Leak Wars
No time for a lot of posting today. Up to my elbows in work (grading; research; white paper; expert report); then my daughter’s lacrosse game; and tonight a Social D concert (all work, no play . . . ). Just time for something quick.
Yesterday I noted the leaks denigrating Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Today, I read some counter leaks emphasizing Obama’s hesitancy in deciding to execute the mission to execute Osama. The 16 hour “sleep on it” part was widely reported yesterday. Today I read stories that allege that Obama had first approved in March a B-2 strike on the Osama “mansion”, but then demurred when he was told that the place would be turned to rubble. Uhm, he had to be told that? Another story claims that Obama was in full Hamlet mode up to the very end, and that Panetta and Clinton were pushing him hard to pull the trigger, and that indeed, the CIA and Pentagon told Obama that he had to OK the mission.
I have no idea whether these stories are true. But the competing leaks (Gates just wanted to bounce rubble, Obama had to be forced into acting) suggest a very deep schism within the administration, most notably between the DoD and CIA on the one hand, and the White House on the other. Given the broader context of an ongoing struggle between forces arrayed on the opposite banks of the Potomac, this is quite believable.
We haven’t heard the last of this.
I am not going to be shocked if, after the military hands Obama a flawlessly planned and executed triumph, the administration ends up grasping defeat from the jaws of victory. So far, the story of the raid has changed repeatedly, we have seen endless dithering concerning the release of the pictures of the corpse and no one in the administration seems to understand what to do or say next. If Obama doesn’t start to build on this opportunity soon, he is going to seem even weaker than he appeared before the raid. I get the sense Obama is about to be pounced on by a thousand critics.
Comment by Charles — May 4, 2011 @ 2:25 pm