Biden now denies he told Obama not to launch Bin Laden raid in 2011
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
DUBUQUE, Iowa -- Joe Biden is the only 2020 presidential candidate who was in the White House Situation Room as Navy SEALs descended on Usama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound in 2011.
But a critical detail in his story about that mission has changed in the last eight years.
During a brief exchange with Fox News on Friday, the former vice president was presented with a hypothetical situation similar to the one President Trump says he faced before ordering an airstrike to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
“As commander in chief, if you were ever handed a piece of intelligence that said you could stop an imminent attack on Americans -- but you have to use an airstrike to take out a terrorist leader -- would you pull the trigger?” Fox News asked Biden.
“Well we did - the guy’s name was Usama bin Laden,” Biden replied.
“Didn’t you tell President Obama not to go after bin Laden that day?” Fox News followed up.
“No, I didn’t,” Biden said.
That’s not the story Biden told almost eight years ago during a retreat in Maryland for congressional Democrats, as he described a tense 2011 strategy session ahead of the raid.
“Mr. President, my suggestion is, don’t go -- we have to do two more things to see if he’s there,” Biden had said in January 2012 of the strategy session.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) hit back at Biden over Friday's claim.
"This isn’t another instance of Joe Biden misspeaking, it’s an instance of Biden flat-out lying," spokesman Steve Guest said.
At Friday’s event in Dubuque, Biden also argued that Thursday’s Trump-ordered airstrike targeting Soleimani crossed a dangerous line.
“No matter how rightly reviled he was in the West, he was a senior figure in the Iranian government,” Biden said.
As tensions increase in the Middle East following Soleimani’s death, Biden expressed mixed feelings about President Trump’s decision to send several thousand American troops to the region.
“I don’t know and you don’t know what the hell he’s done,” Biden told Fox News. “We don’t know if he’s coordinated with our allies, we have no idea what commitments he’s made, we have no idea. I just hope he has a plan for second and third iterations of this -- but it’s clear there’s going to have to be more folks there to protect the embassy, to protect American personnel in Iraq.”
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Poor Joe slipped his leash again. Lets wait and see how his handlers spin this goof.
Meh, I don't know about this one. There is a difference between saying "don't go after this guy at all" and don't go after this guy today because we need more information." I kind of doubt that it was Biden's position that we shouldn't go after bin Laden at all.
I think that's a valid observation, but I also think Iran is the one that crossed the line by blatantly allowing someone wearing their uniform to openly perform its terrorist agenda. They've otherwise been treading a sort of privateer route by "secretly" funding nominally independent groups like Hezbollah, but Soleimani's outfit is official. They set up this situation, not us.
I think you missed the article. Joe is on record saying that he told Obama not to "Assassinate" Bin Laden, Yesterday He bragged about going after Bin laden then denied he was ever against it.
I don't think so. I mean, I'd be happy to be wrong, I guess, but I am going by what I see in the article.
That's what I'm basing my conclusion on. Biden said "we have to do two more things to see if he's there." That doesn't sound like Biden was against the idea of taking out bin Laden as a general matter. That sounds like a guy who - on a specific occasion - wanted more solid intel before pulling the trigger.
I see
I guess I seen his comment took out of context or he could have repeated himself at another time in a different setting. Who knows with Joe.
Hold on wait just a cotton picking minute, Are you one of Joes handlers?
I'm going to want gloves.
will this work?
I think Joe took to many blows to the head by Corn Pop