Change We Can Believe In

It was revealed today that it was President Obama who insisted that the assault force going into Pakistan last week to capture or kill bin Laden be large enough to fight its way out if confronted by hostile Pakistani police officers or troops (via the New York Times):

*** Mr. Obama’s decision to increase the size of the force sent into Pakistan shows that he was willing to risk a military confrontation with a close ally in order to capture or kill the leader of Al Qaeda.

Such a fight would have set off an even larger breach with the Pakistanis than has taken place since officials in Islamabad learned that helicopters filled with members of a Navy Seals team had flown undetected into one of their cities, and burst into a compound where Bin Laden was hiding.

One senior Obama administration official, pressed on the rules of engagement for one of the riskiest clandestine operations attempted by the C.I.A. and the military’s Joint Special Operations Command in many years, said: “Their instructions were to avoid any confrontation if at all possible. But if they had to return fire to get out, they were authorized to do it.”

The planning also illustrates how little the administration trusted the Pakistanis as they set up their operation. They also rejected a proposal to bring the Pakistanis in on the mission.

Under the original plan, two assault helicopters were going to stay on the Afghanistan side of the border waiting for a call if they were needed. But the aircraft would have been about 90 minutes away from the Bin Laden compound.

About 10 days before the raid, Mr. Obama reviewed the plans and pressed his commanders as to whether they were taking along enough forces to fight their way out if the Pakistanis arrived on the scene and tried to interfere with the operation.

That resulted in the decision to send two more helicopters carrying additional troops. These followed the two lead Black Hawk helicopters that carried the actual assault team. While there was no confrontation with the Pakistanis, one of those backup helicopters was ultimately brought in to the scene of the raid when a Black Hawk was damaged while making a hard landing.

Well, so much for Cheney and others being able to continue criticism of Obama for being too weak when it comes to security issues. In fact, I have no doubt that Cheney, his bat-shit crazy daughter Liz, and the rest of the right-wing establishment will soon be criticizing Obama for being too heavy-handed when it comes to national security generally and Pakistan in particular.

So be it. All I can say is that Obama's stance with regard to Pakistan is a refreshing change from what Bush and Cheney did when they ran the show.