As reporters dig out the back story of the daring raid that finally nailed Osama bin Laden in a high-walled compound under the Pakistani military’s nose, it has become clear that President Obama’s decision to go forward with the mission was a gutsy call, one made amid an intense debate in intelligence briefings over a range of less risky proposals.
One proposal was simply to keep surveillance of the targeted compound for actual proof – there yet was none – that bin Laden resided there. Another was to order a drone or rocket attack on the compound to avoid risking the lives of America’s elite forces. Obama ended that debate last Friday with a decision to go forward with the raid despite the potential for negative results.
Had the mission gone badly – and there are notable examples of courageous missions gone bad – Obama’s political stock for 2012 surely would have fallen.
Had he ordered a rocket attack instead of sending in helicopters of commandoes, it may have been impossible to know or prove that bin Laden was there. Such an attack also would have further jeopardized America’s already fragile relationship with Pakistan.
And had Obama not given the order to proceed with the raid, bin Laden may have escaped, again.