For the record, Iâm opposed to both the warfare and welfare states. But all this talk of the warfare state being only a Republican phenomenon is ridiculous. Obama promised to leave Iraq on his first day in office if possible. (The video is on Youtube). Instead, we got a faux withdrawal a couple of years later. And heâs gotten us more involved in Afghanistan and now involved in Libya (another huge mess where follow-up ânation buildingâ will be a nightmare). Not to mention, Clintonâs forays into Bosnia were just as ridiculous as Bushâs pre-emptive strikes in Iraq. Together, they gutted anything remaining of the Westphalian doctrine of only entering wars with a clear and present danger. And LBJ wasnât exactly opposed to the Vietnam war, either.
I would imagine that the scenario was originally presented to him framed and couched in such a way that Obama had to take the obvious step immediately. Obama's only real decision in the matter was B-2 air strike with enough BLU-109 JDAMs to dig a large reservoir or of course the JSOC mission. The problem with the air strike, of course, beyond collateral damage with everything being vaporized in the process is the finality presented to the Arab world in the form of a tall, ugly corpse with a gaping chest wound and half a face and skull missing courtesy of a 5.56 mm 'double-tap'.
Dont get me wrong. He made the right decision. For that he gets my kudos. As a former ground FAC I am well aware of the collateral damage the airstrike would make. And having the boots on ground made for definate kill. As well as a sweet show of force and proper intel. The only think he didnt do right was not putting the body on ice, shipping it back to NYC and then hanging it smack dab in the middle of ground zero surrounded by a fence and a huge crate of rocks for anybody pick up and throw. Then after the pigeons and maggots stripped the corpse of all meat they should have buried the bones wrapped in a pigskin at a non-denominational cemetary in an unmarked grave.