Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Let me sleep on it

Among others, the Daily Mail is reporting that Mr. Obama took 16 hours to decide to take out bin Laden by SEAL team strike.

Some might question the wait, but I respect it completely. Not only is Obama putting a SEAL team in harm's way, but there's a good chance that we could spark a war with Pakistan if Osama isn't in the house or if the choppers get shot down (especially on the way in). OTOH, if we bomb we probably never get proof that Osama was in the house (since the Pakistanis would have covered it up post-haste). Unlike Clinton's failures to act against Osama and during anti-Saddam coups in Iraq, there was no evidence that a little delay would hurt.

It would have been better to not have had to ditch the helicopter, but no plan survives meeting with the enemy. We didn't lose any people, got the guy, and even apparently walked out with a lot of intelligence. I don't see a problem with giving the matter a little thought.

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