Thursday, May 5, 2011

Will Osama bin Laden’s Death End Up Being A Liability for President Obama?


It would be the ultimate irony if the one courageous and decisive act by President Obama turned out to be yet another liability. Quite frankly, it would not be surprising either.

Questions about how the death and burial of Osama bin Laden came about are mounting. It is becoming increasingly evident that the White House is now backing off, changing details, and spinning to its political advantage an event that should primarily celebrate a decade of U.S. policies of intelligence-gathering and military strategy, as well as the strength and competence of the best-trained military in the world.
CIA Chief, Leon Panetta, now appears to be at odds with the White House, regarding both the release of photos of bin Laden’s body and whether waterboarding was used to extract intelligence information from detainees of Guantanamo.


White House spokesman Jay Carney, and now the president himself, has said that the White House is reluctant to release the photos of the body because of concern about “sensitivities.” The question is, whose “sensitivities?” Other radical jihadists who may be enraged further with the United States? American citizens who have already witnessed gruesome photos of dead civilians- courtesy of the main stream media- in Iraq and Afghanistan? Or, the liberal base of the Democratic party, who can’t quite get their heads around the fact that their president- who is supposedly of such superior moral character, and has already done such a thorough job of apologizing to the world for the “transgressions” of the United States- actually made a decision to kill the apparently unarmed terrorist within sight of his wife (or child), to defend and preserve American freedom and security?


Already, the complicit media is, as expected, ignoring some of the “hot spots” of how the information, regarding bin Laden’s whereabouts, was brought to light, such as through the use of waterboarding. What a dilemma for them and the White House! The same policies, initiated by the Bush-Cheney administration, relied upon by President Obama?

While many have wondered if Mr. Obama will be more inclined to win re-election in 2012 because of the killing of bin Laden, the fact is that his decision to act was a good one, but, unfortunately, uncharacteristic of his presidency. The truth is that most Americans do not approve of the president’s performance because most of his decisions carry with them a sea of controversy and distrust regarding his aspirations for the nation and desire to fulfill the will of the American people.

As details of Osama bin Laden’s killing continue to emerge, will his liberal base be turned off because of their “sensitivities” to the realities of keeping the country safe, or will conservatives ultimately see another confused, inconsistent mass of details coming from an administration that is still not courageous, still not decisive, and still not trusted?

Big Government