U.S. Official: "This Was a Kill Mission"

[Hissyspit]

Source: ABC News

Political Punch

- Jake Tapper

US Official: "This Was a Kill Mission"
May 04, 2011 12:47 PM

A senior US official, hoping to offer clarity on the nature of Operation Neptune Spear, tells ABC News that “this was a kill mission.”

Yesterday White House press secretary James Carney said that “on orders of the President, a small U.S. team assaulted a secure compound in an affluent suburb of Islamabad to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.”

The senior US official says there was no expectation that bin Laden would be taken alive.

As CIA director Leon Panetta explained to PBS yesterday, “the authority here was to kill bin Laden. And obviously under the rules of engagement, if he in fact had thrown up his hands and surrendered and didn’t appear to represent any kind of threat then they were to capture him. But they had full authority to kill him.”

Read more: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/05/us-official-this-was-a-kill-mission.html

[Old and In the Way]

1. I'll bet Navy Seals know how to read between the lines...nt

[EFerrari]

11. They don't have to. McChrystal developed their assassination program.

They know what the job is even if no one is willing to own it.

[Botany]

2. "This Was a Kill Mission"

Fine by me ..... a trial would have cost billions and every Jihad Jimmy in the world would have beens thinking of
clever ways to force the US to give up bin Laden such as taking a bunch of school children hostage. And as for why we shot
him before he had a chance to get a weapon and the same with the people living with him ..... that was the idea
wake up in the middle of the night rush the place, kill bin Laden, and get the hell out of there before the Pakistani military
..... which was protecting him .... got a chance to get in on the action.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Not much doubt about

Tonight's revision reveals that the only armed person was the courier who wasn't even the same building as Bin Laden.

Doubtless by tomorrow the story will have changed again.

[dotymed]

4. I agree.

This reminds me so much of Jessica Lynch and the Tillman incident. American citizens are not allowed ANY transparency in our government. All we get is propaganda.....

[dipsydoodle]

6. That was breaking on BBC Radio News

here in the UK as I drove home just now but there are no links up yet. I think the story is now changing because of information that Pakistan has obviously got from the the survivors.

[Tx4obama]

19. There WERE guns in OBL's bedroom.

The Seals found five or six guns in the compound.
OBL had a AK47 and a pistol in the room where he was shot.

[dipsydoodle]

23. That will probably have changed by tomorrow too.

.

[Tx4obama]

24. They have said that from the beginning. n/t

[hack89]

5. I would hope so. nt

[Stella_Artois]

7. Thats a shame.

I would have preferred him being being taken alive to a waiting helicopter which would then climb to the approximate height of the WTC towers. Then I would have liked him to get thrown out.

[aquart]

15. Now that would have pleased my Mom.

She's very upset that he didn't get to experience what every single one of his victims did. But perhaps in Hell? For eternity? That long fall? And burning to death in an elevator, and having a building collapse on him... It's not like things would get dull.

[AllTooEasy]

22. You should be the president.

Can you imagine the WH East Wing podium speech: "My fellow Americans, if you look at the split screen or out your downtown NYC condo window, you can see Bin Ladin being dropped from 100 stories to his death over the Trade Center ruins on a count of 10, 9, 8, ...."

They would have changed the constitution to get you 4 terms.

[tomhayes]

8. No , um, sh** Sherlock

The only way OBL would have been taken alive is if he turned himself in to a country that would not have killed him on the spot. Think of chartering a plan to Norway or something like that.

People are wanting to turn this into Ruby Ridge or something!

[cbdo2007]

9. "It was a kill mission....unless he surrendered." - That's basically how I read it.

I don't see what the big deal is.

[aquart]

16. LOL. Who was going to give him the time to do that?

[jwirr]

10. Once again the MSM and even some on DU are spouting the rethug

talking points. I am sorry if you do not agree but when you send a small group of soldiers into a dangerous situation they have to have the authority to kill. The alternatives were to let him go if he fought back, to go in with a bigger force and start another war with Pakistan, or get our soldiers killed trying to bring him out alive. I find no fault with the way they carried out their mission.

[EFerrari]

12. Oh, please. This was McChrystal's JSOC assassination unit.

What do you think they do for a living?

[jwirr]

17. Just what they did.

[EFerrari]

20. I'm sorry if I was rude to you, jwirr.

This is an emotional moment.

[KansDem]

13. Pump 'em and dump 'em

The only solution for the problem that was Osama bin Laden...

[Nossida]

14. Paleeeze

I refuse to believe the Troops were unable
to simply stun everyone on site, and capture
the Bastard alive. Bin-Ladin's brain a Well
of information, from which many facts could
have been pumped.

His daughter claims he was taken alive, and
then shot to death after taken into custody.

Frankly, I wanted the creature taken alive,
and paraded thru the Streets of New York. A
Trophy for all American People to see. The
attack as reported after the fact does nothing
but raise more questions.

The President should reconsider, and release
at least 1 photo of the Bastard dead. Americans
have sacrificed much blood and treasure, and
many civil liberties to fight this eternal war
without end. I love our President, but cannot
agree with him on this particular decision.

[OHdem10]

18. We were told this on the night of the Event.

[Zambero]

21. Obama had promised to find him and kill him

Three years ago was it? There should be very little doubt as to the intent of this mission.

[Tx4obama]

26. Here a link to a Politifact.com article with the quotes and dates

http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/901/we-will-kill-bin-laden/

[AllTooEasy]

25. Obama would have been blasted MORE if he had taken OBL alive.

"Why give the American taxpayer the expense of trial, security, room and board, etc."

"Why are you treating him so well?"

...and so on, and so on...

Pump 'em and Dump 'em. Move on.