Note To White House: Just Tell The Truth

The story that the White House put out yesterday about the firefight that killed Osama has been walked back. It’s very frustrating. Not because I care how Osama was killed, but how it is perceived by the Arab world. I tweet with quite a few Muslims and of course, they saw the White House as having lied. One asked, “What else are they lying about?”

Let me give you the rundown.

Yesterday Dep. National Security Advisor, John Brennan, gave a press conference. Brennan was in the Situation Room when all this went down, so he had first hand knowledge.

The reporter asked him regarding Osama: “Did he get his hand ona gun and did he fire?” Brennan answered, “He was engaged in a firefight with those who entered the house.”

We now know that Osama was unarmed. The White house walked it back.

Look, Most of us don’t care how Osama was killed. We don’t care if he was unarmed. But let me tell you what I think happened here.

The White House loves to use pretty words. They love to spin things a certain way. This time I think they decided to use the term “firefight.” They figured no one would question it, and they wouldn’t be actually lying since there was firing from guns going on from our guys. I think Brennan wasn’t expecting such a detailed question, so he took the spin a bit farther; so far in fact, it turned into a lie. They now say Osama’s wife resisted, and was shot in the leg. That got turned into Osama using her as a “human shield.” They figured that would make it more palatable for shooting him.

The White House said today that U.S. commandos shot Osama when “he made a threatening move.” Look, this was a kill order. It wouldn’t have mattered if Osama had offered them cake, they were going to kill him. That is what Reuters reported:

(Reuters) – The U.S. special forces team that hunted down Osama bin Laden was under orders to kill the al Qaeda mastermind, not capture him, a U.S. national security official told Reuters.

“This was a kill operation,” the official said, making clear there was no desire to try to capture bin Laden alive in Pakistan.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball, writing by Matt Spetalnick)

Yet, even with this report, Carney was still spinning:

Carney said bin Laden wasn’t armed. When asked Tuesday why the decision was made to shoot and kill bin Laden if he was not armed, Carney responded that “he resisted”

Just tell the truth! When asked why the decision was made to shoot and kill him, just say, “because he is a monster and we put a kill order out on him.” Don’t make some excuse that he resisted.

A kill order is the answer. Even if Osama DID resist, it didn’t matter. We were going to kill him. Period. Just say it.

The White House needs to stop trying to spin with pretty words. Just tell the truth. We can take it. Spinning only makes the world distrust us more.

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