Former U.S. Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill, who is credited with killing Usama bin Laden, reflected on America’s 250th anniversary, praising opportunities for those willing to work hard while urging Americans to preserve the nation’s values amid what he described as a growing hatred of its history.
“As we come up on our 250th anniversary of being the greatest country ever, it’s just the opportunity here from my personal experience that reminds me, and I almost get to a point where I’m jealous of younger men that were my age when I joined because they literally have the world at their fingertips,” O’Neill told Fox News Digital.
“You can do anything, seriously, in this country.”
O’Neill, who served with SEAL Team 6 during Operation Neptune Spear, the 2011 raid that killed the al Qaeda mastermind and chief, encouraged more young people to step outside their comfort zones and contribute to Americas success.
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“I’m able to attribute a lot of my successes in life simply because I left the house,” he said. “I went to join the military, and I did. In this country, I just proved you can do anything by not doing one thing. I just didn’t stop. I never quit.”
Looking back on his service, O’Neill said it was a “great honor” to leave home, rise through the ranks on merit, and earn a place on a team chosen solely on ability, calling his experience an example of “the greatness of the country.”
“That team was proof of equal opportunity,” he said. “You have an equal opportunity to try out, but you’re gonna be tested every day, and if you don’t pass, we’re just gonna get rid of you. But the team was built because of this country, and the country has the ability to do that over and over again.”
As millions prepare to celebrate the anniversary, O’Neill acknowledged that not everyone views the milestone positively, blaming a growing “victimhood” mindset for turning people away from the nation’s history.
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“Part of the issue is we stop teaching our kids the past, and we’re actually raising a lot of victims,” he said. “I don’t know why the victimhood is here. Maybe it’s because the country is so great, we have to look back on the past and invent problems, and that’s what we’re doing right now.”
A driving force behind this growing disdain is “institutional cowardice,” according to O’Neill, who warned that “if we keep importing the enemy and won’t call it what it is,” the country risks deeper political division and, ultimately, “civil war.”
“We’re at a place right now of institutional cowardice where we’re importing people based on untruths because people in political positions know that they’ll vote for them if they keep doing what they’re doing,” he said.
“Once that base starts growing, they’re going to get rid of what was referred to by communists as the ‘useful idiots.’ It’s growing right now. I mean, it’s almost ironic that we can look over the ocean at Great Britain on an anniversary from a country where we gained independence, and it’s not like looking at another nation. We’re looking at a glimpse into our future.”
O’Neill said the nation loses its strength despite its ability to “win anything ,” arguing America would need to “import the enemy in order to lose.”
“We’re seei
