White House Situation Room: May 1
As is usual with major news events, some of the most important subtexts are being lost amidst the cacophony. One obvious example is the primary focus on the death of Osama bin Laden, whereas from a strategic and national security standpoint nothing will be of greater benefit than the capture of the computer hard drives and other digital and print records. Those that need to soon will have a wealth of information, possibly including names and locations of bin Laden's sleeper cells, and the depth and breadth of complicity in his actions by members of the Saudi royal family and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. Another example is the lies that this event proves that torture works. Dick Cheney, in particular, wants to promote that lie, and part of the reason is that he wants everyone to forget that there never would have been a need for this action had his administration not missed all the screaming warnings before the September 11 attacks, and then ineptly allowed bin Laden to escape, when the terrorist leader was cornered in Tora Bora just months later. But it doesn't stop there.
From a strategic and political standpoint, President Obama could not have handled this situation much better. The debate over this type of action itself is not without merit, but having made the decision to proceed, the president and the White House have demonstrated what it is to be deliberate and professional and sensible. All one need do is contrast Paul Bremer strutting to the microphones like a high school cheerleader to declare "We got him!" when Saddam Hussein was captured. President Obama didn't approach this historic moment as if he had just won a basketball game. He was calm and determined and his demeanor reflected the gravity of a profoundly complex dynamic. He wasn't gloating.
Another example was the quick correction by the White House of a mistaken story that emerged soon after the raid. Initially, it was reported that Osama bin Laden had used one of his wives as a human shield during a firefight, dying utterly without dignity. Just a day later, the White House clarified that bin Laden hadn't used a human shield and that he hadn't even been armed when he died. It makes for a less dramatic and chest-pumping narrative, but it's clear that the administration prefers telling more truth rather than creating more myth. There has been speculation about the reason for the initial misinformation, and one plausible explanation has been that there were conflicting stories from the dozens of Navy SEALS involved in what was a tumultuous raid, and that it took time to figure out what actually happened. But just as likely is that the initial story came from a long calcined culture of trying to cast every action in the most heroic possible light, regardless of the actual facts. One need only recall the hagiographic lies about the capture and rescue of Jessica Lynch in Iraq, which only came to be debunked because Lynch herself is a woman of great honor and dignity and didn't care to be the false hero concocted by politicians and the media. One need only recall the initial lies and continuing questions about the death of Pat Tillman in Afghanistan.
The Obama administration could have stood by the initial story of bin Laden's final moments, but that would have been the sort of binary false patriotism that typified the previous administration. The Obama team doesn't want to pretend that such historic moments are simple super-hero cartoons. Everyone involved in the mission deserves great credit for its success, but that doesn't at all mean that the moment wasn't fraught with political, strategic and human complexities.
And one more example of the sophistication of the thinking in the White House came with the news that the bin Laden death photos won't be released. A lot of Americans of all political persuasions would like to see those images. But the president is right: releasing them would do more harm than good. Those that need convincing that bin Laden really is dead won't be convinced by mere photos, but those that may be incited to violence certainly could be pushed over the edge by what they would deem the demeaning treatment of a dead body. It would be easy to appease those that want to see the photos, and it certainly would play to raw emotional desires; but it also would be wrong. And this president knows it. This administration doesn't need to swagger and strut. It did its job, and that speaks for itself. This is serious business, and unlike their predecessors, these are serious people.