Tipsheet

Twenty Minutes Before SEALs Killed Bin Laden, Obama Was Playing Golf

A new book, SEAL Target Geronimo, written by former Navy SEAL commander Chuck Pfarrer, is calling out Obama on his game and accuses the "commander-in-chief" of playing golf just 20-minutes before the Navy SEALs carried out the operation that led to Osama bin Laden's demise in Pakistan on May 2.

In the official photograph, he looked every inch the commander in chief.

Strain etched on his face, Barack Obama watched as the raid to kill Osama bin Laden played out on a television in front of him.

According to a new book, however, the President was not nearly that engaged – and was actually playing golf until 20 minutes before the operation began in earnest.

Only then did he down his clubs and return to the White House to watch what he later trumpeted as a great success of his presidency.

A new book claims the official account was riddled with errors and that Bin Laden was referred to as 'Bert' and not just 'Geronimo'.

Mr Pfarrer says the President's role was largely inflated and suggests he stayed out on the golf course for so long so he could distance himself in case it went wrong. Mr Pfarrer writes: 'If this had completely gone south, he was in a position to disavow.'

He says the White House photographs did not show the moment that Bin Laden was killed, but the moment a helicopter went down, which happened after the shooting.

Mr Obama is known to be a keen golfer. Just today, as the White House was being encircled by 8,000 environmental protesters, he was on a course in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The President also played golf four times during his week-long family holiday on Martha's Vineyard.

The book also claims that bin Laden would have been captured if he gave himself up. Mr Pfarrer said a SEAL team would not have been sent in for a kill mission, adding: 'If it was a kill mission you don't need SEAL Team 6; you need a box of hand grenades.'

The book also gives a dramatic new insight into what happened during the 1am raid, during which only 12 bullets were fired.

Pfarrer has spoken to many members of SEAL Team 6 about the Bin Laden raid. Maybe Obama should read Pfarrer's book and learn a thing or two about leadership and courage.