Were you surprised that Kerry brought up Osama bin Laden ?

[kentuck]

Many people were suggesting that he not mention Osama because the Bush regime might capture him just before the election. I agreed with Kerry bringing up Osama. I wish he had said Osama bin Forgotten. :)

[Pirate Smile]

1. Tora Bora - he should mention it as much as possible.

[JohnKleeb]

2. of course not

He's the one who slammed Bush for Tora Bora way back when. He phrased it beautifully tonight.

[EnfantTerrible]

3. No I wasn't surprised

what has surprised me is that OBL hasn't been brought up more often prior to tonight.

[cheshire]

4. Happily, yes. He hit all of turds weak point. Bam,Bam,Bam, HaHaHas

[Longhorn]

5. I honestly believe catching him now will just be a reminder of

how GD long it took!

[TexasSissy]

6. No. The past mistakes re Osama are there, regardless whether he's

captured in the future or not.

Besides, Kerry really had to go for it. This was it. If he didn't do well tonight, Bush may have won. Not necessarily. But Kerry really had to do well.

Let's face it. If Osama is caught, it wouldn't matter what Kerry said or didn't say at the first debate, anyway.

[autorank]

7. No. I think * and Musharaff had a falling out.

Add this up: Pakistan has a ton if bin Ladin sympathizers; Musharaff doesn't want a civil war; somebody does a poll a week or so ago with 65% of Pakistanis expressing support for bin Ladin; Musharaff says the Iraq war caused more terrorism. Sounds like he's turned on Bush and won't do much to produce bin Ladin. It's a bold gamble for Kerry to put his chips on this number but the 'tea leaves' seem to say, do it!

[Roland99]

9. But that new prime minister is an old buddy of PNAC neocon Wolfowitz

Anyone willing to bet on some new High-Value Target being "found" soon in Pakistan/Afghanistan?

[EnfantTerrible]

13. I don't think they've had a falling out

I think Musharraf has to say and do whatever he can publicly to appease the people of Pakistan because he's hanging on by a thread there. He's placating the public. The White House can't get too upset about it because they need a Pakistan that will allow them the access to run covert missions in and out of the country. If Musharraf falls the next guy won't be so accomodating to the US. Also there is the ongoing conflict over the Kashmiri provence that is squeezing Musharraf.

[Blue-Jay]

8. Not at all suprised.

I'd have been disappointed if he hadn't brought it up.

[NightOwwl]

11. My words exactly. n/t

[unfrigginreal]

10. He had to

the Repugs are going to try to make Zarqawi the new boogeyman to tie the Iraq War to the WOT. It was great preemptive strategy to remind folks that "dead or alive" is still on the loose.

[mark11727]

12. When Kerry mentioned OBL, I thought ...

...now THERE's a name I haven't heard in a while...!

[TSIAS]

14. No

In fact, I was sure that he'd mention the name as many times as possible.

Were OBL to get caught before the election, Kerry will be in trouble regardless. This is a great opportunity to make advances on the national security issue.