Bush Let Osama Get Away?
How does this...
...translate into "Bush let Osama get away?"
I'm as disappointed that we haven't brought Osama to justice as the next guy, but I don't think the fact that we haven't is as bad as some would make it out to be.
Osama has been driven under ground. In his video address released shortly before the Presidential election he spoke of America's efforts to find him hampering al Qaeda's ability to operate. His safe havens in the world, rogue nations and dictatorships in the middle-east, are slowly drying up as the liberation of Iraq and Afghanistan has sparked a popular uprising for freedom in many places in that region. Every other week we hear about new terror arrests all over the world as Osama's terror captains and their followers are rounded up. In fact, the information from the article above originated with one of Osama's most senior officials who has been cooling his heels in Guantanamo Bay for some time now.
It would be great to take bin Laden down, it would certainly make the world a safer place, but its worth keeping in mind that he has, for the most part, been marginalized. He is an important target, but largely a symbolic one these days.
As for him not being captured in Tora Bora, its unfortunate that he got away. It is, however, interesting to note that some of the very same people who accuse the supporters of the war in Iraq of overestimating America's military capabilities tend to overestimate those very same capabilities when it comes to tracking down a single man in the wilds and mountains of Afghanistan. One day these people tell us that our soldiers cannot possibly win victory in Iraq against the terrorist insurgents there, but when it suits them they assume that our soldiers could have easily apprehended bin Laden had the President only made some different decisions.
WASHINGTON - A terror suspect held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was a commander for Osama bin Laden during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and helped the al-Qaida leader escape his mountain hide-out at Tora Bora in 2001, according to a U.S. government document.
The document, provided to The Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Information request, says the unidentified detainee "assisted in the escape of Osama bin Laden from Tora Bora." It is the first definitive statement from the Pentagon that bin Laden was at Tora Bora and evaded U.S. pursuers.
...translate into "Bush let Osama get away?"
I'm as disappointed that we haven't brought Osama to justice as the next guy, but I don't think the fact that we haven't is as bad as some would make it out to be.
Osama has been driven under ground. In his video address released shortly before the Presidential election he spoke of America's efforts to find him hampering al Qaeda's ability to operate. His safe havens in the world, rogue nations and dictatorships in the middle-east, are slowly drying up as the liberation of Iraq and Afghanistan has sparked a popular uprising for freedom in many places in that region. Every other week we hear about new terror arrests all over the world as Osama's terror captains and their followers are rounded up. In fact, the information from the article above originated with one of Osama's most senior officials who has been cooling his heels in Guantanamo Bay for some time now.
It would be great to take bin Laden down, it would certainly make the world a safer place, but its worth keeping in mind that he has, for the most part, been marginalized. He is an important target, but largely a symbolic one these days.
As for him not being captured in Tora Bora, its unfortunate that he got away. It is, however, interesting to note that some of the very same people who accuse the supporters of the war in Iraq of overestimating America's military capabilities tend to overestimate those very same capabilities when it comes to tracking down a single man in the wilds and mountains of Afghanistan. One day these people tell us that our soldiers cannot possibly win victory in Iraq against the terrorist insurgents there, but when it suits them they assume that our soldiers could have easily apprehended bin Laden had the President only made some different decisions.
