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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Obama answers the 3.a.m phone call and may have won the White House again

Posted on Monday, May 02, 2011 at 09:14 PM
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This was

Obama’s

3am phone call moment - when he put to bed the questions about his foreign policy credentials once and for all.

It is a huge triumph and a massive personal boost for

the President

.

It is a real coup for his presidency even in the way the mission played out. It was high risk, but crucially, there were no American casualties.

There were real questions over his leadership on foreign policy issues in light of events in Libya and Afghanistan.

After this nobody can ask those questions now - and nobody will be able to ask them during the election, even if it will likely revolve much more around economic issues.

I’d expect him to rise 10-15 points in the polls after this - and you can be sure the pollsters are out polling.

Even the way he delivered the speech was impressive - there was no triumphalism, he was very straightforward, very matter of fact.

He made it clear the US was not taking on the Muslim world. There was no ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner - or the ‘Dead or Alive’ nonsense ex-President Bush came out with.

From a personal perspective, the mood of New Yorkers is one of great happiness - mixed with a sense of relief. that a person who perpetrated such a dreadful atrocity no longer walks the earth.

He killed thousands of innocent people - and the horrific event led to some terrible policies in response. It was a dreadful moment in world history.

So when I first heard that there was to be a Sunday evening statement, I knew it was Bin Laden.

There just was nothing bigger that it could have been.

Watching the announcement I had tears in my eyes.

I remembered the horrible day, the fear we felt watching the news, I remembered all the people I knew who were killed, all the friends who were lost.

It is definitely a very emotional moment for anybody who lived in New York through 9/11.

For New Yorkers, he came to symbolise all that was evil in the world.

Today there is a real sense of closure, but more than that, a real sense of justice.

Bin Laden is gone, the world is a better place.

-----------------

Read more:

Read more: Obama’s Irish advisers were key to Bin Laden plan

Read more: Bin Laden death brings justice to still grieving Irish families -- Closure for those who lost loved ones on 9/11

Read more: Bin Laden shot through left eye, DNA matched sister's brain tissues - buried in Arabian Sea

Read more: Obama answers the 3.a.m phone call and may have won the White House again

-----------------



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105 comments

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jnewnam | May 18, 2011, 02:16 PM EDT
Oh, Bull!!! A 11 year pursuit ended in the Obama administration. There is a report out there that the O had to be forced into the decision. That Valerie Jarrett kept running a block on his decision. No one (specifically Panetta and Clinton) could get him to commit and they knew about bin Laden's location since at least September, 2010. O was too afraid of the consequences if all did not go well and just could not make a decision. That when Panetta finally got him to agree to a land effort in stead of a bombing, Panetta already had in the works for months. O thought it would be months before he had to decide. He had to be dragged off the golf course after the mission had started. Our service men and Panetta did this not Obama, he has just taken the victory laps. What a disgrace!

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paddyRanger | May 18, 2011, 11:05 AM EDT
bullocks for the last time, WE do not (by we I am talking the US and Allies, The West) deliberately target civilians, do you understand what that means, I will say it again...Do not target deliberately civilians (including children) had we done so, Osama would have been taken (KILLED) out ages ago, Al Q on the other hand DELIBERATELY targets civilians it is their goal to kill civilians, what part of that are you too stupid to understand, try condemning that first before you preach any of your crap to me

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bullocks | May 18, 2011, 08:47 AM EDT
paddyRanger this has more to do with what is right and what is wrong. rather than whether i have spent time in Pakistan. civilians are civilians the world over. whether they are Pakistani, Chinese, Vietnamese or even american and it is wrong to kill them , intentionally or accidentally. You still have not condemned the killing of civilians including the children. and you need to learn to read . the article says "MORE THAN 40".well 44 is more than 40.try reading the article. the headline is there just google it.

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paddyRanger | May 16, 2011, 05:16 PM EDT
Bullocks give it a rest try not be so stupid your whole life, you clearly have ZERO clue about Pakistan or THEIR Military, I doubt you have ever had direct contact with them, ever served alongside them or spent any amount of time inside a Paksitani Army Battalion camp, well I have, "Pakistan's army chief condemned the raid by US unmanned drones in unusually strong terms"" of course he condemns it in public, privately he is chuffed to pieces, and you need to check your math, 4 militants and 40 civilians makes 44 not 40, make your mind up......and I could not care less if they take 100 years to revenge.....it is not important, I already told you that is just an excuse, they hate us no matter what we do, GET it now bollocks

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bullocks | May 15, 2011, 05:56 PM EDT
18 March 2011 bbc Pakistan: Calls for revenge after US drones kill 40 Tribal leaders in the Pakistani region of North Waziristan have vowed revenge against the US after drones killed more than 40 people near the Afghan border."We are a people who wait 100 years to exact revenge. We never forgive our enemy," the elders said in a statement. 44 people died at the scene, including 13 children - one as young as seven.On Thursday, Pakistan's army chief condemned the raid by US unmanned drones in unusually strong terms, calling it "intolerable... and in complete violation of human rights". 4 militants -40 civilians in this attack .The relative of these people, civilians, are now your enemies. America has made it that way by their careless attitude. You should go and help someone else.your HELP and GREAT care is costing lives.get it now paddy.

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paddyRanger | May 15, 2011, 01:16 PM EDT
all I can say is, you clearly have mental issues and a lack of comprehension, I have said half a dozen times now, GREAT care is taken to minimize civilian casulties and at no other time in history has this been done. That we do not target PURE civilians is obviously something you are too stupid to understand. That civilians get caught up in this is going to be impossible to do anything about as the terrorists hide behind womens coattails......As for the "Battle for hearts and minds" how childish and stupid are you, why fight a battle that is a waste of time, just defeat the enemy, the fact Al Q KILLS more muslims alone should be enough for them to understand who is actually trying to help them, if they can not see that, how the hell do you think you are going to win their hearts and minds, they do not think logically, a bit like you

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bullocks | May 15, 2011, 11:21 AM EDT
all i can say is ,I hope you are no longer serving as asoldier. the battle for the "hearts and minds" of the people is definitely lost on you. To condone the killing of civilians makes you just as bad as the people who celebrate the loss of life on 9/11.

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paddyRanger | May 14, 2011, 08:37 AM EDT
Nope it does not embarrass me in the slightest, as I already told you, I highly doubt your figures are accurate,in fact you are fill of BS, as indeed anything you say is accurate at all, so no I have ZERO problem with terrorists being KILLED or the civilians (without doubt most are not innocent but support group for Al Q)being used by them as shields, America is not handing Al Qaeda a recruiting tool, they hate the US and the West, NO MATTER what we do, so if you can comprehend this simple fact, they hate us because we are not muslim, they hate us because we invented the TV, Car, Plane, Steam Ship, turbine ship, Radio, Telephone, Radar, Motorbikes, cell phones, computers EVERYTHING, they hate us because we have dominated and they need to use what we invented, they hate us because they are the backward religion............so no your pathetic theory that we are handing them a recruiting tool is exactly that pathetic

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bullocks | May 13, 2011, 03:51 PM EDT
does it embarrass you paddy to use the word killed. these people were not "taken out", they were killed."I don't need to take anymore care than I already do sunshine !" is this all you have to say about the 957 civilians killed by US drones. you see, what you seem to want to avoid is that this is an injustice. Just as internment in northern Ireland by the British was a great recruitment tool for the IRA. America is handing al-Qaeda a golden opportunity to recruit among the families of these civilians, to avenge the deaths of their loved ones.

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paddyRanger | May 13, 2011, 11:31 AM EDT
Bullocks...The Washington post, you cite the Washington post, hardly credible at all, if it is even true that 518 militants were taken out, then that is GREAT, 518 militants less, I could not give a toss what grade of militant it is, take them out now before they become even better< I don't need to take anymore care than I already do sunshine !

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bullocks | May 12, 2011, 03:09 PM EDT
paddyRanger washington post:CIA drone attacks in Pakistan killed at least 581 militants last year, according to independent estimates. The number of those militants noteworthy enough to appear on a U.S. list of most-wanted terrorists: two. sterling job paddy sterling job the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says at least 957 victims of drone strikes in 2010 were innocent civilians. sterling job paddy you need to take more care paddy.

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paddyRanger | May 11, 2011, 04:07 PM EDT
Bullocks are you for real, I mean are you playing at being stupid just to provoke people......I said the US consitution is not mine because I am not american, that does not mean I do not obey the law by living in the country....honestly if this is all you can come up with stop wasting my time,you are clearly just trying to provoke, as for the people killed by drones ini Pakistan, you say they are innocent I say the MAJORITY taken out by drones are far from innocent, and as you clearly avoided AGAIN my point, at no time in history as more care been taken to avoid civilian casualties and that you can not say about Al Q as they deliberately target them.........see the difference or is that too hard for you to comprehend

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bullocks | May 07, 2011, 03:57 PM EDT
paddyRanger-so you live there, but do not live by their laws? who's law do you live by then? As regards innocents killed by drones in pakistan they are still dead.murdered,killed illegally.targeted or not they are still dead. as dead as the the 3000 americans who died on september 11 2001

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paddyRanger | May 07, 2011, 10:23 AM EDT
bullocks....first of all it is NOT my consitution, I might live in US but never said I was american so do not jump to conclusions, secondly I could not give a damn wether they are convicted of any crime, when they declare war on the west we are at war it is pretty simple, as for the ridiculous having to explain the difference between the Al Q DELIBERATE targeting of civilians, civilians on the ground in Pakistan are not deliberately targeted, never in any time of conflict has more care been taken to not take out civilians, so your attempt at trying to compare civilian deaths in the twin towers to anything on ground in Pakistan is pathetic. since when has 3,000 civilians been tageted in one go in Pakistan, answer that one

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bullocks | May 06, 2011, 12:58 PM EDT
paddyRanger " the treatment the prisoners get in Gitmo is appropriate for who and what they are". who they are,according to your constitution, are innocent, because they have never been convicted of any crime.they are being held without trial.oh but also could you please explain why you think that a civilian in the twin towers on September 11th 2001 is worth more than a civilian on the ground in Pakistan in 2011.two wrongs don't make a right.

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