The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.
Sun Tzu
I've used the above quote from Sun Tzu for years as my sig line. I used it here for awhile, now I just use it with my email.
Admiral William McRaven is the living interpretation of that Sun Tzu wisdom. When others tried to cover him with glory and credit, he didn't succumb to the temptation that many fall prey. He didn't falsely say; "Aw shucks, thank you for that, I this, I that. I did this, I did that. Oh and by the way the President and others did a few things too."
Jim Staro reported his comments in his diary; Swiftboating II: R.W. SEAL Critics Swiftboat Has Sunk {UpDated}
And as noted above when given the opportunity by Wolfe Blitzer to pad his role in the Bin Laden raid, he duly gave credit to others, pointing a finger at President Obama again as making the hard decisions.
If you're curious to hear the complete one hour plus conversation, go here.
From Admiral McRaven's wiki page we have the following;
McRaven is credited for organizing and executing Operation Neptune's Spear, the special ops raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011. CIA Director Leon Panetta delegated the raid to McRaven who has worked almost exclusively on counterterrorism operations and strategy since 2001. According to the New York Times, "In February, Mr. Panetta called Vice Adm. William H. McRaven, commander of the Pentagon's Joint Special Operations Command, to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to give him details about the compound and to begin planning a military strike. Admiral McRaven, a veteran of the covert world who had written a book on American Special Operations, spent weeks working with the C.I.A. on the operation, and came up with three options: a helicopter assault using U.S. Navy SEALs, a strike with B-2 bombers that would obliterate the compound, or a joint raid with Pakistani intelligence operatives who would be told about the mission hours before the launch." The day before the assault, "Mr. Obama took a break from rehearsing for the White House Correspondents Dinner that night to call Admiral McRaven, to wish him luck." In December 2011, Time Magazine profiled McRaven as runner-up for Time Person of the Year for his role in the operation.
Also noted in other reports both here and other media, President Obama was not satisfied with the first version of the helicopter assault plan, asking the planners to rework it and include more support and back up plans. As it turns out, these contingencies were very much needed with one of the first helicopter having a malfunction and crashing within the compound.
If ever there was a jewel as Sun Tzu describes, Admiral William McRaven is that jewel. A person confident in his abilities, not needing to garner more credit than he is due for his role in a project that involved dozen and dozens of others. He hasn't demanded a spotlight and kudos above that naturally given in appreciation as was given to all involved. When excess credit was given, he deflected it to others, not diminishing his role, but certainly enhancing it beyond what he actually performed. A jewel to be prized!
On with the games!!
Mojo Friday Guidelines
1) If you comment you have to recommend all comments. (in order to receive mojo you have to give mojo. It's only good mojo manners.)
2) Everything you say may be taken as a joke (so if you ask a question, expect a silly answer)
3) You must recommend the diary (and pimp it unapologetically)
4) You don't have to comment to recommend.
5) You can't steal my idea (right, like that ain't goin' to happen)
6) Please, no pictures or YouTubes until after 300 comments. Now, after 100, use a little common courtesy and be responsible in the number.
7) Mojo mojo mojo mojo, mojo mojo mojo.
8) TexDem (that's me) is not bound by the guidelines. Heh
Mojo Friday Goals
A. At least 300 different commenters and 1000 comments by 1:30 PM EST and 1500 by 5:00 PM EST Friday Night that it's posted.
B. 100 recommends for each comment, at least.
C. Stay on Recommend List at least five hours (this requires some strategic planning by you guys, refer to guideline #3)
D. At least 200 diary recommends. 300 would be better, spread the word.
E. And always, fun fun fun.
F. Have at least 75% average participation rate as seen here in the Mojo Friday Postgame Show by Woodtick and bjedward.
G. (New) Have at least 30 kossacks over 90% participation (see here for some tips).
H. Overload the servers with recommends, not to mention dominate Top Comments Mojo list. (we do tend to mess with the site with all of our recommends at one time)(also, to dominate the Top Comments Top Mojo we need at least 50 comments with over 200 recommends, see guideline B)
I. That's enough for now. (Have a suggestion? Post it.)
MKinTN posted a diary to help everyone achieve greater success called How to Succeed at Mojo Friday Without Really Trying.
For those of you new to MF (Mojo Friday) we have our own lingo about a few things. Thank's to MF'er Jez (the link will explain) go to this diary for a little more fun and explanation. Official Mojo Friday Snecktionary.