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Asked about the credit the president should receive for the successful mission, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney stressed today that Mr. Obama "feels strongly this is not a partisan issue." © 2011 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Who deserves credit for bin Laden's killing?
Osama bin Laden has only been dead for a few days, but attention is already turning to the fight over who deserves credit for taking down the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
In announcing that bin Laden had been killed Sunday night, President Obama credited the "countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals" who have worked in anonymity for nearly a decade to find bin Laden. He thanked the men who carried out the operation for their "professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage."
But Mr. Obama also stressed his own role in the process.
"Shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network," he said.
He noted that he had been briefed about a possible lead, met repeatedly with his national security team and then "determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice."
Not thanked in Mr. Obama's speech: Former President George W. Bush.
President Bush, right, walks out with then President-elect Barack Obama, left, on the North Portico of the White House before sharing the Presidential limousine enroute to Capitol Hill for the inauguration of Mr. Obama in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009.
/ APRep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the incoming chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said almost immediately after the address that Mr. Obama deserves credit for bin Laden's fall, hailing his "leadership in making the targeting of Osama Bin Laden our highest military and intelligence priority."
Even some Republicans agreed: New York Rep. Peter King said Mr. Obama deserves "tremendous credit," while many prominent potential GOP presidential candidates - including Mitch Daniels, Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney -- lauded the president (among others) for his role.
Palin hails bin Laden's death - but keeps distance from praising Obama
Yet others either withheld praise for Mr. Obama or made sure to give much of the presidential credit to George W. Bush. Consider the words of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who said, "I commend President Obama who has followed the vigilance of President Bush in bringing bin Laden to justice."
On March 13, 2002, President Bush gave a press conference in which he played down the importance of catching bin Laden. He said that "the idea of focusing on one person is -- really indicates to me people don't understand the scope of the mission." At one point he said, "I just don't spend that much time on him."
Asked if he believes "the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive," Mr. Bush responded, "Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him." He added that "[t]error is bigger than one person."
In 2006, the CIA actually closed its unit dedicated to finding bin Laden, though agents said tracking him remained a high priority.
How did bin Laden resist Navy SEALs without a weapon?
Al Quds/AAR/Sipa
"I think the credit for the focus and the fight and obviously the intelligence gathering over the years is shared by both administrations," he said.
Carney added, however, that refocusing the CIA on bin Laden's capture was one of Mr. Obama's campaign promises -- and "one he followed up on."
He said it was "understandable" if others doubted, after so many years, that bin Laden would be caught or needed to be caught. Yet, he said, "the commitment of members of both administrations should not be doubted."
Will Obama get a bin Laden boost?
Supporters of the Bush administration chafe at the suggestion that Mr. Bush was not dedicated to bringing bin Laden to justice. (Mr. Bush had once vowed to get him "dead or alive.") A former top intelligence officer told Politico that Mr. Bush regularly asked about bin Laden.
"I'd walk in there and he would just say, 'So where are we on bin Laden?'" said the official. "He was very focused on it - this was always a top priority."
Others, meanwhile, have suggested the lion's share of the credit belongs to Mr. Bush, not Mr. Obama, because the former authorized the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" on detainees, leading to the intelligence, first gleaned years ago, that brought down bin Laden. (It's not clear if this is true: The White House, some leaders in Congress and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have suggested that such techniques did not lead to bin Laden, but others have said the techniques, including waterboarding, led to the intelligence.) After it was announced that bin Laden was dead, Iowa Rep. Steve King tweeted, "Wonder what President Obama thinks of water boarding now?" Mr. Bush's backers have also pointed out that some of the intelligence leading to bin Laden appears to have come from the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, which Mr. Obama (thus far ineffectually) vowed to close.
Debate continues over role of waterboarding in gathering bin Laden intel
For Mr. Bush, who is now comfortably settled in Texas, the question of credit may not matter all that much. But for Mr. Obama and his fellow Democrats, the credit question is an important one. If Mr. Obama is seen as the man who brought down bin Laden, it blunts GOP criticism of the president as weak and indecisive on foreign policy. That may be part of the reason that Mr. Obama decided to spotlight his role in taking down bin Laden in his remarks Sunday night.
Peter Wehner, a former deputy assistant to Mr. Bush, wrote Tuesday that the killing of bin Laden stopped a damaging emerging narrative that Mr. Obama is "inept and feckless" on foreign policy. He also pointed to one of the most important decisions Mr. Obama made: Not to bomb the compound but rather to send in a Navy SEAL team to take bin Laden out. That decision, he suggested, will be central to how Mr. Obama's role is remembered.
"President Obama took a risky (but wise) gamble in opting for sending in Navy SEALs instead of bombing the bin Laden compound to smithereens," wrote Wehner. "The president's decision was rewarded. Bin Laden was killed; his body has been identified; a treasure trove of intelligence was reportedly found; and innocent lives were saved. Mr. Obama's role was not incidental in all this; it was his decision that made it come to pass. That won't be forgotten."
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My comment is this: I hate racisim. I hate it! And these fools are continuing to make America a Target. You couldn't let America Rebound and come back from years of disdain. You had to go and start talking about race again. You are so stupid to think that it can't be heard in what you say.
America should be ashamed for being the way that it is. Sometimes we are soooo Stupid. Who deserves the credit for killing Osama is the person(s) who risked their lives to catch this idiot, and the one of course, who pulled the trigger.
Now, the president who ordered it, should receive the credit. No matter who is in the White House.
America is still separate and unequal. America still thrives upon racisim. And because of it, American's can expect much of the same disdain from the rest of the World. And it's our own fault!
Too many of us thrive on the color issue, and this is a dangerous thing. We disrespect our leaders, our presidents, and they in turn are disrespected by the rest of the world. And you wonder why people hate us! What fools we have allowed ourselves to become.
Why can't we say We Did It!!? AMERICA DID IT! And then ask yourselves why does a president in this troubling time we live in have to defend himself to begin with? You have a former president who admits he put this country in debt, and you blame the one who is trying to get us out of it. No one is willing to sacrifice to get this country out of debt. Not one. We have presidential hopefulls putting down this president, and treating him like he just came in on a slave Ship. Don't think those who plan to vote on this next election aren't paying attention. We are. We are. I know the racists will be voting, but remember you're not the only ones who will be voting. Those of us who are tired of this racisim are watching and waiting to vote too! And we will remember those of you who are trying to build your plateform on the racisist vent. Even when you try to change that vent at the last leg, we will remember what your angry insensitive horrorable words are doing to this administration, and we will remember at the polls. Sarah, Mit. And Mit you almost had a new generation, and you ruined it. Sarah forget about It! Donald, a ***********, really? We are stil losing our way. WE Need to find the right road, and get on it and not look back!
AND THE MEDIA--You are at fault too--stop feeding in to this mess. You all our keeping our troops and our nation at risk. STOP IT THERE COMES A TIME WHEN THE MEDIA MUST SAY, THERE IS NOTHING TO REPORT TODAY--PEACE--I'M OUT--HOLLA!!!
and yes he does not deserve hardly any credit. now remember the cons here, told us it was from info they had gotten 4 years ago, but they were too stupid to realize, that was a bluderous claim.....which means he FAILED TO ACT. we even seen several times he claimed "he did not care about OBL" yes thats a fact. where obama clearly stated he was going after OBL no matter what country he was in! we also find out now that all along obama has been AGRESSIVELY pursuing OBL and he was his main goal,unlike bandar bush whom had hi main goal as invading Iraq for oil. and yes greenie himself told you cons, "it was about the oil" FACT !
http://www?.rense.com?/general14?/bushsform?er.htm
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02
"I am truly not that concerned about him."
- G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden's whereabout???s,
3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)
"And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act, and we will take them out. We will kill bin Laden. We will crush al Qaeda. That has to be our biggest national security priority." - Barack Obama (2008 debate)
http://vid?eo.thinkpr?ogress.org?/2006/09/b?arnesosama?.320.240.f?lv
Just saying....
Going forward though, it should be clear to all Americans that the D or R next to the Presidents name is not important. Either will protect their country.
Instead on so much focus on changing from a D President to an R President or vice versa, the focus really should be the Congressional & State representatives who continue to abuse the national & state budgets in relative anonymity