Thanks to the competence, courage, and bravery of a small group of well trained dedicated warriors of Seal Team Six, the competence of our intelligence services, and the competence of the Obama administration, Osama bin Laden is dead.
Apparently the media and the ideologues are quickly reverting to their world of pettiness, incriminations, and inappropriate claims of credit for this historic accomplishment. In doing so they diminish the significance of the achievement and tarnish the honor due those who worked so hard and risked so much to succeed so brilliantly. The mission was accomplished.
Enough cannot be said about the unnamed members of our military who conducted this incredible operation. While there is some confusion about details, it is absolutely clear that the boots on the ground, at great personal self-risk, performed magnificently without undue loss of innocent lives or casualties among themselves. In a testament to the untold hours of planning and training preceding this event, split second decisions were made in an incomprehensible, to most of us, atmosphere of perceptual overload. They left the site with the body of bin Laden and a trove of potentially invaluable computer data.
The performance of our intelligence agencies and the dedicated professionals that gathered and analyzed information over a decade was also impressive. In the end, sufficiently confident in their data, the CIA made a clear recommendation to the president. Credit is due to Leon Panetta for his leadership and skill in restoring the credibility and morale of the CIA during his tenure.
President Obama, charged with the responsibility of making the final decision, displayed self-confidence and self-assurance allowing him to create an atmosphere where members of his administration voice opinions openly during meetings without fear of recrimination. After listening to the conflicting judgments and concerns of those participating in the strategy sessions he came to what others have described as a “gutsy” decision.
The system functioned. Can we find in this process reasons to appreciate our strengths and build upon them as we confront the serious challenges our nation faces?
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