Let’s set facts straight on victory

There’s no telling how the death of Osama bin Laden will be remembered. The book is still being written, and as the saying goes, the victors write the history books.

Let’s also add, “And revisionist detractors lie on Facebook.”

In the hours following news that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden had been killed, the following post spread: “Let’s be clear on this ... Obama did NOT kill Bin Laden. An American soldier, who Obama just a few weeks ago was debating on whether or not to PAY did. Obama just happened to be in office when USA soldiers finally found and took him out. This is NOT an Obama victory, but an AMERICAN victory. Repost if you agree.”

It’s laughable these posts are coming from many of the same people who spent the last decade telling us Democrats were weak on national security and sided with terrorists, then demanded Sunday we “keep politics out of it.”

But why attack the messengers when the message is so easily debunked?

• Obama did not kill bin Laden: Agreed. The American soldiers who did deserve every bit of credit. Identified or anonymous, they deserve gratitude, starting with Congressional Medals of Honor.

But Osama bin Laden didn’t personally fly planes into the Pentagon and World Trade Center. President Bush didn’t personally find Saddam Hussein. Lakers coach Phil Jackson didn’t guard Paul Pierce in last year’s NBA Finals. Leaders get credit when the things they lead succeed, and the blame when they fail.

• Obama was debating whether to pay soldiers: The debate over payment of troops in the event of a potential government shutdown took place in the House of Representatives, where the Republican majority tried to tie military pay to Planned Parenthood funding.

Meanwhile, President Obama chaired meetings on a surgical strike to eliminate bin Laden that he later ordered as commander in chief.

• Obama just happened to be in office: No, he got elected, no matter how loudly his detractors shout, “ACORN,” “Rev. Jeremiah Wright” and “long-form birth certificate.”

One reason he got elected was his stance on eliminating bin Laden.

During the final presidential debate, Obama said, “If we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take (him) out, then I think that we have to act and we will take them out.”

Contrast that with President Bush in 2006: “This thing about ... let’s put 100,000 of our special forces stomping through Pakistan in order to find bin Laden is just simply not the strategy that will work … I truly am not that concerned about him.”

Contrast that with Sen. John McCain on “Larry King Live” in June 2008. King asked, “If you were president and knew that bin Laden was in Pakistan, you know where, would you have U.S. forces go in after him?”

McCain’s response: “Larry, I’m not going to go there and here’s why: Because Pakistan is a sovereign nation.”

There were promises to smoke bin Laden out of his cave. Nearly a decade later, he was found in a gated mansion near a golf course, chugging Coke and Pepsi products while rallying his followers against Western civilization.

• This is NOT an Obama victory, but an AMERICAN victory: If the original author had intended to say, “This is America’s victory, not just Obama’s,” that would have been shorter and easier to understand.

The chosen path was paved with misinformation specifically worded to discredit Obama. Hard to read all that and conclude that the author’s telling us “kumbaya” at the end.

Barack Obama believed in going into Pakistan if needed. His predecessor and general election opponent did not. He got elected, and Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan. Sunday was an American victory, in no small part because Americans voted for the administration that did what it said it would.

Are we clear?