Bloomberg picks up TNR "July Surprise" story - where are AP/UPI/Reuters?

[swag]

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aiQyYlkml67U&refer=us

U.S. Urges Pakistan to Find Bin Laden Before Elections, NR Says
July 8 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration is increasing pressure on Pakistan to kill or capture fugitives including al- Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, before the November presidential elections, The New Republic reported, citing unidentified Pakistani government and intelligence officials.

U.S. officials including Secretary of State Colin Powell and outgoing Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet have visited Pakistan in recent months to urge President Pervez Musharraf to do more in the war on terror, the magazine said. The country has been asked to find bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al- Zawahiri or Taliban chief Mullah Omar before the elections, the New Republic said.

A White House aide told Pakistani intelligence chief Ehsan ul-Haq that the best days to announce the killing or capture of any target would be July 26, 27 or 28, coinciding with the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston, the Magazine cited an unidentified subordinate of ul-Haq as saying. U.S. policy has been consistently to capture such fugitives, an attitude unchanged by the elections, the New Republic cited National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack as saying.

President George W. Bush has been accused by officials including former White House counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke of focusing more on Iraq than on the threat from the al- Qaeda network responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Bush lags Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry according to a CBS News poll published yesterday, though the gap fell within the poll's margin of error.

. . .

[sniffa]

1. and i'm sure

the pakistanis wiLL pLay baLL and jump (how high?) "this high."

if musharef doesn't catch OBL before the eLection, he'LL be accused of intentionaLLy not catching him to infLuence our eLections and get bush out.

[papau]

2. Orginal TNR link below

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040719&s=aaj071904

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/07/iraq/main627914.shtml

[jean]

3. July Surprise? Will bush tweak out and cough up whatever

they've got sooner than later?

The New Republic article, which is excellent in it's simplicity and specificity, was profiled by CNN's Aaron Brown last night, by Keith Olbermann on his Countdown show, and now by Bloomberg. (Plus all over the internet)

A DU-er mentioned this morning that some soldiers in Afghanistan have heard murmurs the US has already captured 'someone.'

What other wrenches can bush/Rove throw at the Kerry/Edwards machine besides today's terra media blitz? That's a pretty high level of wrench throwing!

If our guys continue to exude sunshine and light look for bush to flinch and show his (we already know what's in it) hand prematurely.

[swag]

4. WP Online (Froomkin) has it now - let's hope it sees some more print

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36538-2004Jul8.html