Props to Obama, the Navy SEALS, and the CIA for Getting UBL and New Intel

I will admit that I have been a huge skeptic and critic of President Obama thus far.  I thought he was in over his head and he was incapable of making a tough decision.  However, I have to give the man props for ordering the mission that killed Usama bin Laden (UBL).  That took some huge balls for a few reasons.

First, he did not know for certain if UBL was in that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.  If bin Laden wasn't there but a bunch of Al-Qaeda operatives were, some 40 Navy SEALS would have been in severe danger.  And Obama would've had to live with those consequences personally and politically.

Additionally, this mission took an incredible amount of secrecy.  Obama could not tell the Pakistani authorities before the strike due to the fact that the Pakistani intelligence agency (ISI) may very well have some pro-Al Qaeda sympathizers who would have alerted bin Laden.  It remains to be seen how this will affect relations with Pakistan.

President Obama also deserves credit for reiterating the fact that Americans are not at war with Islam.  Perhaps Muslims around the world will believe him more than they believe President Bush.

Obviously, SEAL Team 6 (I believe they are the SEALS specially trained for counter-terrorism missions) deserves massive credit for getting this done.  It took 7 months of preparing for this strike (in terms of getting the intel and getting the team ready to strike); obviously their hard work paid off.  They also deserve credit for getting very valuable intel from the compound they killed UBL in.

Finally, I have to acknowledge the great job the CIA did in terms of getting the intelligence on bin Laden and keeping it quiet.

All in all, this operation was well-planned and well-executed. Mad props to everyone.