Nighttime U.S. military raid in Somalia frees American, Dane; 9 kidnappers killed
January 25, 2012 at 1:02 am in Grand Forks Herald
U.S. Special Forces troops flew into Somalia on a nighttime helicopter raid early today, freed an American and a Danish hostage and killed nine of the kidnappers in a mission that President Barack Obama said he personally authorized. Continue Reading
Good.
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I absolutely agree with you. Only fatalities on their side.
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I like this president. He’s becoming more like Jack Bauer. I’m sure republicans will still hate him, but really, they were never going to like him anyway.
Good job, Mr. President!
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Funny how the group that always cried because the GOP was quick to pull the trigger as opposed to sitting around “negotiating” for months on end, are now actually happy about a president who uses force.
Do you suppose its because they finally “Get it”, that some people just cant be negotiated with?
Or do you suppose its just because its ‘Their” guy and not Bush?
My guess is its because they like Obama and he cant do any wrong.
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Could be that Obama did it the smart way–killing the people in the act, not thrusting a region of the world into chaos and war with no clear goal. Just sayin’
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Obama was a member of Congress when Congress decided to do the thrusting.
Only Congress can authorize the use of troops in an engagment like Iraq and Afghanistan.
You give Bush too much credit.
Just sayin’
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Is that right congress is in charge of calling out wars?…. The same congress who believes pizza is a vegetable?…. The group of lazy, nay-sayers that 8/10 Americans disapprove of their work?….. Ok we are doomed for sure. So who is in charge of hiring these clowns?
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So very true.
It really does say a lot about our refusal to demand competence in our Leaders.
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This President has been using surgical strikes as opposed to the ‘shock and awww’ crap that the shrub was so fond of. Big difference.
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I wonder who he would have blamed had the attempt gone sour and Americans died.
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bush of course….for “putting us over there”….
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Good Lord Capt Amerika – the ATTEMPT did NOT go sour. What don’t you understand? It worked. Maybe you would like to discuss Jessica Lynch and all the BS propaganda that went with her “rescue”?
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Jessica was a troop and you never leave one behind. All thoose that have never served wouldn’t understand. It’s easy to say how they should go in when you have never had to “do the dirty work” as I like to call it. I can bet you that the team wasn’t as happy as you to do the mission. Yes we sign up for this but it’s a big difference when people put our lives on the line so they can go to places that they know are inherently dangerous.
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We wouldnt have to keep rescuing these people if they would just stay out of other peoples problems.
She may have been on a project with good intentions but until we are asked to help, we should mind our own business.
Now one has to ask how the American Journalist will be treated by this same group after 9 of their group were just killed.
My guess is we wont be so quick to run in and save him.
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We should be. Rescuing people isn’t about judging their actions. It is about helping others, and is a noble act. Only a coward on some blog site would question our military’s professionalism.
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I’m questioning our Military being put in harms way because of stupid peoples decisions.
Would you want your son or daughter killed on one of these rescue missions that never needed to happen?
Therefore, it is very much about judging their actions.
And while you spent your time blogging, i spent 23 years serving this nation in the US military. so i think i’m entitled to my opinion on them being put in harms way for stupidity.
BTW, if rescuing Americans is such a noble act, where was Obama when Iran had the hikers for more than a year? How about the American Journalist captured on saturday by this same group?
I guess noble rescues are a selective thing. right?
Dont want the Seals dropping right into the middle of Iran, that might cause some problems you think?
Obama sounds more like an opportunitists to me.
Got to love election years.
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It’s basic logic….Any president has very few options with Iran before breaking into all out war that would be wrong for the whole world…Not just us….
On the other hand I too believe that there’s far too many people who go into areas where they know it is very high risk….And then families and friends try to pressure the government to get others to risk their lives to rescue them. There’s some countries where the American government should have an agreement something like prisons have…One that states that by entering that country you agree you know you might find yourself in danger and there’s very little the country can do to rescue you…..Then when the pressure starts they signed waiver can be produced….It wont stop the immeatiate friends and family, but at least the public will be aware that the people went in knowing they were risking it all on their own
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Lets see if you feel the same way if this happens again and the hostages along with half the team are killed.
Has nothing to do with who the President is.
It is about risking the lives of many to save 1 life.
She knew what she was doing when she chose to go over there.
I truly doubt you would have felt the same way had this been Bush that ordered this.
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1. the seals/rangers, etc SIGNED UP FOR THIS STUFF.
2. sure they were over there- DEMINING areas to make the safe(er)
3. If it goes bad, it goes bad….continue the mission, kill as many bad guys as possible while at it. Its why they spend literally millions on each seal to get them trained
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That’s right…Show your real colors….A white hood should complete the picture
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The republican tea party speaks….when’s the next cross burning?
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At the next union rally.
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13 comments and almost nothing useful. This is a good story, period.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Resolution
Very few voted against invading Iraq.
Among those who voted to invade Iraq were most notably:
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Yea
Bennett (R-UT), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Yea
Breaux (D-LA), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Carnahan (D-MO), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Cleland (D-GA), Yea
Clinton (D-NY), Yea
Daschle (D-SD), Yea
Dodd (D-CT), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Edwards (D-NC), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Hollings (D-SC), Yea
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Miller (D-GA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Torricelli (D-NJ), Yea
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The biggest Hall of Shame to date
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Surely you remember why everybody voted “yes” don’t you? It was because the Bush administration lied about them having weapons of mass destruction. All the stuff with the mushroom cloud references etc. They couldn’t have gotten agreement if they didn’t scare the krapola out of everybody.
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Pelosi and Reid had every single peice of information that Bush received.
Lets not try to play this silly game again.
Presidential briefings include the House and Senate leaders.
The reason everyone voted yes was because Saddam refused to allow inspoectors into the country to prove that he didnt have the WMD.
Inspections could have prevented this whole thing.
Or would you rather we all just believe that all of these Democrats were simply sheep following the GOP?
As if that ever happens.
Maybe Pelosi and Reid just forgot to read the resolution?
It happens, right?
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Good job, SEALs!
And thanks for giving them the go-ahead, Mr President.
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Sorry Captain I am a historian by training & cynical by nature. I believe the WMD story about as much as I believe in the tooth fairy. Go back 130 years or so to the beginning of the Spanish American war. The entire country was mobilized around the rallying cry “Remember the Maine!” A ship whose mechanical problems were blamed on terrorists, even though the truth was known at the time.
The trouble with war fever is it takes on a life of its own & it’s almost impossible to start once it gets started. The vote is not surprising. Once you have the American people lathered up, the end result is inevitable.
I blame much more than Bush, but I certainly hold him & is administration accountable. In 50 years unsealed documents will be released showing that the preponderance of evidence showed there were no WMD before we invaded. By then it was too late. The juggernaut had already started, & like I said, once it is started, it is almost impossible to stop.
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whatever “nurse”… you just believe what you want…they ALL had the same intel….as you see above most voted to go there. Why are they any different than bush for wanting to go there? You cant pick side like this, based on same info and your feelings. We have not “taken” all their oil…as the lefties like to think was the reason…
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Joe, I blame them all, as my comments show. I do not believe they acted in good faith. I believe that information that was contrary to the war fever was squashed. This is nothing new, it happens before every conflict. As I said, war fever takes on a life of its own.
In Vietnam the Pentagon Papers proved we knew it was hopeless a full 5 years before we finally pulled out. So, if you are a parent of a child killed during the last 5 years of that war, how do you feel about Johnson and Nixon?
Ten years to get out of Iraq after we knew there was no danger to our interests after 6 months? Is Iraq any stabler now than it was then?
Part of what we pay our representatives to do is lead. That means quit looking at the polls. If you realize you made a mistake: mitigate it. Don’t dig the hole deeper.
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“. The entire country was mobilized around the rallying cry “Remember the Maine!” A ship whose mechanical problems were blamed on terrorists, even though the truth was known at the time.”
The Spanish-American War was as much the result of “journalists” like Joseph Pulitzer as anything else.
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Gene:
How do you mobilize a nation? I prefer to use the press: people already are watching, for the most part they believe what they hear (sheep being led to slaughter usually do), and advertisers pay for it all.
I mean seriously: if you voted for the Big O, which cable channel did you tend to listen to in order to reinforce your views? Therefore which channel did the Democrats spend most of their time courting.
The same list of questions goes for those who voted Republican, with the same answers, just a different channel.
130 years ago Newspapers were the primary source of information, so if you wanted to inflame the country’s sympathies, that is what you used. Nothing sinister. It is important to remember that if you heard the Gettysburg Address you were underwhelmed, if you read it in the paper a week later, you were speechless at its brilliance.
What do you think the Federalist Papers were? An attempt to sway the populace towards an opinion.
I know you are taking after Always Correct, taking a sentence out of context for effect, but be careful; you have a brain and he does not. Do not risk getting yourself confused with him.
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Gotta agree 100 percent with Flying Nurse on last two comments. I pity the families of lost sons and daughters in that Iraq fiasco. The republican neo con’s had plans for war with Iraq way before 911. That’s been proven.
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Your right about that one, Jeff.
The lost sons and daughters in Iraq are not all that different from the Viet Nam lost, are they?
Just another cause that didn’t make a lot of difference and cost a lot of lives.
Thank Heavens the current administration has realised that drones and SEAL missions are more effective!
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I agree with FN here too. The “proof” of WMD were false and givin to everyone, I believed them at the time too. But as time when by and nothing was found I realized it was all a bunch of BS to rally the country around the invasion. Why do you think Colin Powell resigned? I believe he figured out he had been lied to by Bush also, he is a man of high morals and wanted no part of the lies.
Just my 2 cents.
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“1. the seals/rangers, etc SIGNED UP FOR THIS STUFF.
2. sure they were over there- DEMINING areas to make the safe(er)
3. If it goes bad, it goes bad….continue the mission, kill as many bad guys as possible while at it. Its why they spend literally millions on each seal to get them trained”
Just because they signed up for it, doesn’t mean their lives should be risked foolishly.
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So, ‘Bob’, saving a US citizen and a Dane, who were there to remove landmines on their own initiative, was ‘foolishly risking lives’ of trained killers? And since the US citizen was in dire need of medical help?
Admit it. You really don’t care what’s right or wrong, you just hate the black guy who happens to be our President, right?
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Wow Bac just last week you were calling me stupid for doing my duty and the “dirty work that came with it.” Now you are praising the same type of actions. So which is it?
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Take your pick, shank, take your pick.
Depends what you have to say about the President.
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Actually, I’m praising the successful actions of a highly trained team who went in, did the job, and got out with the captives.
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