Bush Committed to Tracking al-Qaida

[sabra]

Source: AP

CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) -- President Bush said Monday he is confident that with the right intelligence U.S. and Pakistan governments can take out al-Qaida leaders, and he declined to rule out consulting first with Pakistan before ordering U.S. forces to act.

"With real actionable intelligence, we will get the job done," Bush said.

He was asked whether he would wait on permission from Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf before committing the U.S. military to move on "actionable intelligence" on the whereabouts of terrorist leaders in Pakistan. He did not answer directly.

Bush was at the presidential retreat at Camp David for two days of meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The two held talks on a rash of crises confronting Afghanistan: civilian killings, a booming drug trade and the brazen resurgence of the Taliban.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH_KARZAI?SITE=WSPATV&SECTION=NATIONAL&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-08-06-11-43-16

[maxsolomon]

1. good enough for me

sounds like he's got everything wrapped up, and we can go home.

:sarcasm: is all i've got left.

[sakabatou]

2. Like bin Who?

[MasonJar]

3. All democrats!

[underpants]

4. "not more than 50, 60, I think"

AMANPOUR: More than two weeks of bombing, solid intelligence, the U.S. had thrown its biggest bombs, its most sophisticated missiles, bunker busters, daisy cutters, at bin Laden, but somehow, some way, it wasn't enough.

BERGEN: The policy of using very limited number of U.S. Special Forces on the ground calling in airstrikes and a large number of Afghan ground troops worked brilliantly at overthrowing the Taliban, but at the battle of Tora Bora, it was a total disaster.

AMANPOUR (on camera): The plan was for Afghan and Pakistani soldiers to block any escape routes, but Osama bin Laden managed to slip away through the mountains. And the mission to capture or kill the al Qaeda leader failed. By most accounts, the main problem was not enough American soldiers on the ground.

BERGEN: By my calculation, there were more American journalists than American soldiers at the battle of Tora Bora, and that fact kind of speaks for itself.

BERNTSEN: In the first two or three days of December, I would write a message back to Washington, recommending the insertion of U.S. forces on the ground. I was looking for 600 to 800 Rangers, roughly a battalion. They never came.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Also hunting bin Laden in Tora Bora, then Afghan militia leader, General Mohamed Zahir (ph).

(on camera) Do you have any idea how many American soldiers were at the battle of Tora Bora?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was not more than 50, 60, I think. There was not more than that at that time.




From the very start, the Tora Bora operation - with 2,500 local Afghan fighters, 40 US special forces, and the mightiest air arsenal in the world against an estimated 1,000 Qaeda fighters - seemed star-crossed.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=116&topic_id=13367

[radfringe]

5. and from now until jan 2009

he will look under his bed, desk, and in drawers for terrorists...

[alfredo]

6. Screw tracking. how about killing them?

[driver8]

7. I guess all of his buddies are filthy rich by now. Must be time to do some

actual work.

George Bush is a piece of shit. (Got that, agent Mike?)

[rodeodance]

8. I do not think Bush likes meetups in the White House anymore--secluded at

camp David-----like with Brown.

[kestrel91316]

9. So go ahead and IMPEACH his sorry ass and give him a nice

Sherlock Holmes cap and magnifying glass and a trusty sidekick and let him go hunt "Al Qaida" to his little ol' heart's content. Maybe while he's at it he can help OJ find the real killer.

[cureautismnow]

10. Rats! I thought the headline was just "Bush Committed."

That would be the feel-good story of the millennium! :-)

[Acadia Blue]

11. I saw and heard him tell Sawyer he did not really think about Osama.

I wish they would play that tape over and over. But the CORPORATIST MEDIA loves presidents like Bush who do their bidding. How much money did GE who owns NBC make on the Iraq war. Why did they not finish the job and finish off Al Queada instead of invading Iraq? We would be safer if they had.