And now to Obama politicizing the Osama kill - I predicted this - well, I predicted the OBL death photos would be 'mysteriously' leaked in the run up to the election - same thing - point is I predicted Obama would shamelessly exploit the killing for political gain, indeed I hypothesized that the reason he didn't release the photos was so he could release them later at a more politically opportune time - and at the time of the operation I also opined that there seemed to be more political calculation behind the killing than national security considerations - not that we of course shouldn't have been targeting Osama - but I've never heard a good, logical explanation of why he was killed and not captured [I can think of some very good political reasons of why he was killed and not captured, but no good national security ones] - I've never heard a good explanation of why the operation seems to have been put off for several months - I've never heard anyone successfully deny that the reason we were so willing to damage if not destroy our key strategic relationship with Pakistan in going behind their back is because Obama wanted to be able to announce a withdrawal from Afghanistan before the election, in other words reelection was deemed more important than strategic alliances [this political component made very clear with just signed agreement with Afghanistan that is so full of wildly optimistic assumptions about the current and ongoing state of affairs there that one can only assume this document has more to do with November than any long term strategic outlook] - and I've always found it odd that no one but me apparently thought it strangely convenient that in the middle of a very bad news cycle for Obama re the economy and Libya that Americans got to wake up bright and early on a Monday to a new news cycle suddenly looking a whole lot sweeter - the timing always seemed a bit too convenient to me, but that could be my cynicism pushing me overboard.
But, Obama has decided to go ahead and politicize it now [well, it is the anniversary] - and the response is looking none too favorable - conservatives are of course complaining, with the best dig being McCain's who said "I've had the privilege of serving with true heroes and the thing about them is they don't brag" - Navy Seals are complaining, which very decidedly ain't good optics - even some liberals have shaken the Obama stupor long enough to cry foul, which is really quite extraordinary and a good indication that this was probably a bad move by team Obama. Suggesting that Romney would not have pulled the trigger is not only an absurd almost defamatory reach, wholly implausible and indefensibly tendentious because every sentient American realizes giving the go on an op like this was, as one Navy Seal said, a 'no brainer' that even a president Kucinich would have signed off on - but also, worse, indicates disturbing arrogance because basically what Obama is suggesting here is that he was the key player in this momentous event - it's all about him, as this very good op-ed in the WSJ makes clear.
