Florida Republican Rep. Allen West sat down for an interview with The Daily Caller’s Ginni Thomas this week. Among the topics discussed was the recent killing of Osama bin Laden by Navy SEALs in Pakistan.
West credited President Obama for successfully overseeing the operation. “You have to give credit to the president and his national security team for not being obtrusive, for giving the military the green light to do what we do best, which is finding the enemy and killing him,” West said.
“I think that that is the message that we have to send to this very vicious, very vile, very determined enemy, that we will not rest until we find you and we eliminate you,” West said. “And we will do it in the most violent means or measures necessary.”
The Florida congressman cited the successful raid as an example of how the United States has “the best military that the world have ever seen.” West cited “the type of expertise, skill, professionalism that it takes to plan, rehearse, and execute, flawlessly, a cross-border behind enemy lines strike operation.”
West, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, commended the SEALs who successfully conducted the operation. He joked, “being an Army guy, I kind of wish it was the Green Berets or Delta Force, but we’re all one team.”
The military must now focus on increasing special operations capabilities, rather than traditional forces, West said. West said the military should “get away from this large nation-building occupation style of warfare, and be able to track this enemy down and eliminate him anywhere he tries to establish his sanctuaries worldwide.”
Keep an eye out for Ginni Thomas’ full interview with Allen West in the coming weeks!