Osama Bin Laden...

[kirby]

I was watching C-SPAN Q&A Sunday with Fran Townsend, former Asst. to the President for Homeland Security & Counterterrorism.

She was asked by Brian Lamb about the realism of the next President catching Osama Bin Laden. Her response basically was that Bush will get him before the end of his term. Does anyone else thing this will be a 'November' surprise?

She also said she did not believe that the next President will be able to leave Iraq as quickly as they promise.

Here is the exact transcript related to Osama Bin Laden:

LAMB: Recently, John McCain said in some forum, and I tried to find the exact quote, ”If I’m elected president, I will get Osama bin Laden.”

What do you think when you hear some candidate for office say that?

TOWNSEND: Well, I expect, given what I know to be the president’s direction, that they won’t have that opportunity, because the president’s been very clear, he intends to get Osama bin Laden before the end of the administration.

That’s obviously not an easy task. If it was, it would have happened by now.

But the president has given the direction, and the government has organized itself - intelligence, military, law enforcement assets - to find and bring bin Laden to justice.

And I know it’s the president’s expectation that he will be successful, that the government, we will be successful before the end of his term.

You know, I think it’s as important a catharsis for the American people that we get bin Laden. But he also continues to be an inspirational leader. And for that reason, he’s an inspiration for recruitment and finances. And so, for a lot of very good reasons, we ought to want to get him, and it ought to be the priority it is

Source: Transcript @ http://www.c-span.org/special/Townsend.asp

[lurky]

1. Translation: "The anointed one cannot utter falsehood,

for his word is the expression of God's will."

[monktonman]

2. Bin Ladin with freezer burn no doubt... n/t

[blondeatlast]

3. So, the murdering terrorist matters this week? I need a scorecard...

From Buzzflash:

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."
- G.W. Bush, 9/13/01

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02

"I am truly not that concerned about him."
- G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden's whereabouts,
3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/11/13_Laden.html

[Ghost in the Machine]

4. Fox News: "Bin Laden Already Dead"

Fox News: "Bin Laden Already Dead"

Wednesday, December 26, 2001

Usama bin Laden has died a peaceful death due to an untreated lung complication, the Pakistan Observer reported, citing a Taliban leader who allegedly attended the funeral of the Al Qaeda leader.

"The Coalition troops are engaged in a mad search operation but they would never be able to fulfill their cherished goal of getting Usama alive or dead," the source said.

Bin Laden, according to the source, was suffering from a serious lung complication and succumbed to the disease in mid-December, in the vicinity of the Tora Bora mountains. The source claimed that bin Laden was laid to rest honorably in his last abode and his grave was made as per his Wahabi belief.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,41576,00.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Death of bin Ladenism
By AMIR TAHERI
Published: July 11, 2002

Osama bin Laden is dead. The news first came from sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan almost six months ago: the fugitive died in December and was buried in the mountains of southeast Afghanistan. Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, echoed the information. The remnants of Osama's gang, however, have mostly stayed silent, either to keep Osama's ghost alive or because they have no means of communication.

With an ego the size of Mount Everest, Osama bin Laden would not have, could not have, remained silent for so long if he were still alive. He always liked to take credit even for things he had nothing to do with. Would he remain silent for nine months and not trumpet his own survival?

Even if he is still in the world, bin Ladenism has left for good. Mr. bin Laden was the public face of a brand of politics that committed suicide in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, killing thousands of innocent people in the process.

What were the key elements of that politics?

The first was a cynical misinterpretation of Islam that began decades ago with such anti-Western ideologues as Maulana Maudoodi of Pakistan and Sayyid Qutb of Egypt. Although Mr. Maudoodi and Mr. Qutb were not serious thinkers, they could at least offer a coherent ideology based on a narrow reading of Islamic texts. Their ideas about Western barbarism and Muslim revival, distilled down to bin Ladenism, became mere slogans designed to incite zealots to murder.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405EFDE1230F932A25754C0A9649C8B63

[Deny and Shred]

5. With the intense personal links to the Bin Laden family

I'm sure GWB could pull him out of his hotel room, ur 'cave', whenever he wants. Just another piece they move around the board for public consumption.