President Barack Obama will meet Friday afternoon with several members of the military assault team responsible for conducting the raid on the Abbottabad compound and killing Osama bin Laden.
White House press secretary Jay Carney confirmed Friday morning that the President plans to spend some time this afternoon with “special operators” involved in the operation.
He will meet with members of the assault team in private during a visit to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, home to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the group responsible for piloting the helicopters during the raid.
Obama also will speak to other troops responsible who have recently returned home from deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. After the raid, Obama said he would not release the photos of a slain bin Laden because he did not want to “spike the football” after taking out bin Laden, the country’s enemy No. 1 for well over 10 years. Carney said the visit should not be viewed as a victory dance.
“I don’t expect you’ll hear the President spiking the ball or gloating when he speaks to troops returning from Afghanistan today,” Carney told reporters. “The point he will make is that while the successful mission against Osama bin Laden was an historic and singular event, it does not by any means mean that we are finished with the war against al Qaeda. The fight goes on.”
Carney also said Obama plans to thank the troops for their courageous service.
“They have fought valiantly and incurred significant casualties in that effort,” he said. “So there’s nothing — there’s no intent to gloat at all in that regard.”
The presidential visit to the base coincides with a heightened threat alert regarding rail security, the first terror threat notification linked to materials found during the raid on the compound. That plot was being planned for the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
“We’re quite aware of the potential for activity and are highly vigilant on that matter for that reason,” Carney told reporters on Air Force One.
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