Palin (Sort of) Praises Obama on Bin Laden

ABC News, The Note Blog: Palin (Sort of) Praises Obama on Bin Laden
ABC News' Clayton Sandell reports from Lakewood, Colo.:

Sarah Palin gave passing praise to President Obama's "decisive leadership" in the operation to kill Osama bin Laden, though in a speech here Monday night the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate did not once use Obama's name.

"We want to thank our president," Palin said, but then she quickly shifted focus to the previous administration for having laid the groundwork.

"We thank President Bush for having made the right calls to set up this victory," Palin told a cheering crowd.

Later, Palin seemed to give President Obama credit for what she called a "tactical victory."

"The decision to insert American units in areas to hunt down and to kill bin Laden is an example of the needed decisive leadership that our troops deserve," Palin said, calling it a "proper use of force to protect America."

Palin's words were a departure from last year, when she called President Obama's approach to terrorism "fatally flawed" after the arrest of a Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas day 2009.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to ignite explosives in his underwear on a plane with 290 people aboard.

After Abdulmutallab's arrest, Palin criticized Obama for charging him as a criminal defendant rather than treating him as an enemy combatant.

Palin wrote on her Facebook page that Obama needed to "recognize that the real nature of the terrorist threat requires a commander-in-chief, not a constitutional law professor."

In her speech Palin also questioned whether Pakistani leaders were helping to hide bin Laden.

"How was the most wanted man in the world able to avoid detection, living in comfort, in a mysterious super compound in plain sight?" Palin asked.

"We must demand that anyone who cooperated in hiding bin Laden be brought to justice," she said.

While not addressing Palin specifically, Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari dismisses such claims in a Washington Post Op Ed article.

"Such baseless speculation may make exciting cable news, but it doesn’t reflect fact. Pakistan had as much reason to despise al-Qaeda as any nation," Zardari said.

Palin spoke tonight to an overflow crowd of about 1,300 people gathered inside and outside a gymnasium on the campus of Colorado Christian University in Lakewood. The event was a fundraiser for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, an organization that offers support to military families.

During her speech Palin praised members of the Navy SEAL teams that carried out the mission against bin Laden.

"Their courage and determination brought us justice, especially justice for the victims of 9-11," Palin said.

Palin shared the stage with retired Lt. Gen. William Boykin, known for making controversial remarks about Islam and casting the War on Terror as a religious fight. He later apologized and retired in 2007. As recently as 2009 Boykin reportedly said that there is "no greater threat to America than Islam."

Palin was not available to answer questions from reporters and did not address whether she might run for president during her speech