That was back when Bush's preparations for his unnecessary, ruinous - not to say pestilential - invasion of Iraq were well underway. . . .
Deep in my heart I know the man is on the run, if he's alive at all. Who knows if he's hiding in some cave or not; we haven't heard from him in a long time. And the idea of focusing on one person is -- really indicates to me people don't understand the scope of the mission ... he's a person who's now been marginalized. His network, his host government has been destroyed ... You know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you ... I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him ... He has no place to train his al Qaeda killers anymore.That was then...
This is now.
Mass murderer Osama Bin Laden threatened Saturday to expand his holy war to Israel in a chilling threat delivered in a 56-minute audiotape posted on the Internet:We intend to liberate Palestine, the whole of Palestine from the [Jordan] river to the sea ... We will not recognize even one inch for Jews in the land of Palestine as other Muslim leaders have ... I assure our kin in Palestine especially that we shall expand our jihad ... The most evil of the traitors are those who trade away their religion for the sake of their mortal life.What a difference five years makes...
The capture/death of Osama would be catastrophic for Bush and the GOP. They have depended on Osama for seven years as a means to make sheeple cower in fear and give away our rights and freedoms.
ReplyDeleteWhat ever happened to those stupid color charts? It must not be close enough to an election to ramp up the panic.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe Bush-Co just wants us to believe that his surge is working no matter what OBL says.
It's not 5 years that have made the difference, Vigilante. It's the Faux Kling-Ons in the White House for 7 years that have made the difference.
ReplyDeleteI assume that many of you are 9.11 Truthers?
ReplyDeleteDoes the author of the post think that we should attack inside of Pakistan.
By the way, when was the last UBL action against an American civilian target? Over six years ago, that's when. Sounds like the operational definition of "marginalized".
The GOP has no incentive to kill Osama. They want to keep fear alive in every one of our citizens so that they can control our people and the world's resources--it doesn't matter HOW they do it, they just wouldn't try very hard to kill the threats. No one can suggest that six years since an attack on the U.S. (not other countries, by the way) means squat. OBL waited 8 years between the first and second WTC attacks. They are willing to wait as long as it takes to successfully do a nasty thing to us. It's not that there isn't a threat, it's just that our leaders use it to their advantage, not ours.
ReplyDeleteSporer:
ReplyDeleteSix years ago, the author of this column was cheer leading the pursuit of the bearded psychopath who directed the 9-11 attacks on New York City and Washington. Unbeknownst to millions of Americans, even while Osama bin Laden's trail was hot, Busheney had already diverted key assets from Afghanistan to attacking Saddam's Iraq. Millions of Americans knew at the time was reckless, costly, and self-destructive project. This was most recently confirmed by the recent National Intelligence Estimate which concluded,
"the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and ... the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks."
Bush's incompetent machinations has hoisted Osama bin Laden from the status marginal mujahedin to an international icon. Don't try to defend the indefensible.
Real-Sporer, WTF is a 'truther'?
ReplyDeleteHell yeah I think we should dive into Pakistan sporer. With friends like the 19 Saudis that took part in 9/11 and Pakistan's glorious leader who has turned a blind eye to the Taliban in his country why should we just pick on Iran? If you want to start WW3 why just piss around one country at a time.
ReplyDeleteI'm still amazed that we never caught the guy who perpetrated 9/11.
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Bush.
Dubyah is a failure. He has propped up a military dictatorship in Pakistan since 9\11 and has no return for his empty effort.
ReplyDeleteLet it also not go unnoticed that Osama hit his grand-slam home run when Bush was the pitcher of record. As Richard Clarke has pointed out, GWB was busy walking the bases full with suitcase-bomber types because he was too busy pitching starwars. He shoulda been pitching on the corners but we have come to learn that he wasn't too hot on the nuances of control. He just threw fast balls and ducked. And then his sports writers blame the game's outcome on Clinton.
ReplyDeleteNothing would have aborted Osama's rise to 'iconic' status more than bringing his head back on a spike. But no, all Shrub wanted to do is to get Saddam and hang 'em.
ReplyDeleteCan you BELIEVE this man?!!!
ReplyDeleteThe baseball analogy (above) reminds me of a unnamed fomer Pentagon official's comparison of Bush's presidency to Bush's performance as the owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team:
ReplyDelete"George W. Bush reportedly did not involve himself in the essence of baseball operations: player development, marketing, and the business aspects of running a major league Baseball franchise. Instead he served as a corporate master-of-ceremonies, attending to the morale of the management team and focusing on the narrow issues ... that interested him."
Cheney,
"rendered the policy planning, development, and implementation functions of the interagency system essentially irrelevant. Cheney has, in matters he has deemed important, governed. As a matter of protocol, good manners, and constitutional deference he has obtained the requisite 'check-mark' of the president, often during one-on-one meetings after a Potemkin 'interagency process' had run its often inconclusive course."
Craig Unger, The Fall of the House of Bush (2007)
Call me a conspiracy theorist - but I wouldn't be surprised if there were some underlying currents between the US/Musharraf relationship that resulted in some type of tacit trade - you help us in the GWOT, and we'll not interfere with your soveriegn borders, including sending US special ops into Pakistan, even if it means not catching OBL. (I wouldn't be surprised if the U.S. knew upfront about the hit on Bhutto, either, btw.)
ReplyDeleteSo who's on first now?
ReplyDeleteQuestion asked.
ReplyDeleteUS diplomat dies in Sudan attack.
And answered.