# Did Obama really give the "go" order for bin Laden mission? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633 "2011-05-03T23:15:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/41 "2011-05-04T01:30:54Z")
It was the other Obama. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/42 "2011-05-04T01:31:02Z")
I just wasted about fifteen minutes reading this POS thread. Stop it. Just stop posting this kind of crap. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/43 "2011-05-04T01:45:35Z")
Just another example of the vast left-wing conspiracy to make the right look batshit crazy. This story never would have got any traction if Hilary had got the nomination. No-one ever accused her of not having any balls. Of course, then the story would have been that she’d had an affair with bin Laden - probably while the other Clinton was President - and the strike was just the fury of a woman scorned. > [@El\_Kabong](#): > > … [T]he premise of this thread, that the Commander-in-Chief of the US armed forces, would or even could be ‘overruled’ by anyone on a matter of this type, short of a coup d’Etat , seems absurd. Respectfully, I submit that this could be done simply by **giving an order.** I doubt the Seal on the other end would say, “Sure, just let me talk to Barry to make sure it’s okay.” And what would the President do after a successful mission? I now have a vision of Mike Mullen giving the order to go ahead, while holding the phone just out of reach of Obama, who’s jumping up saying “No, wait, let me talk!” (I’m not taking this very seriously.) ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/44 "2011-05-04T01:56:45Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Obama’s face in that picture looks just exactly like someone who has said, “Do it,” and is praying like a motherfucker that it doesn’t get all messed up. Hillary’s face is amazing. I wonder at what point in the proceedings it was taken. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/45 "2011-05-04T02:30:22Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Out of what is probably a perverse curiosity, how exactly would you go about over ruling the President’s decision to not send in military force to do something like this? Who could over rule the President about NOT sending in troops to take out Osama?? What or where would their powers derive from? > > I mean, I could sort of see Congress preventing a President from sending in a major military force (by the expedient of cutting the purse strings), but how do you over ride a decision to not use military force by the C&C?? :dubious: > > -XT As a practical matter, it would be the President refusing to authorize a mission and then some general falsely claiming that the authorization had been given and ordering soldiers to carry out the mission. Such a situation is obviously illegal and the general would be arrested. From a legal standpoint, the President is the Commander-in-Chief and nobody in the armed forces has the legal authority to overrule him. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/46 "2011-05-04T03:04:41Z")
I’m quite surprised that at least half the comments for the article (Pamela Gellar’s) are deriding it, and the blogger for publishing it to begin with. Usually these kinds of things are lockstep. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/47 "2011-05-04T05:58:57Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Who has the authority to overrule the president of the United States? His mom, but she’s dead (or so I hear) so, nobody. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/48 "2011-05-04T07:29:54Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#): > > Hillary’s face is amazing. I wonder at what point in the proceedings it was taken. I agree. If I had to bet, I’d guess that it was as the helicopter landed badly, but I’m sure there were half a dozen moments in the whole operation worthy of that much tension. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/49 "2011-05-04T09:25:25Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Who has the authority to overrule the president of the United States? The Donald. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/50 "2011-05-04T09:33:44Z")
Now at least we know why Obama could not prove who he was – he had to keep a secret identity because he is really a caped superhero (looks like a relative of Batman), who only came out of the closet when he made the Osama call in the White House Situation Room: [http://www.baynews9.com/static/news2011/obama-situation-room-0501\_rdax\_676x451.jpg](http://www.baynews9.com/static/news2011/obama-situation-room-0501_rdax_676x451.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/51 "2011-05-04T10:08:00Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Who has the authority to overrule the president of the United States? I do. Most powerful man on the planet or not, he takes his shoes off or he damn well stays out. My place, my rules. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/52 "2011-05-04T12:49:02Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Well, what _I_ heard on the Internet is that in fact President Obama personally lead the Navy SEAL Delta Force Team mission to bin Laden’s compound. When they all burst into the room bin Laden was hiding in, bin Laden emptied the clip on his AK-47 but missed with all his shots. Then, even though he still had plenty of ammunition in his Presidential Special silenced .44 Magnum Sub-Machine Gun, Obama contemptuously tossed it aside, saying “I don’t need a gun for this”. He and bin Laden then had a knock-down no-holds-barred fight–incidentally, bin Laden was never some frail old guy with kidney problems; he was actually an adept in the ancient martial arts of the Secret Order of Assassins, roughly equivalent to having black belts in Jiujitsu, Kung Fu, Muay Thai, and Krav Maga. Also, bin Laden had a big knife. At the end, bin Laden was lying on the ground, beaten and bruised and pleading for mercy. Obama calmly turned his back, saying “OK, boys–take him into custody, and we’ll put him on trial in Federal District Court in Lower Manhattan for the murder of nearly 3,000 innocent Americans on September 11!” However, as soon as the President turned his back on bin Laden, bin Laden managed to get hold of a gun and was about to shoot the President in the back when Joe Biden shot bin Laden right through the eye socket. > > Naturally, the President’s political advisors all urged him to make these facts public, but Obama was concerned that if the American people ever found out the true story, we would all spontaneously demand the repeal of the 22nd Amendment and vote to make Obama President-for-Life, and Obama is just too deeply committed to Democracy and the American Way to risk letting that happen. This is what I heard too. Now reposting to 12 other boards. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/53 "2011-05-04T13:34:58Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > . At the end, bin Laden was lying on the ground, beaten and bruised and pleading for mercy. How about the soles of the big man’s feet? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/54 "2011-05-04T14:48:24Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > How about the soles of the big man’s feet? No blood there. And Barry got his money back too, and now everybody says… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/55 "2011-05-04T15:01:13Z")
This isn’t really a debate anymore (it hardly was at the beginning), so I’m sending it to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/56 "2011-05-04T15:04:01Z")
Well, didn’t the shadow Supreme Court rule that until this birther issue is really put to rest, he doesn’t really have all the powers of the office. ---
**Author:** ![Scot\_Dutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Scot\_Dutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scot_Dutch)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/57 "2011-05-04T16:55:31Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Obama’s face in that picture looks just exactly like someone who has said, “Do it,” and is praying like a motherfucker that it doesn’t get all messed up. Obviously that picture is disinformation. They weren’t observing the mission. They were watching Celebrity Apprentice and the Don was about to fire somebody. Hillary clearly was gripping with suspense. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/58 "2011-05-04T19:03:32Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Does anyone think there’s any truth to this story? If you had spent the same time and energy concocting your own fantasy, e.g. that the Birth Certificate used fonts that only communist countries were using in 1961, it would have about the same probability for truth as what you’ve found. Heck – write up the communist font theory, post it on his blog and you can start getting the three cents per click. It is great that we live in a free-press democracy where men like Daniel Ellsberg, Seymour Hersh and Julian Assange can inform the public about secret government decision-making. But, Ulsterman, I know Daniel Ellsberg. Daniel Ellsberg is a friend of mine. And Ulsterman is no Daniel Ellsberg. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/59 "2011-05-04T19:15:17Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > This is what I heard too. Now reposting to 12 other boards. > > 😛 See. That’s how these things get started. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633/60 "2011-05-04T19:37:32Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > but how do you over ride a decision to not use military force by the C&C?? Not to be nit-picky here (in case this was just a typo) but it’s \*\*CinC \*\*- Commander in Chief, not Commander and Chief. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-obama-really-give-the-go-order-for-bin-laden-mission/580633.md?page=4)