Now It's Getting Ugly: Was Obama Essentially Sidelined on the Osama bin Laden Raid? – UPDATED

Last updated on: May 4, 2011 at 12:15 pm by Timothy Dalrymple

Now It's Getting Ugly: Was Obama Essentially Sidelined on the Osama bin Laden Raid? – UPDATED 2011-05-04T12:15:16-04:00 Timothy Dalrymple

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

UPDATE: I originally came across this story through a Tweet, and Live Leak, and the blog known as Atlas Shrugs. I don’t regularly read Atlas Shrugs, although I know that Pamela Geller (the proprietor of that blog) has written some things regarding Muslim matters that seem wrong to me. Anyway, after posting this, some folks who regularly read what I write (even though they often disagree with me) suggested that I was wrong to have passed this along without learning more about the source. I looked into the matter further. Now, I have to say, I have no knowledge whether or not the story is true, but I find no reason to ascribe credibility to the source. In those circumstances, I’ve come to agree that it was wrong to pass along the story, even framed (as it was) in all sorts of warnings to be skeptical.

My apologies. I will leave up the post because it’s generally considered bad form on a blog to erase the record of your mistakes. As I’ve said before, I do not pretend to have all the answers, or pretend to do everything right. I’m learning my way forward, as we all are. My thanks to those who offered their criticism in good faith. Here is the original post:

I did say it was going to get ugly, once the details began to emerge and the real scrambling for credit began.

I’m about to post links to an explosive version of the backstory behind the bin Laden raid that is surely going to receive a lot of attention. Before I do, however, I want to issue a few provisos:

Even if all of the claims in these accounts are true, President Obama should still be congratulated for being the Commander-in-Chief when Osama bin Laden was delivered to his demise. The accounts definitely put a different color on the story, and the image of Obama as the aggressive, hard-nosed leader throughout this process takes a big hit. But, as President, he could have pulled the plug at any time.
Even if all of the facts in these accounts are true, I’m sure they can be spun in a manner much more favorable to the President and to Valerie Jarrett. This is a telling of the story from someone who is obviously not an Obama fan, and much less a Jarrett fan.
I will say, however, that the account seems consistent with what we have observed of the personalities of various other principals such as Hillary Clinton, Leon Panetta, Bill Daley and Valerie Jarrett. I will also say that it explains a few things that have seemed peculiar to me. It seemed very odd that the President would have been playing golf when the mission began, and then brought back directly to a briefing and to the Situation Room, where he is still wearing his golfing clothes (in this picture). It also seemed odd, in the same picture, that he would seem effectively on the sideline (perhaps someone can tell me whether that is normal in these situations). And lastly, it seemed odd that so much time passed between the assessment that bin Laden was very probably inside the compound and the actual raid. This account makes sense of those things.
Finally, I wonder what it means for us as Christians to wrestle with these things. I have to check my motives when I post this. Am I just trafficking in rumors because I don’t want President Obama reelected? I don’t think so. I’ve been more than happy to give great credit to President Obama, and I will continue to do so. He is my President too, even though I did not vote for him. But I also want to know the truth, and I prefer to spread the credit broadly across all of those who truly deserve it. The truth has value. It brings clarity. If Obama was truly the decisive leader that his own account made him out to be, then I want to know that. It would make me feel much better, to be honest. But if he is not, I want to know that too. Is it unseemly to want to know the truth? If these accounts are filled with lies, am I complicit in passing them on? Perhaps so. But I do warn that these are just stories from an anonymous source, and I would not pass this on if it did not sound at least credible to me. But I look forward to learning more over the weeks and months to come.

This is certainly newsworthy, so here you go:

The first part of the account, from an anonymous DC insider, says there was effectively a “coup” (which seems like exaggerated rhetoric to me) that forced the 5/2 raid over the objections of Valerie Jarrett and the ongoing indecision of President Obama.
The second part goes into much greater detail on the frustration of the military and Defense Secretary Gates at the unwillingness of Obama to act on the intelligence and initiate the raid, the threat from Petraeus to go ahead and bomb the compound on his own, and the “masterful manipulation” by Leon Panetta that eventually made the operation a go. Obama, according to the anonymous (and we should always add a dose of skepticism when sources are anonymous) source, did not really know the operation was underway until it was already underway.

If all of this turns out to be rubbish, then it will be a good lesson in the dishonest tactics of the info-wars and on the unreliability of accounts from anonymous sources. But I’m sure this will get a lot of conversation, so there are the links. Check them out and let me know what you think, both about the political questions and the ethical questions.

Killing Osama

Previous Post

May 3, 2011

Were those who celebrated bin Laden's death like those who celebrated the 9/11 atrocity?

Next Post

May 4, 2011 What Can We Celebrate - and What Ought We Not to Celebrate - About Osama bin Laden's Death

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abortion adoption Africa Aging AIDS America Worship American history Americolatry An Open Letter to a College Freshman animals Apologetics art Atheism Authors Barack Obama Bible Biblical Scholarship Billy Graham Blogging Bono Book Review Books That Change Lives Breakfast Links Bulletin Board Business Children Christian Approach to Politics Christian Media Christian Right Derangement Syndrome Christianity and Homosexuality Christians in Government Christmas Chuck Colson CLS v Martinez Comic Creation Creativity and the Arts Cross Examinations Cross Investigations Daily Fragment Daily Trinity Death debt Deep Thoughts on Fatherhood depression economy education Election 2012 entertainment Environment Epistemology Erik Campano Euthanasia Evangelicalism Evangelicals and Gays Everyday Transcendence evil evolution Facebook Jesus faith Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics faith and reason family Feminism foreign affairs Franklin Graham Future of Evangelicalism Galen D. gay marriage George W. Bush Guest Posts Guns Gymnastics Harold Camping Heaven Hell Holidays Hollywood Homosexuality iam2.org Illegal Immigration immigration Immigration Reform Injustice Inspiration Interviews Islam Jeremy Lin Jesus jesus christ John Mark Reynolds Johnnie Moore Judgment Day Just War Theory Killing Osama Link of the Day Lists of the Week Mark Goldblatt Marriage Military Missions Mitt Romney Modern Western Thought Monastic wisdom Mormonism Morning Hash Morning Report Motherhood Movies Obamacare Old Testament Orphan Care Palin Parenting Pastoral Resources Patheos Peace Between Religions PEPFAR Persecution Peter Wehner Peter Wehner Philosophy Political Quotes of the Day politics Politics and Economics Pornography Prejudice Prisoner Rape Question of the Week Race Radical Faith Rapture Ravi Zacharias Rick Santorum Russia Salvation Sarah Palin Scandals Science Science and Faith Separation of Church and State Series sex sex slavery social justice Social Justice Ministry Spiritual Disciplines sports Steven Tyler Suffering Suicide Sunday Funnies T. Dalrymple Tea Party Technology terrorism The Christian Media Files The Daily Trinity The Electorate The Ethics of Rhetoric The Future of Seminary Education The Middle East The Obama Presidency theological Theological Renewal Theology Uncategorized Understanding Evangelicalism Vocation war War and Peace With Distinction Word to the Wise Writers

Select a Month October 2015 June 2015 May 2015 March 2015 December 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz