So much for the buck stopping...

President Barack Obama's "gutsy call" in ordering the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden appears to not have been so gutsy. Furthermore, special operations veterans - Navy SEALs in particular - are criticizing the President for making their courage a political point-scorer.

The now infamous memo - clearly a CYA request from the White House to the CIA and the special operations forces who carried out the attack - shows a complete failure of leadership on the part of the New Soviet Man. Consider:

It was my decision to attempt the rescue operation. It was my decision to cancel it when problems developed in the placement of our rescue team for a future rescue operation. The responsibility is fully my own. -- President Jimmy Carter, April 25, 1980 in the wake of the Operation Eagle Claw debacle.

And then this:

Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that Bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone. -- General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, statement prepared if the Normandy landings had failed, June 5, 1944.

Can anybody ever conceive of Barack Obama acting in those fashions? I can't.

The first principle of leadership drilled into every officer candidate for the United States Military is that one can delegate authority but never responsibility. Our President is a total failure in that respect.