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McRaven gives 'fantastic' Obama credit for bin Laden raid

ASPEN, Colo.—Republicans trying to play down President Barack Obama's decision to launch the raid that led to the death of Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden are not getting much help from the military brass who oversaw the operation.

During a rare public interview on Wednesday, Adm. Bill McRaven, head of the U.S. Special Operations command, portrayed as bold and brave Obama's decision to order the raid despite significant doubts about whether bin Laden was at the Abbottabad, Pakistan compound.

"At the end of the day, make no mistake about it, it was the president of the United States that shouldered the burden of this operation, that made the hard decision," McRaven said during an on-stage interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer that served as the kickoff session of the Aspen Security Forum.

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has suggested that the decision to launch the raid was a no-brainer. "Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order," Romney said in April.

McRaven refused to respond Wednesday when asked whether he agreed with Romney that any president would have made the same decision Obama did. However, at a couple of junctures, the Special Operations commander offered effusive praise for Obama.

"The president of the United States is fantastic," the admiral said. "I'm not a political guy. I've worked in both [administrations,] very much enjoyed working with President Bush and I very much enjoy working for President Obama. This isn't about politics. This is about a Commander in Chief who I have the opportunity to engage with on a routine basis."

McRaven also had high praise for Obama's national security team, including those in place at the time of the raid, such as then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisers Denis McDonough and John Brennan.

"I'm not a political guy, but I’ll tell you as an interested observer of this, they were magnfiicent how they handled the start-to-finish," McRaven said. "The president asked all the right questions…The president gave me ample time to prepare once the conversations were through."

McRaven, like all military officers, serves at the pleasure of the president. A few weeks before the bin Laden raid, Obama nominated McRaven to take over the Special Operations command and be elevated to four-star admiral. McRaven, who was deeply involved in planning and executing the May 2011 raid, was confirmed by the Senate to his current post the following month.

CORRECTION (1:56 P.M. Thursday): Gates's first name was misstated in the initial version of this post.