"No Easy Day", Navy SEAL goes public on OBL killing

By now most you will have heard of "No Easy Day", the account by former US Navy SEAL "Mark Owen"( as Matt Bissonette coyly terms himself- his photograph and name have already appeared on jihadist websites with threats of retaliation for his and his fellow SEALs "murder of the martyr Sheikh Osama") of the raid on the Abbottabad, Pakistan compound of AQ leader and founder Osama Bin Laden on May 1/2 2011.

I admit I have not yet read anything more than excerpts from "No Easy Day", but as I am no stranger to the hero worship of Special Forces personnel( British, Israeli as well as US), I must confess to a certain discomfort when Owens/Bissonette exults over the killing of OBL( who seems to have been unarmed at the time and contrary to claims at the time by White House/Pentagon spin doctors, he did NOT try to use one of his wives as a"human shield")- "this guy was a pussy!"- although he remains coy as to whether he actually single-handedly "took out" OBL.

I am also troubled not so much by the fact that SEALs killed Bin laden and made no attempt to bring him back to the US for trial- as I noted back in May on the first anniversary of hte Abbottabad raid, the prospect of OBL appearing in a US court was never very strong- soldiers are not policemen- least of Special Forces ( SAS/SBS, Delta Force, Recon Marines, Navy SEALs);when you send them out, they don't usually return with their enemy in handcuffs- as to the disingenousness of official statements and Mr Bissonette's evident dislike of Barack Obama- like it or not whatever his private political views, Obama, like Bush before him was his Commander in Chief. Whether his reelection campaign made much of their killing of America's most hated foe in 2012 was "above their pay grade" as I believe the American saying runs- fighting men fight and leave the politics to the politicians as they should.

Anybody think as I do?

Terry

Bumping for discussion...

Osama bin Laden deserved what he got, and it's still something that I look back on with a smile on my face.

I think that the recent swing to over-idolizing military personnel is absurd. Movies are being made and books written that claim these men are heroes, men that go out and kill others because they're ordered to. What qualifies as a brave man who should be idolized? Obviously someone who shoots an unarmed human being. It's easy to question someone else courage when you are pointing a gun and them. I didn't know members of the military were looking for book deals and movie roles. Just do you damn job and shut up.

Killing the leader of a terrorist organization, whether he was unarmed or not, was their job...

Perhaps the most fitting comment on Bin Laden's death is an old Irish saying- "too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart"!

Terry

@Xanni15 said:

I think that the recent swing to over-idolizing military personnel is absurd. Movies are being made and books written that claim these men are heroes, men that go out and kill others because they're ordered to. What qualifies as a brave man who should be idolized? Obviously someone who shoots an unarmed human being. It's easy to question someone else courage when you are pointing a gun and them. I didn't know members of the military were looking for book deals and movie roles. Just do you damn job and shut up.

O_O So killing a monster who beheads people is wrong? O_O Also they risked their lives on minimal info and took a chance that osama was in the building. They also had to invade secretly, because the foreign government kept lying to us about osama.

Would you prefer they gave osama a gun? If you were in a room with hilter and he was unarmed would you shoot him? It's not like they went into an iraqi village and just shot at anyone they saw.

Oh they want credit because obama took it. Obama leaked government secrets about the raid to a hand picked movie director and obama is getting a movie made to make him look like the one who made the call and ordered the kill. Obama had 3 chances to take out osama over the last 2 years and the seals forced his hand because obama didn't want to go after osama out of fear that if osama was't there it would hurt is campaign.

I'm sorry but if I risked my life and someone else took the credit I'd be pissed. They wouldn't have come forward if obama did warp the truth.

You shouldn't idolize them but respect them for what they do and dedicate their lives for.

This guy is going to get all the bitches now.

Good for him.

@EnSabahNurX said:

@Xanni15 said:

I think that the recent swing to over-idolizing military personnel is absurd. Movies are being made and books written that claim these men are heroes, men that go out and kill others because they're ordered to. What qualifies as a brave man who should be idolized? Obviously someone who shoots an unarmed human being. It's easy to question someone else courage when you are pointing a gun and them. I didn't know members of the military were looking for book deals and movie roles. Just do you damn job and shut up.

O_O So killing a monster who beheads people is wrong? O_O Also they risked their lives on minimal info and took a chance that osama was in the building. They also had to invade secretly, because the foreign government kept lying to us about osama.

Would you prefer they gave osama a gun? If you were in a room with hilter and he was unarmed would you shoot him? It's not like they went into an iraqi village and just shot at anyone they saw.

Oh they want credit because obama took it. Obama leaked government secrets about the raid to a hand picked movie director and obama is getting a movie made to make him look like the one who made the call and ordered the kill. Obama had 3 chances to take out osama over the last 2 years and the seals forced his hand because obama didn't want to go after osama out of fear that if osama was't there it would hurt is campaign.

I'm sorry but if I risked my life and someone else took the credit I'd be pissed. They wouldn't have come forward if obama did warp the truth.

You shouldn't idolize them but respect them for what they do and dedicate their lives for.

I never said I had an issue with him dying or being killed, only with the way in which it was done. They get paid and volunteered to risk their lives.

No, I would not prefer they gave him a gun, not like they needed another reason too execute him. Shooting an unarmed person is the move of a coward, and then to brag about it!? When did members of the military become Judges (like Dredd)? I would not have shot him, I would have tried to capture him. No, our military has already gone into villages and shot at anyone they saw or knocked down doors of peaceful families, no need to do it again.

Who cares who gets the credit? I stand by my original comment that I didn't know members of the military required acknowledgement and book/movie deals. Is that why they do what they do?

If you volunteered to risk your life, that would be your choice. If you're doing it for the credit then you might have gotten into the wrong line of work.

I can't respect someone who shoots an unarmed person who isn't a threat and from certain reports (that appear to be false) was so scared they used others as a human shield. They choose their life.

@Xanni15 said:

@EnSabahNurX said:

@Xanni15 said:

I think that the recent swing to over-idolizing military personnel is absurd. Movies are being made and books written that claim these men are heroes, men that go out and kill others because they're ordered to. What qualifies as a brave man who should be idolized? Obviously someone who shoots an unarmed human being. It's easy to question someone else courage when you are pointing a gun and them. I didn't know members of the military were looking for book deals and movie roles. Just do you damn job and shut up.

O_O So killing a monster who beheads people is wrong? O_O Also they risked their lives on minimal info and took a chance that osama was in the building. They also had to invade secretly, because the foreign government kept lying to us about osama.

Would you prefer they gave osama a gun? If you were in a room with hilter and he was unarmed would you shoot him? It's not like they went into an iraqi village and just shot at anyone they saw.

Oh they want credit because obama took it. Obama leaked government secrets about the raid to a hand picked movie director and obama is getting a movie made to make him look like the one who made the call and ordered the kill. Obama had 3 chances to take out osama over the last 2 years and the seals forced his hand because obama didn't want to go after osama out of fear that if osama was't there it would hurt is campaign.

I'm sorry but if I risked my life and someone else took the credit I'd be pissed. They wouldn't have come forward if obama did warp the truth.

You shouldn't idolize them but respect them for what they do and dedicate their lives for.

I never said I had an issue with him dying or being killed, only with the way in which it was done. They get paid and volunteered to risk their lives.

No, I would not prefer they gave him a gun, not like they needed another reason too execute him. Shooting an unarmed person is the move of a coward, and then to brag about it!? When did members of the military become Judges (like Dredd)? I would not have shot him, I would have tried to capture him. No, our military has already gone into villages and shot at anyone they saw or knocked down doors of peaceful families, no need to do it again.

Who cares who gets the credit? I stand by my original comment that I didn't know members of the military required acknowledgement and book/movie deals. Is that why they do what they do?

If you volunteered to risk your life, that would be your choice. If you're doing it for the credit then you might have gotten into the wrong line of work.

I can't respect someone who shoots an unarmed person who isn't a threat and from certain reports (that appear to be false) was so scared they used others as a human shield. They choose their life.

Why do you keep calling Osama bin Laden, after all that he's responsible for, an "Unarmed person" when he died? He's not an unarmed person, he was a terrorist psychopath.

@HBKTimHBK said:

@Xanni15 said:

@EnSabahNurX said:

@Xanni15 said:

I think that the recent swing to over-idolizing military personnel is absurd. Movies are being made and books written that claim these men are heroes, men that go out and kill others because they're ordered to. What qualifies as a brave man who should be idolized? Obviously someone who shoots an unarmed human being. It's easy to question someone else courage when you are pointing a gun and them. I didn't know members of the military were looking for book deals and movie roles. Just do you damn job and shut up.

O_O So killing a monster who beheads people is wrong? O_O Also they risked their lives on minimal info and took a chance that osama was in the building. They also had to invade secretly, because the foreign government kept lying to us about osama.

Would you prefer they gave osama a gun? If you were in a room with hilter and he was unarmed would you shoot him? It's not like they went into an iraqi village and just shot at anyone they saw.

Oh they want credit because obama took it. Obama leaked government secrets about the raid to a hand picked movie director and obama is getting a movie made to make him look like the one who made the call and ordered the kill. Obama had 3 chances to take out osama over the last 2 years and the seals forced his hand because obama didn't want to go after osama out of fear that if osama was't there it would hurt is campaign.

I'm sorry but if I risked my life and someone else took the credit I'd be pissed. They wouldn't have come forward if obama did warp the truth.

You shouldn't idolize them but respect them for what they do and dedicate their lives for.

I never said I had an issue with him dying or being killed, only with the way in which it was done. They get paid and volunteered to risk their lives.

No, I would not prefer they gave him a gun, not like they needed another reason too execute him. Shooting an unarmed person is the move of a coward, and then to brag about it!? When did members of the military become Judges (like Dredd)? I would not have shot him, I would have tried to capture him. No, our military has already gone into villages and shot at anyone they saw or knocked down doors of peaceful families, no need to do it again.

Who cares who gets the credit? I stand by my original comment that I didn't know members of the military required acknowledgement and book/movie deals. Is that why they do what they do?

If you volunteered to risk your life, that would be your choice. If you're doing it for the credit then you might have gotten into the wrong line of work.

I can't respect someone who shoots an unarmed person who isn't a threat and from certain reports (that appear to be false) was so scared they used others as a human shield. They choose their life.

Why do you keep calling Osama bin Laden, after all that he's responsible for, an "Unarmed person" when he died? He's not an unarmed person, he was a terrorist psychopath.

The author of book said he was unarmed.