Bothering me....

Do I believe that Osama Bin Laden is dead?  Yes, definitely.  Why?  Because saying he is if he isn't is too big a lie even for the obama administration.

I watched obama's speech last night.  I can't say that I was in shock or even surprised that he was reporting the death of Bin Laden..  It had to happen sooner or later.  I was trying to take it all in, to understand the details of what obama was reading off the teleprompter.... 

He said that Bin Laden was killed after a firefight in his compound in Pakistan.  After a firefight.  Surely he meant during a firefight.  He thumped his chest several times and said "I" authorized it, always accentuating the "I".  obama said that we went in there with the intention of killing Osama.  Sounded like a stump speech where the speaker was attempting to make the point to his audience that he is a leader.  "Look what I did..."  "Look at the decision I made...."

I spent quite a few years in the Army and I am certainly not naive' enough to believe that we always play fair.  I am not naive' enough to believe that we wouldn't neutralize a target then take that target aside and execute it.  Sometimes it's the best way.  It's ugly, no doubt.  Sometimes it's justified, like in this case.  It certainly doesn't compare to what he did to America on September 11th, 2001.

What I wouldn't expect to happen is to hear the President of the United States brag to the world that we had gone into a bad guy's compound with the express purpose of assassinating him.  I wouldn't expect him to emphasize the "I" when talking about who was responsible for giving the order.  It makes one appear to have a confidence problem that he's trying to hide.  "I gave the order..." as opposed to "I gave the order...."  There is a difference.

Assassination is the kind of thing you don't talk about in polite company.  There are details you don't share with the world.  Assassination is a nasty business.   It is frowned upon by nearly the entire civilized world, at least publicly.  It's one of those things that we know happens, but we don't brag about it.  We participate in it but we don't talk about it.

obama's security chief has spent the day today gently letting the media know that capture was an option, even after obama said last night that it wasn't..  It appears to me that obama made a mistake (by telling the truth) in his speech and he knows it.  Now they have to fix it.  They can't be too loud about it or people will realize that they are trying to cover something up.

Osama was a bad man.  He deserved to die.  I have no qualms whatever about that.  None.

I do have a problem with an American President, any American President, using it to further his political career or to boost his reelection chances.

For a moment or two last night I almost saw obama as being "Presidential" for the very first time.  Just for a moment.

I thought of all the people who died on September 11th, 2001, and those who have died since then in the attempt to make things right.  Osama Bin Laden got what he deserved.  I have no doubt about that.  I'm glad that some young Seal was able to look him in the eye and then pull the trigger to dispatch him from this world.

Last night's speech is going to motivate al Qaeda.  More so than killing Osama and protecting the details of how he died would have.  Americans will forget about this in a week or so.  Something else will come along to distract us.  We have short attention spans.  al Qaeda won't forget.  I'm not saying that's right or wrong.  It's just the way it is.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into this.  Perhaps my lack of respect for obama is coloring my judgement. 

Bin Laden is dead.  Why do I care how it was handled after the fact?  Why do I care how it was presented to the world?  Justice is served.  I should just be satisfied with that.

I care because I believe that al Qaeda will respond with a vengeance.  I think more people, more Americans, are going to die unnecessarily because of this speech.  I hope that I'm wrong.  I hope al Qaeda believes that all is lost and that they walk away and end the madness. 

Not likely.

Stay safe.