A: I have a feeling that unless Obama manages to extract the US from Afghanistan between now and Nov 2012, he might be facing an even tougher fight than he would have, had Bin Laden still been among the living. How is he going to articulate our presence in Astan to his rabidly anti-war base, without that particular boogyman? Is Afghanistan still a war he wants to be in?

B: It looks like India is rattling their sabers vis-a-vis Pakistan. Article linked on drudge mentioned India strongly condemning Pakistan as a haven for terrorists. Rightly so, in some ways. (Mumbai, for instance.) Both countries have nuclear weapons. Big ol' bucket of not-good.

C: With the smoking hole that used to be a large chunk of Kadaffy's family still warm from the JDAM, combined with the recent termination of Osama Bin Laden's respiratory functions, what do you think this spells for Libya, and also Iran? We've now proven without a doubt that we are willing to target leadership. Do you think the evil men in the world will continue to attack purely civilian targets, or will they attempt to return the favor?

Regardless, somewhere out there, is a SEAL/Delta/CIA/Mary Poppins operator who never has to buy drinks ever again. I wish I could help with that...

One word:
White house.





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I strongly suspect that the Indians played a major role in this. They may have been the ones who found them and dealt him to us in exchange for something.

In three days he'll be found alive, with a headache, and Achmadinnerplate will proclaim him the 12th imam.

Some of the most sensible analysis that I've read.

I'm just glad this happened now versus October 2012.  People will forget about it by then and if we still have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan the liberals will be pissed at Obama.

Supposedly we got Osama because of intel gained from interrigations at Guantanamo Bay.  Someone gave up the name of a courier used to get messages to Osama.  That currier is the named owner of the mansion that Osama was staying at.  If Obama had closed Guantanamo Bay this intel probably would not have gained an Osama would still be alive.  A bitter sweet win for Obama at best.

India and Pakistan going after it. Meh....Just let us know first so we can avoid the fallout.

They want us to provide intel for them when they run an op to take out the Mumbai planners?



 

I have a hard time believing the Indians had anything to do with it. The threat of war with Pakistan is too great. They have a long running feud, and the means to destroy one another. I'd like to think no one is that stupid.

if obama was smart he would use this to pull out of afgan.  I know one doesn't equal the other but still it would be a great segway out of afcrapistan.

If this is a legit story, and I'm keeping my skepticism toward any MSM in check, maybe BHO did the right thing by doing less.  Whether you like a person or not, there comes a time when you have to give credit where credit is due.  He may have been ineffective in the past, and he may fuck up a lot of stuff in the future, but even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

I also am still trying to decide how significant this event is, in the big scheme of things.  After all, GWB even came to a point where he admitted that hunting down OBL wasn't a priority.

Sounds to me like BHO just got the fuck out of the way, approved a budget, and gave a group of operators a goal, and the autonomy to get it done.

A good executive decision is rarely composed of micromanaging.  He may have done well by delegating this task to the right people.  He gave the task to the one group of people for whom a job like this is routine, instead of having his VP and SecDef sticking their noses in it.  He stays in Washington, and wears a suit, and gives business like this to men who know way more about it than any policy-maker ever would.

What I'm wondering is how our public and private relationships with Pakistan will be affected.  Paki's had to know about it, we supposedly crossed their border without their knowledge.   So, have they been patting us on the shoulder with one hand, while twisting the knife in our back with the other?