision to take bin Laden out. Tactical decisions were
delegated even further down the chain of command.
Mr Kyle added: ‘He's trying to say that Romney wouldn't have made the same call? Anyone who is patriotic to
this country would have made that exact call, Democrat or Republican. Obama is taking more credit than he is
due but it's going to get him some pretty good mileage.’
A former intelligence official who was serving in the US government when bin Laden was killed said that the
Obama administration knew about the al-Qaeda leader’s whereabouts in October 2010 but delayed taking
action and risked letting him escape.
‘In the end, Obama was forced to make a decision and do it. He knew that if he didn’t do it the political risks in
not taking action were huge. Mitt Romney would have made the call but he would have made it earlier – as
would George W. Bush.’
Brandon Webb, a former SEAL who spent 13 years on active duty and served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said:
‘Bush should get partial credit for putting the system in place.
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4. Osama bin Laden death: SEALs slam Obama for using them as 'ammunition... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2137636/Osama-bin-Laden-dea...
‘Obama inherited a very robust package with regards to special ops and the intelligence community. But
Obama deserves credit because he got bin Laden – you can’t take that away from him.
‘My friends that work in Special Operations Command (SOCOM) that have been on video teleconferences with
Obama on these kill or capture situations say that Obama has no issue whatsoever with making decisions and
typically it's kill. He’s hitting the kill button every time. I have a lot of respect for him for that.’
But he said that many SEALs were dismayed about the amount of publicity the Obama administration had
generated about SEAL Team Six, the very existence of which is highly classified.
‘The majority of the SEALs I know are really proud of the operation but it does become “OK, enough is enough
– we’re ready to get back to work and step out of the limelight.” They don’t want to be continuously paraded
around a global audience like a show dog.
‘Obama has a very good relationship with the Special Operations community at large, especially the SEALs,
and it’s nice to see. We had the same relationship with George W. Bush when he was president.’
It was ‘stretching a little much’ for Mr Obama to suggest only he would have made the decision. ‘I personally I
don't think Romney would have any problem making tough decisions. He got a very accomplished record of
making decision as a business professional.
‘He may not have charisma but he clearly has leadership skills. I don’t think he'd have any problem taking that
decision.’
Clint Bruce, who gave up the chance of an NFL career to serve as a SEAL officer before retiring as a
lieutenant after nine years, said: ‘We were extremely surprised and discouraged by the publicity because it
compromises the ability of those guys to operate.
‘It’s a waste of time to speculate about who would and wouldn’t have made that decision. It was a symphony of
opportunity and intelligence that allowed this administration to give the green light. We want to acknowledge
that they made that decision.
‘Politicians should let the public know where they stand on national security but not in the play-by-play, detailed
way that has been done recently. The intricacies of national security should not become part of stump
speeches.’
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