Obama's decision to go after bin Laden "one of the gutsiest" moves, adviser says

President Obama's decision to send operatives after Osama bin Laden in a compound in Pakistan on Sunday was "what I believe was one of the most gutsiest calls of any president in recent memory," White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said today.

"There was nothing that confirmed that bin Laden was at that compound," Brennan said at a White House press briefing.

The president relied on strong -- but not bulletproof -- evidence that the al Qaeda leader was at a residence in Abbotabad, Pakistan. Intelligence officials who had tracked bin Laden for years "pulled on every thread" and were able to "build a body of evidence that suggested, circumstantially, that bin Laden was at that compound," Brennan said.

Intelligence officials had more confidence in this body of information than they have had since Tora Bora, he added.

The evidence accumulated, Brennan said, to the point where the president was able to weigh the pros and cons of attacking the compound and developing options for operations against the location. The president also took into account the safety of the American people, Brennan said, and the goal of limiting collateral damage.

"And ultimately, we got to that point where we could bring those together," he said. "The president made the decision, and the results, I think, speak for themselves."

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[Joseph_Meyer]

Yeah, really, Truman ordering the atom bombs to be dropped on Japan pales by comparison.

[John_Rational]

Attention Obama haters! Get your licks in now because after 2012 you won't matter any more, and the two or three RepubliCONs left in congress are going to be really upset with you as well. It is so very wonderful to have opponents who defeat themselves! For the first time in history we are now very close to ridding ourselves of these annoying fleas on the body politic!!!

[tiredofthebs]

I cannot believe they called this coward "GUTSY". What a joke!

[rationall7]

Bush didn't have the "GUTS" to order a special opps mission because he was affraid it would turn into an OOPS my Bad mission.

[rationall7]

Gutsy moves of the year. Palin takes down a bear, Trump takes down Gary Bussy, Obama takes out OBL.

[rationall7]

I left out Mitt Romney gutsy announcement to run for president when he passed his own version of mandatory healthcace, Mitt took Mitt out. (((LOL)))

[monterino]

Come on folks- Give it up- Obama was brave, he made a gutsy call and the SEAL's pulled it off. Just give it up! Obama's guts and the Navy SEAL's win one for all Americans. PS- On another note: a man was killed in cold blood and some other innocents went down too. Nothing to really be jumping for joy about. Funny old saying about revenge: "if you are seeking revenge, you'd better dig two graves". This man had to go, and he has gone. It's not like winning the Superbowl.

[rationall7]

My 2012 my T-shirt will read on it in a Kojack style "Who Took Out OBL for you Baby" or "Who Made It Safer In America For You Baby" Team Obama Rocks!

Obama finishes another of Bush's homework assignments.

[longtree-2009]

the ones with the guts were the actual special ops team members that did the mission. all obama did was give the go ahead command which takes little or no guts to do sitting safely stateside. obama made a decision anyone with command authority would have made given the circumstances. what's is sad is obama's apparent move to make political mileage out of what should be considered sop for destroying a target, a known enemy of the USA. obama is using bin laden's death to his political benefit, posing and so forth.

[rationall7]

obama is using bin laden's death to his political benefit
------------------------
Why not, he was the one that said in 2008 we would step-up the hunt for OBL and Obama gave the green light for the special opps
that didn't cost the taxpayer millions of dollars & lives, it's better than taking credit for Obama releasing his BC long form.

[catmomtx]

Oh for goodness sakes. You people just can't stand it. President Obama did in two and a half years what George Bush couldn't do in eight. For those eight years all you all talked about was getting Bin Laden. George Bush gave up. He said himself that he didn't care, he didn't spend time thinking about Bin Laden. President Obama did. In fact he was paying attention right from the beginning. This just didn't happen by accident and it couldn't have happened without a lot of planning. President Obama did what he was supposed to do as Commander in Chief. They could not have acted on their own, get it?

I find it rather funny to hear so many Obama haters saying that the President was just doing this for political reasons when you all are the only ones saying that. Hey, the election is a year away and Republicans don't even have a viable candidate. I would think if he were doing this for political purposes he would have either done it at the mid term elections or closer to the Presidential elections. Obviously THIS President is thinking about the American people and not playing Republican games. What is sad is you trying to make something negative about this when getting Bin Laden was oh so important for George Bush and the American people at one point. But as usual, you people are all for it until President Obama does it, then you are against it. dam n!!!!

[Yak01]

Obama did the right thing and deserves praise.

However, John Brennan knows that ST6 has carried out many other tasks that were just as "gutsy" as this call.

Let's not exploit this too much please!!!

[AlFranken]

Oh no -- we are going to milk this for all its worth -- you can count on that. It will be printed on all our campaign t-shirts. Go Obama!

[credibility2]

What the president did was what he was supposed to do and not the gutsiest move of any president in recent memory. The president promised he'd get Bin Laden during his campaigning. He was making good on a promise, which even had he not stated while campaigning, would have still been expected. While some credit goes to this administration, major credit goes to our military and intelligence, including what was initially begun by the former president and his intelligence. No one stands alone on this one and that goes for the current administration.

[AOCGUY]

Yes the Pres did what he was supposed to do and it still was gutsy considering if the intel was wrong or if for some reason Bin Laden wasnt home at the time this would have gone done as a debacle instead of the great success that it was.

I might point out that the SEALs, also very gutsy, also did what they were supposed to do. Kudos to all involved, from the SEAL that pulled the trigger all the way to the President.

[janareader]

President Obama....yahooo....cool hand luke this guy. He is going down as one of the best. All his enemies.. alas in America are making him stronger ... but sad to see a segment of our population that has so much hate for a fellow american.. their president. Stop the hate... just vote .. that is our democracy... leave the hate to those less free.