We should’ve gotten him during the Clinton years and it’s insane that we have paid any money to Pakistan ever, but that has nothing to do with Admiral McRaven. McRaven was given a task and took down OBL when told to, full stop. It’s wrong of Trump to pretend that that wasn’t a great achievement simply because OBL should’ve been captured earlier and McRaven isn’t a big fan of his.
We got into war in Afghanistan against the Taliban because the Taliban was harboring him. bin Laden slipped out.
There are two possible ways to 'get' him, at least in theory. One was to capture him and bring him to the United States for prosecution. The other was to kill him. The first was going to be far more difficult even if it had more satisfaction to offer: trial for genocide, a nearly-sure conviction (probably with Rudy Giuliani coming out of retirement to prosecute him), and execution. Satisfying as it might have been, it would have put American soldiers at far greater risk than what Admiral McRaven did: simply kill him.
Obama would do what he did best: a diplomatic effort to get Pakistan to turn him over or to facilitate his arrest. The Pakistani government claimed that the terrorist mastermind was not in Pakistan, so Obama used the pretext that if Osama bin Laden allegedly was not in Pakistan he could be killed there. Obama had left the rest to the CIA and the military -- for the CIA to track him down and find a good time for killing him, and the military would do the kill. We know the rest. Seal Team Six did an underworld-style hit on Osama bin Laden, the only way to dispatch him that involved too many risks. Terrorist activity worldwide slowed greatly.
The President did his job (diplomacy, which he does well), the CIA did its job, and Seal Team Six did its job. The President saw the plan, recognized risks and consequences of both success and failure, saw the plan as the best one available, and signed off. He gave credit where it was due (CIA and military) and gave it the best optics possible.
Once one is a retired senior officer one is free to judge the competency of civilian leadership. Obama may not have been excellent at military procurement as the typical right-wing President, but he did well with what was available. I can excoriate Donald Trump from the Right (character flaws and pointless violations of American tradition) as well as from the Left. I concur with the retired Admiral.
Trump has Obama derangement syndrome nearly two years into his Presidency. Guess who looks better now? The Trump obsession with Obama is simply sick.
