Bush thinks he deserves credit for getting Osama bin Laden

[ProSense]

Bush Credits ‘The Work That Was Done’ During ‘My Presidency’ For Osama Bin Laden’s Death

By Ben Armbruster

President Bush sat down with USA Today to discuss the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and his role in shaping U.S. policy in their aftermath. During the interview, Bush thought he’d take the opportunity to pat himself on the back for Osama bin Laden’s death:

Bush said the events that led to the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May began during his administration.

“The work that was done by intelligence communities during my presidency was part of putting together the puzzle that enabled us to see the full picture of how bin Laden was communicating and eventually where he was hiding,” he said. “It began the day after 9/11.”

The reality, of course, is that Bush’s attempts to capture or kill bin Laden were huge failures. While it’s been well documented that the Bush administration missed an opportunity to get bin Laden in Tora Bora in 2001, Bush himself subsequently stated publicly that he wasn’t spending much time thinking about getting him. “I truly am not that concerned about him. I am deeply concerned about Iraq,” Bush said in 2002, “I really just don’t spend that much time on him, to be honest with you.” Bush told reporters in 2006 that hunting the al Qaeda leader was “not a top priority use of American resources.”

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Soon after he took office, President Obama steered the U.S. on a course to end the war in Iraq and put resources back into finding bin Laden. “Shortly after I got into office,” Obama said in an interview after bin Laden’s death, “I brought (then-CIA director) Leon Panetta privately into the Oval Office and I said to him, ‘We need to redouble our efforts in hunting bin Laden down. And I want us to start putting more resources, more focus, and more urgency into that mission.’”

Steve Benen:

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I can understand why Bush would push the argument, but it’s misleading. Sure, there were important post-9/11 reforms that improved U.S. officials’ capacity to acquire and act on intelligence, but when it comes to getting bin Laden, this is generally a subject the former president should try to avoid.

After all, in March 2002, just six months after 9/11, Bush said of bin Laden, “I truly am not that concerned about him…. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him, to be honest with you.”

In July 2006, we learned that the Bush administration closed its unit that had been hunting bin Laden.

In September 2006, Bush told Fred Barnes, one of his most sycophantic media allies, that an “emphasis on bin Laden doesn’t fit with the administration’s strategy for combating terrorism.”

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[TwilightGardener]

1. I guess he does, in the same way that a batter who strikes out at every turn at bat

and can't field the ball still deserves credit when his team wins the game.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. He walked away from bin Laden.

It was his Administration that allowed the Sarasota Saudi's to get away without the public realizing that connection and he ran bullheaded into Iraq.

He deserves credit, but not for the things he claims.

[KansDem]

3. Here he is "getting" Osama bin Laden

He didn't do one ****ing thing about "getting" Osama bin Laden!

[EffieBlack]

4. If he deserves credit for getting bin Laden, shouldn't he get the blame for the crappy economy?

Can't have it both ways . . .

[Tarheel_Dem]

5. >>>>>

:thumbsup:

[treestar]

9. Yep.

Republicans want to have it both ways. They will with straight face inform us that the recession starting in 08 was Clinton's fault and due to his policies. 911 was Clinton's fault, because he did not get bin Laden in the 90s. Obama got bin Laden because of Bush's actions - IOW the Republican is never to be blamed but always get the credit.

[Guilded Lilly]

6. For him to put *intelligence* in the same sentence as *my presidency*...

is the oxymoron phrase of the century.

[Phx_Dem]

7. What a sad little man. Trying to grab some crumbs of credit from Obama's accomplishment.

[yurbud]

8. ''See we got him to relax and let his guard down by NOT hunting him down, so when the Big O got in..

it was a cake walk to take him out. Hell, Brownie could a done it.''

[polmaven]

10. I hope no one was hurt

being hit by a nose growing out of that cement head!

[Cosmocat]

11. Of couse he does - 9-11 happened 9 months ...

into his presidency and it was not his fault at all, so it just naturally tracks that having OBL put down two and a half years after he left office would be in great part due to him ...

[FrenchieCat]

12. Well, he might as well! It ain't like Obama is getting any of the credit....

as I recall, killing Bin Laden got Pres. Obama about a 3 point bump for less than a week,
while Bush got a bump that started at 91% a few days after his bullhorn moment, and stayed
as high as 71% 16 months later! So hell, I see why he would try and come back and claim
victory....again. :eyes:

[Lord Helmet]

13. watch - nobody in the media willl call him on it