‘No Easy Day:’ Critiquing Obama’s Handling of the bin Laden Raid

Co-Authored By: Megan Gregory

 

When President Obama announced late on a Sunday evening in May that Osama bin Laden had been killed, liberals and conservatives alike celebrated.  Touted as one of the foremost achievements of his presidency, the raid seemed to validate Obama’s national security strategy.  As more details about the raid emerge, however, the story becomes less clear.   Upon further consideration, the Obama Administration’s politicization and missed opportunities surrounding the raid taint what initially appeared to be an unqualified success.

 

The most recent reason to question conventional wisdom is the controversial book, ‘No Easy Day’, which was released on September 4^th.  The book is the firsthand account of a Navy Seal, writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen, who participated in the mission that killed bin Laden. On the night of the raid, Owen witnessed the shot to the head that killed bin Laden, personally shot bin Laden in the chest, took photos of his body, and rode in the helicopter with bin Laden’s body.  The book offers a detailed, first-hand view of the mission, and Owen’s version of events has been largely confirmed by outside sources, including Peter Bergin.      

 

While largely steering clear of politics, the book suggests four problems with the Obama Administration’s handling of the bin Laden raid and other Special Forces missions.

 

First, Owen suggests that the Obama Administration created serious political and legal obstacles that prevented Special Forces teams from doing their jobs effectively. For example, Owen describes how the Obama Administration’s rules of engagement allowed insurgents in Afghanistan to return to the battlefield time and time again, despite being apprehended by U.S. troops.  Owen argues that as time went on, it became increasingly difficult to do his job:  

 

“It felt like we were fighting the war with one hand and filling out paperwork with the other… It was frustrating. We knew what we were sacrificing at home; we were willing to give that up to do the job on our terms. As more rules were applied, it became harder to justify the risks to our lives. The job was becoming more about an exit strategy than doing the right thing tactically.”

 

Rules of engagement are obviously important; however under Obama they seem to become so cumbersome they hurt our forces’ effectiveness.  Yet another example of why a law school professor doesn’t make a great Commander in Chief.

 

Second, the book reveals that while the mission was an operational success, Obama’s decisions made it an intelligence failure.  Owen details the massive amount of intelligence materials collected during the raid including clothes, books, computers, audiocassettes, and documents.  When these materials were passed over to the CIA, an analyst commented, “Look at all this sh*t.  This is going to take us months to go through it all.  We got more here than we’ve gotten in the past ten years.” 

 

Instead of giving the analysts time to go through these materials so they could be used to track down other al Qaeda operatives, Obama immediately announced the mission’s success.  In doing so, he gave up the element of surprise.  Al Qaeda operatives knew they had been outed and quickly changed residences, phone numbers, and communication techniques.  Obviously, the raid could not have been kept secret forever, but even a few days or weeks could have made a world of difference to counterterrorism efforts.  Instead, Obama prioritized a political victory over a strategic counterterrorism one.

 

Third, Owen’s book corrects a tremendous amount of misinformation about the bin Laden raid, much of which had been substantiated by the Obama Administration.  For instance, the Administration initially said that bin Laden had been carrying a weapon when he was shot.  Owen also clarifies that bin Laden was shot from the hall, not from inside the bedroom. 

 

Inconsistencies in the government’s account of the raid fueled criticism abroad.  This was completely unnecessary; the raid on bin Laden absolutely was justified morally and legally.  Obama’s rush to announce the raid, incorrect initial statements, and subsequent corrections constituted a major public relations failure.  Waiting on the announcement could have allowed more time to get the story straight.

 

Finally, Owen’s book illustrates the American military’s distaste for President Obama. ‘No Easy Day’ avoids politics as much as possible, but it is clear that Owen and his colleagues don’t like the President.  Besides creating hurdles that make it more difficult for the Seals to do their jobs, the Obama Administration seems to dither in deciding whether to launch missions.  Later, Owen and his colleagues are frustrated by what they see as Obama taking credit for the raid, as if he pulled the trigger himself.  They are also mildly put off after Obama reneges on his promise to invite them to the White House for beers.

 

In fact, the mere publication of this book speaks volumes about Owen’s grievances.  Navy Seals sign non-disclosure agreements.  Anything they write is supposed to be censored to ensure it doesn’t contain classified material that jeopardizes national security.  Owen didn’t do this (though analysts including Peter Bergin have argued that the book doesn’t really contain anything classified).  After a long and distinguished career in the Special Forces community, Owen deliberately burned bridges and snubbed the Administration.

 

Obviously, the mission that killed bin Laden was successful.  But as Owen’s book points out, Obama’s haste in bragging about it hurt our national security.   Obama may feel that national security is his strength, but Special Forces members like Mark Owen disagree.