Lost in the Bozone

All the hoopla over the recent book, "No Easy Day" makes me smile and frown at the same time.  Matt Bissonette, AKA Mark Owen, the former navy Seal who penned the account makes claims that in small ways differ from the official version.  Whether Bin Laden was killed in the room or while he stuck his head out of the door is of no consequence in my opinion.  The man is dead and gone.  For me that is all that matters.  And Matt's claim that the book is not political statement is not his call to make.  It has become one whether he wants it too or not.  His back handed criticisms of the President and his part in the affair  mean nothing to me.  Matt was but one cog in an mission machine made up of many cogs and much planning far above his pay grade and I assume intelligence.  The President had to make the decision to initiate the plan.  It was Matt's job to follow the orders to carry it out.  Had the mission failed who would be blamed?  Certainly not Matt.  The president would have had to eat the blame.

That the President is garnering some political capital from his decision is what politicians do.  I wonder what Bush would have done after the attack, given his publicity hogging landing on an aircraft carrier with a sign in the back ground that said "Mission Accomplished" and in reality, the mission had only begun. 

Politicians never miss a chance to bank good publicity.  It isn't right and it isn't wrong.  It is what pols do.  On the other hand what Matt did when he wrote the book was wrong on many levels.  The least of which was that he chose to disrespect the long standing tradition of the Seals to not talk publicly about their missions.  Not only is he bragging about his part in it, he is most likely going to make millions off the book.  Shame on him.  And the fact he did not not even use his own name tells me he is probably not someone I would want to have my back.  The Seals are better off without him.

Later.................................