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"The President might have known something the Seals didn't about the possibility of resistance from the Pakistani military...The President might have known some

"The President might have known something the Seals didn't about the possibility of resistance from the Pakistani military...The President might have known something the Seals didn't about the possibility of resistance from the Pakistani military." If the president knew such critical information and didn't share it up-front with the operators planning the mission, that's a big fail on his part. Given the sensitivity of this operation, if he didn't trust the people involved with all of the critical information about the situation, he shouldn't have trusted them to execute the mission, either. I can see how he might not want to share the details about which generals were in league with who, but that doesn't preclude the pre-planning intel brief from including a warning that the Pakistani military might interfere with the operation. There is absolutely no excuse for the operators to not have such critical information before they start planning their mission, rather than "Oops, we forgot to mention..." after they have already built a plan. In practice, high-level leaders often get much less resolution in their intel than those below them: they need to know the big picture, not necessarily all of the little details. I somehow doubt that the President was micromanaging the planning process and intel dissemination in this way. I think that a far more likely scenario is that two or more plans were developed and presented to the President and his national security team, with the strengths and weaknesses of each plan. For example: Plan A: Minimum number of helicopters. Reduces our exposure and the chances of detection, but sharply limits our options for dealing with contingencies. Plan B: Back-up helicopters loiter a few miles from the target area. Increases our footprint and the chances of detection, but gives us far better options for dealing with contingencies. I could easily see how the reality was that the President said, "Let's go with plan B: I want you guys to have the backup if you need it," which then went through the "telephone game" and ended up being reported as "President Saves the Day by Reminding SEALs to Bring Spare Helicopter."

dkarl 15y ago
Telling them they need a plan to fight their way out IS sharing that information. Who else would oppose them but the Pakistani military? The SEALs don't need to know the political details. They just need a heads-up: "Hey guys, you need to be aware that because of the political situation in Pakistan, you might end up fighting the Pakistani military as well Bin Laden's personal security. Let me lay out the nature of the resistance you might face." Those concerns could easily have been raised so late (ten days before the raid) because the President himself didn't have it earlier.
- lucasjung 15y ago
  My point is that it should be shared before the planning process starts, not after the plan is complete. As for the idea that such information would be late-breaking, I find that to be incredibly implausible for the CIA's analysis of the mood of a nation's leadership to swing wildly in such a short amount of time. Ultimately, I don't think that such a decision would have been based on a single element like, "The Pakistani military might interfere." I think that hugh3 had it right: there is no way that the SEALs wouldn't have built significant redundancy into their plan from the very beginning. His Simpsons analogy is spot-on: the President telling the SEALs how to plan a military mission is like a spectator telling a pro athlete how to make the next play.

dkarl 15y ago

Telling them they need a plan to fight their way out IS sharing that information. Who else would oppose them but the Pakistani military? The SEALs don't need to know the political details. They just need a heads-up: "Hey guys, you need to be aware that because of the political situation in Pakistan, you might end up fighting the Pakistani military as well Bin Laden's personal security. Let me lay out the nature of the resistance you might face." Those concerns could easily have been raised so late (ten days before the raid) because the President himself didn't have it earlier.

lucasjung 15y ago
My point is that it should be shared before the planning process starts, not after the plan is complete. As for the idea that such information would be late-breaking, I find that to be incredibly implausible for the CIA's analysis of the mood of a nation's leadership to swing wildly in such a short amount of time. Ultimately, I don't think that such a decision would have been based on a single element like, "The Pakistani military might interfere." I think that hugh3 had it right: there is no way that the SEALs wouldn't have built significant redundancy into their plan from the very beginning. His Simpsons analogy is spot-on: the President telling the SEALs how to plan a military mission is like a spectator telling a pro athlete how to make the next play.