Israel Matzav

Why Obama can't take too much credit for Osama

Barack Obama and his administration have been trying hard - really hard - to take as much credit as possible for the death of Osama Bin Laden. But do they deserve that credit? Consider this (Hat Tip: Dan F):

U.S. officials said the information that ultimately led to bin Laden's capture originally came from detainees held in secret CIA prison sites in Eastern Europe. There, agency interrogators were told of an alias used by a courier whom bin Laden particularly trusted.

It took four long years to learn the man's real name, then years more before investigators got a big break in the case, these officials said. Sometime in mid-2010, the man was overheard using a phone by intelligence officials, who then were able to locate his residence — the specially constructed $1 million compound with walls as high as 18 feet topped with barbed wire.

Who were these detainees? What kind of 'secret CIA prison sites'? And what motivated them to talk to their interrogators? Hint: It wasn't a promise of chocolate cake.

Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Shy Guy).



That's right - the information about Osama Bin Laden's courier, which led to Sunday night's targeted killing came from waterboarding terrorists.

But Barack Obama opposed waterboarding and has put a stop to it since his administration came to power.

Barack Obama's campaign has just sent over a statement saying that he cannot support Michael Mukasey for AG absent some clearer language from him on waterboarding:

"I have been consistent in my strong belief that no Administration should allow the use of torture, including so-called 'enhanced interrogation techniques' like water-boarding, head-slapping, and extreme temperatures. It's time that we had a Department of Justice that upholds the rule of law and American values, instead of finding ways to enable the President to subvert them. No more political parsing or legal loopholes. I cannot support Judge Mukasey unless he clearly and unequivocally rejects techniques like water-boarding."

And since he took office....

President Barack Obama said Wednesday night that waterboarding authorized by former President George W. Bush was torture and that the information it gained from terror suspects could have been obtained by other means. "In some cases, it may be harder," he conceded at a White House news conference capping a whirlwind first 100 days in office.

...

The president also said he was "absolutely convinced" he had acted correctly in banning tough interrogation techniques including waterboarding, which simulates drowning, and in making public the Bush administration memos detailing their use on terrorist suspects. "Not because there might not have been information that was yielded by these various detainees ... but because we could have gotten this information in other ways, in ways that were consistent with our values, in ways that were consistent with who we are."

Obama has come under heavy criticism for his actions from former Vice President Dick Cheney and other Republicans. They have urged Obama to release memos they say will show the tough methods were successful in obtaining information.

Obama told reporters he has read the documents Cheney and others are referring to but said they are classified and declined to discuss their details. In a White House exchange with House Republican leader John Boehner last week, Obama said the record was equivocal.

Maybe the information that led to Osama Bin Laden's death could have been obtained without waterboarding. But the fact is that it was not. The fact is that the death of Osama Bin Laden would not have happened without the waterboarding pursued by George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Michael Mukasey. Obama has no right to take credit. If we had done things his way, Osama Bin Laden would probably still be alive.

Labels: al-Qaeda, Barack Obama, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Michael Mukasey, Osama Bin Laden, Peter King, waterboarding

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:04 PM