Operational Excellence

The lead story in today’s New York Times, “Behind the Hunt for Bin Laden,” provides excellent reporting about the details behind President Obama’s stunning operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.

The big break came when the NSA identified the full name of Bin Laden’s courier and then tracked him back to the compound in Abbottabad, a suburb just 35 miles out of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Satellite images were used to establish the pattern of life at the compound, and it was determined that there was no phone or Internet connection, and the inhabitants burned their own trash.

Faced with the choice of bombing the compound to smithereens, with the resultant collateral damage and inability to definitively identify the body, and the more daring option of going in with Special Operations forces, President Obama was willing to take a chance to ensure we put this chapter in our history behind us.

Meanwhile, despite token acknowledgements by Republicans, most seem more comfortable in praising George W. Bush for the achievement, a continual failure by this Party to deal with reality. In fact, while Republicans were obsessing with President Obama’s birth certificate, he was engaged in one of the most high drama operations of our time. And succeeding at it.