Bush Iraq Fixation Let Bin Laden Escape
Posted by
Kevin
Bush has completely lost Bin Laden. He lost him becasue he was bound and determined to attack Iraq — a country that was perfectly contained and had no WMDs and no connection to Al Qeada:
Many factors have combined in the five years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to make the pursuit more difficult. They include the lack of CIA access to people close to al-Qaeda’s inner circle; Pakistan’s unwillingness to pursue him; the reemergence of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan; the strength of the Iraqi insurgency, which has depleted U.S. military and intelligence resources; and the U.S. government’s own disorganization.
… On the videotape obtained by the CIA, bin Laden is seen confidently instructing his party how to dig holes in the ground to lie in undetected at night. A bomb dropped by a U.S. aircraft can be seen exploding in the distance. “We were there last night,” bin Laden says without much concern in his voice. He was in or headed toward Pakistan, counterterrorism officials think.
That was December 2001. Only two months later, Bush decided to pull out most of the special operations troops and their CIA counterparts in the paramilitary division that were leading the hunt for bin Laden in Afghanistan to prepare for war in Iraq, said Flynt L. Leverett, then an expert on the Middle East at the National Security Council.
“I was appalled when I learned about it,” said Leverett, who has become an outspoken critic of the administration’s counterterrorism policy. “I don’t know of anyone who thought it was a good idea. It’s very likely that bin Laden would be dead or in American custody if we hadn’t done that.”
Several officers confirmed that the number of special operations troops was reduced in March 2001.
George W. Bush is directly responsible for losing the man responsible for 9/11. I wonder if he wil talk about this during his little speech tonight?
Gosh. Too bad Kerry lost. He would have captured and reformed Bin Laden by now. Too bad Clinton was too busy with Monica to take Bin Laden out but.
Comment 9/11/2006
Unlike Bill Clinton, Bush never had OBL to lose. You can’t lose someone you never had.
Comment 9/11/2006
Good attempt at misdirection after the ABC thing, but I have to ask, given the certainty among some group that he is either dead or in Pakistan, what exactly would men on the ground in Afganistan do (saying they were not pulled out to sate liberals who would seize on it instead of Iraq)?
Comment 9/11/2006
“I — I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him [Bin Laden].” March 13, 2002
Comment 9/11/2006
Context?
Comment 9/11/2006
Wide right, flood the zone, on three. Break!
Huh,
Wha?
TIME OUT!
Comment 9/11/2006
hi my name is bubba and ah think that george boosh is a good presiduhnt because he’s a christyun and he wasn’t afraid to stand up to saddam hoosain. them librals say the iraq war ain’t good but i think bush is tuff on terr’rism. i grown up in rooral mississippi so i know sometimes ya gotta fight. oh you say the cost of the war will be $2 trillion and it’ll take 30 or 40 years to pay that bill? well golly ya gotta remember nine elevuhn. oh and iraq had nuthin’ to do with nine elevuhn well then saddam hoosain was a bad man. and thousands of americans and iraqians died in the war well that’s worth it ’cause i luv iraq and it’s worth it to bring them democrassy. that’s right cause i’m a fuckin red state hillbilly bible thumpin’ dumbfuck and i’ll believe any stupid crap that i gets spoonfed from another republican. Yee haw!!
Comment 9/30/2006