[southbymidwest]

To those who say that Obama making this decision was a no brainer, if you are old enough, you might remember an American military operation ordered by President Jimmy Carter in 1980. In an attempt to look tough,he okayed a joint services night mission to put an end to the neverending Iran hostage crisis by rescuing 52 Americans held captive at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. It failed miserably. No one was rescued, helicopters were abandoned and captured by the Iranians, and American service members lost their lives in a helicopter crash. Their bodies were recovered by the Iranians, and paraded through the streets of Tehran. According to Wikipedia, "the public, humiliating debacle that ensued damaged American prestige worldwide and is believed by many, including Carter himself, to have played a major role in his defeat in the 1980 presidential election." You can't tell me that any president, after this mess, did not think about the possibilities of having to deal with the consequences of a failed mission like this one.

I wasn't a big fan of GWB (nor am I of Obama, actually), but I would absolutely give him (GWB) props for making the decision to proceed with a mission that resulted in the death of Bin Laden. No question.