Warrior in Chief

I mentioned it earlier, that the killing of Osama Bin Laden ushered in the signal transformation of President Obama as the unequivocal wartime leader. Roger Simon, at Politico, made the point yesterday as well, "Barack Obama is Now Warrior in Chief." It's a partisan take, that exempts the previous administration's resolve and ultimate success in Iraq, but these are some points worth considering:

Make no mistake: The United States is now the gang that can shoot straight.

Our reputation for being able to carry out successful military missions has been in some doubt ever since former President George W. Bush stood under a ridiculous “Mission Accomplished” banner during the Iraq War, a mission that he did not accomplish in a war that he did not win.

But President Barack Obama managed to kill Osama bin Laden on Sunday, using a small special operations force, and in so doing, he sent a clear message to terrorists everywhere: You’re next.

We have seen Obama be the professor in chief and the orator in chief. Now he is the warrior in chief.

We should not get crazed with bloodlust. War should always be our last choice, not our first.

But bin Laden had it coming. And he got it. Twice. In the head.

He had not spent the past several years crouched in a cave, as we thought. He lived like the billionaire he was (his family is in construction in Saudi Arabia): in a fortified mansion behind high, thick concrete walls topped with barbed wire and protected by guards.

It didn’t matter. In a precision operation, our Navy SEALs found and killed him in 40 minutes.

So if you are just an ordinary terrorist, without billions of dollars and extraordinary protection, think how short a time it might take us to find and kill you. Maybe it’s time for you to retire before the United States retires you.

More at the link above. Notice how Simon shifts abruptly from "Mission Accomplished" to Obama's order to kill Osama Bin Laden. That said, one has to be thrilled that U.S. Navy Seals went in and did the job, not drones or bunker busters, and without casualties or civilian deaths. I'm just awed by this and anxiously awaiting more information.

IMAGE CREDIT: The White House Flickr page, "President Barack Obama listens during one in a series of meetings discussing the mission against Osama bin Laden, in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011."