The Daily Caller reports that a soon-to-be-released book by two-time New York Times best-selling author Richard Miniter asserts that President Obama cancelled the “kill” mission against Osama bin Laden at least three times.
Citing an unnamed source at the Joint Special Operations Command, the book details how Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett persuaded the President to abandon the now famous raid on at least three occasions.
The day before the raid, Obama allegedly put off the mission once again, blaming unfavorable weather conditions. However, Miniter found that U.S. Air Force Combat Meteorological Center data confirmed nearly perfect conditions during that time period.
Overall, the book paints the President as an indecisive leader overly reliant on his advisors when making crucial national security decisions.
Obama surrogates have made the successful raid on Bin Laden’s compound a centerpiece of the President’s re-election campaign, going so far as to suggest that presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney would not have ordered the raid if he were President.
The White House has gone to great lengths in its attempts to preserve the narrative that President Obama is a strong, decisive leader on national security.
Last summer, the White House gave special access to Hollywood filmmakers planning a Bin Laden raid movie (conveniently, the film was initially planned for release just before the November election). In May, the New York Times cited “two dozen” White House leakers who detailed to the paper how Obama personally decides which terrorists will live or die in the next round of predator drone strikes.
Ultimately, in an election where voters are mainly concerned with jobs, the deficit, and (interestingly) Federal corruption, Obama’s successful raid probably won’t significantly influence undecided or independent voters.
However, by calling into question what is arguably the only positive, uncontroversial accomplishment that Obama has to run on this election, Miniter’s book could be potentially devastating. The “Romney wouldn’t have ordered it” attack was already a pretty tenuous argument, but Miniter’s allegations, if true, neuter the argument entirely.
