The following is from The Hill:
One New York Democratic lawmaker took a shot at President George W. Bush amid the celebration over the slaying of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
“This is the ‘Mission Accomplished’ moment President Bush only fantasized about,” Rep. Gary Ackerman said on CNN, referencing a 2003 speech by Bush in which he announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq in front of a banner that read “Mission Accomplished.”
Reaction from lawmakers and politicians has steadily flowed in since President Obama announced the killing of the man behind 9/11 late Sunday night, but very few have contained examples of overt partisanship.
Republicans have largely thanked both Presidents Obama and Bush for their work in hunting down bin Laden, while Democrats have primarily mentioned Obama and not Bush.
Interestingly, bin Laden’s slaying was announced eight years to the day after Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech.
Ackerman, who represents areas of the New York City metro area, celebrated bin Laden’s death and praised Obama’s national security team for pulling off the complex operation.
“We cut the head off of the worm,” he said.
Still, he warned that bin Laden’s slaying does not mean the head of radical extremism.
The head could “grow back,” he said.
(Source: The Hill)
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16 Responses
“This is the ‘Mission Accomplished’ moment”?!?!?
Why??? Because ONE terrorist is dead?
Yes, it’s great that this rasha gamur has gone to his “reward”, but there are many thousands more to go.
This was a VERY foolish statement by Ackerman, ESPECIALLY if he was trying to take a shot at Bush. Bush was really only talking about defeating Saddam’s army, NOT about the whole war on terrorism.
The war on terrorism is very far from over, and will probably NEVER be over until Mashiach comes.
Will the U.N. condemn the United States for this mission, the way they condemn Israel when Israel conducts “targeted assassinations of terrorist leaders???
Or… does Obama get a pass?
It is just as much “Mission Accomplished” in Afghanistan right now as it was in Iraq when Bush announced it in 2003. Although President Obama gave him no credit, President Bush was actually the one to set up the intelligence and military efforts to capture or kill Bin Laden. In fact, American intelligence kept tabs on the compound prior to 2008 — when Bush was still in office. President Obama deserves the credit for signing off the mission (had it failed, he would’ve been blamed), but Bush deserves the credit for weakening the arch-terrorist and put him on-the-run. It was his unpopular moves that caused the army to remain vigilant and determined to catch him.
The joke is actually on Bill Clinton. It was under his watch that Bin Laden struck America. He was the one who pandered and decided to put it off to his successor. He could’ve captured him early on, thus eliminating staggering costs of war and thousands of American casualties, here and abroad.
I should add the Clinton did [officially] pursue the arrest of Bin Laden? He claimed that he simply had inadequate intelligence. Well, that is actually an insult on American intelligence. Presidents Bush and Obama proved that America’s reach is actually insurmountable.
Gary Ackerman is a disgrace. Another Liberal jew making a Chillul Hashem. It was the democrat/liberals who were against the war that President Bush persuaded and put all the resource in the military and CSI to hunt Al Quata and Osama. The dems fought Bush every turn, then wanted military home and let Al Quata get away with it. Liberals are shameful.
David, you might recall that during the Clinton administration (and otherwise, I think he was a very good president), our intelligence capabilities were basically limited to computer analysis, as opposed to old fashioned street pounding. Bush reestablished our intelligence department as vital to our interests, although I’m sure none of as are sure if the spin off of Homeland Security has really made a difference.
Glad Obama got this job done. I’m no fan, but I appreciate that he followed GWB’s methodology on this. Not that the job is anywhere near done.
Wake up and smell the coffee you Bush Groupies…Dubya never had a moment like this. Bush would shoot from the hip, excluding anyone from the table who disagreed with his agenda. It has come out in press reports today how Obama resisted proposals to level the compound – how deliberate and careful he was to construct an actuion where Bin Laden’s presence could be verified and his person or body retrieved. Obama exhibited patience, intelligence and persistance…a class act.
Jeff Zeleny in today’s NY Times writes:
“Bin Laden’s death is certainly one of the most significant and defining moments of Mr. Obama’s presidency. It allows him to claim the biggest national security victory in a decade — something that eluded President George W. Bush for nearly eight years — and instantly burnishes his foreign policy credentials at a time when he has been questioned about his decisions on the Middle East. The gravity of the moment was impossible to minimize. At ground zero, in baseball stadiums and on college campuses across the country, elation erupted as though a war had been won.”
(#5) – A chillul Hashem frdm? You should be in kiruv circles where we strive to keep people from seeing the imbelcilic chillul Hashem that gets posted on this website.
Credit for Obama’s capture goes to W. It was in 2007 and 2008, during the GWB Administration, that the intelligence (i.e. Osama’s courier who led us back to Osama) was developed that led to yesterday’s action.
Wake up and smell the coffee you OBAMA Groupies…
Security in this country (at the borders, at malls, at airports, at amusement parks, at virtually ALL public places) is a huge JOKE!!!
It is truly ONLY through chasdai HaSh-m that nothing major has happened here since 9/11.
When, chas v’chalila, something big DOES happen here, will that also be because obama is a “class act”?
Cas, AinOhdMilvado? Tsk tsk
Credit goes to the Nevy Seals who pulled this off, those who planned this and even the one who had the guts to give the mission a go (Obama – had it failed, well just think jimmy Carter). However, one should also be thankful that Guantanamo Bay was not shut down, it is reported the information leading to this mission originated with those interrogated there.
apushatayid – I think your point on Guantanamo is well put – shkoyach
Well stated AinOhdMilvado and Dave Hirsch.
Ackerman’s comment was in poor taste.
Congressman Ackerman’s comment is no worse than Rush (draft dodger) Limbaugh’s congratulations to President Obama for following the policy of George W. Bush.