Jan 17th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Remember That Time When Bush Killed Osama?
Fred Barnes explains the glories of George W. Bush:
President Bush had strong nerves. President Clinton, who passed up a chance to eliminate Osama bin Laden, did not.
Once again, from reading this homages to the genius of Bush-era counterterrorism you would never know that an order of magnitude more Americans were killed by transnational Islamist terrorists under George W. Bush’s watch than under all previous presidents combined. Barnes here seems to think that Bush’s nerves of steel are what allowed to him finally nail Osama bin Laden, but the missing part of the picture here is when Bush let bin Laden get away and he’s still at large years later with no real prospects for the U.S. killing or capturing him. It’s a disgrace.
50 Responses to “Remember That Time When Bush Killed Osama?”
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January 17th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
It’s not certain that he actually is alive. The authenticity of the occasional audio tapes has always been in question. Why doesn’t Osama pose for a picture holding a current copy of a newspaper?
January 17th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
If only John McCain would share his plan to nab OBL!
January 17th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Two orders of magnitude, in fact.
January 17th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Bush couldn’t kill Bin Laden, but he sure bombed the shit out of some brown people who had nothing to do with 9/11!
January 17th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
What would that prove? You don’t think Al Qaeda has heard of photoshop?
BTW, I love how Yglesias links to his own horrible post about the Bush record. I must say that post is the worst ever in the history of all blogs.
January 17th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
but the missing part of the picture here is when Bush let bin Laden get away and he’s still at large years later with no real prospects for the U.S. killing or capturing him
No, the missing part of the picture is that it doesn’t matter if Bush – or Barack Obama or the Tooth Fairy – catches Osama bin Laden at this point. Bin Laden’s relevance to the flourishing of Islamic terrorist movements is no greater than that of any of the various “number three al Qaeda men” that’ve been caught or killed over the years. It’s understandable that Democrats would seize on Bush’s failure to catch bin Laden as a bludgeon to use on him, but it’s not understandable that liberal policy types like Matt Yglesias have accepted that “getting” bin Laden is some incredibly important foreign policy goal.
The whack-a-mole approach to terrorism is no more effective when the mole in question is Osama bin Laden. The US needs to address the actual root causes of terror, which overwhelmingly stem from America’s own bad foreign policy.
January 17th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
an order of magnitude more Americans were killed by transnational Islamist terrorists under George W. Bush’s watch than under all previous presidents combined.
A much better construction than the one in your blog post from yesterday.
January 17th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
shorter strasmangelo jones:
I am for letting mass murderers walk away scott free.
Wanker.
January 17th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I think mattY missed the scarier (or sillier?) point of Fred’s piece:
(emphasis added)
So a prominent GOP apologist/trendsetter is saying, clearly and specifically, that they don’t give a flying f*ck about creating jobs (let alone the intent of the specific jobs) to maybe, you know, help the economy back on track. Naah, let’s let ‘em ruin some other bellwether industry instead.
January 17th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Where does Fred Barnes fit on The Wanker-Wingnut continuum and why does anyone care what he says?
January 17th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Osama is too smart to pose for any kind of pic. What for? To stick it to Tom Friedman? This is not some attention-starved BTK type killer. He’s the Leader (real or symbolic) of the world-wide Jihad against the Zionist-Corporatist-Christian Right New World Order. Fully cognizant that the less anybody knows – the better.
January 17th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Re: it doesn’t matter if Bush – or Barack Obama or the Tooth Fairy – catches Osama bin Laden at this point.
You are seriously claiming that it’s OK if the guy who master-minded the murder of 3000 people is never caught and brought to justice?
January 17th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Perhaps when the FBI has enough evidence to indict Osama bin Laden for 9/11, I’ll take the claim seriously. Otherwise, it’s Bush’s word and some tapes that don’t pass the smell test.
January 17th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
If the administration wanted justice, they would have done a proper investigation. As it stands, Bush and Cheney appeared together at a whitewash, holding hands, without taking an oath, and not allowing notes to be taken.
January 17th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
More right wing shitbags forgetting the years they screamed about how liberals and Democrats were weak and anti-American because the big tough Republicans were going to really go after the terrorists.
So, right wing shitbags are supposed to get to scream across the nation about how ruff and tuff the Republicans are with the terr’ists, and when liberals point out, “Hey, you know, big talker, you never got bin Laden,” etc., it’s some hideous violation of bi-partisan contract.
Fuck all you worthless shitbags.
January 17th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
You’re missing subtext, Matt. The right wing always congratulates itself for being willing and able to kill people. Democrats are always ’weak’ because they (Left/liberals) don’t want to.
So, it’s a tautological praise. In the Age Of Bin Laden, the ability to murder Evildoers is a Good. As they see it.
January 17th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
strasmangelo jones is correct. calypgian is either illiterate or dishones. beat you chest a little harer, dude. I’m sure that’ll solve the terrorism problem
January 17th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
If I remember right…didn’t we hear in 2001 that OBL was seriously ill and needed constant kidney dialysis? Given that, I always assumed he probably died a while ago. Otherwise, couldn’t the U.S. just track shipments and sales of dialysis equipment as a way to find him?
Alternatively, OBL might look so ghastly and sick that releasing a picture of himself would be far from reassuring to his followers.
January 17th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
A double post but I think it needs to be said:
Israelis, Zionists, Christians in Iraq, Muslims in India, Buddhist in Thailand, unbelievers everywhere; the big picture is that the Islamic Reformation is over and the Wahhabists won. Muslims are aggrieved and it is not their situation, it is their religion. They will use any excuse, anywhere, to incrementally defeat others. The West is going to allow its civil liberties to cut it’s own throat. The new, improved believers are not your average Methodists or Catholic neighbors down the street. It is the conflict of the 21st Century and we are witnessing the opening rounds. Fascism and Communism in the 20th Century; the new “ism” is Islam. You heard it here first.
January 17th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Seriously, it’s shameful this is almost never pointed out.
Bush let Osama bin Laden kill 3,000 Americans and then get away.
Do we really need to know anything else about his record on terrorism?
January 17th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
I love the Bin Laden apologists.
The theory, or so it goes, is that Bin Laden is irrelevant, so it doesn’t matter if he’s caught or killed at all.
Because… you know, he’s only the biggest hero in the Arab world. Because he’s only a glorious inspiration to every Jihad wannabe in the world “You two can kick Uncle Sam in the Gonads and walk away laughing.” His is only the most popular name that Arab mothers give their children. The hottest selling T-shirt in the Arab world. He’s only the most famous and successful terrorist human history has ever seen. His organisation is only still at large and thriving and hiving off splinter groups and tribute bands right and left. He’s only preaching new terrorist attacks, denouncing and arguing againt the west.
Yeah, who cares about Osama Bin Laden? Let’s spend all our time coming up with clever ways to call Hillary Clinton a cunt or make coded racist remarks about Obama. Cause after all, Bill Clinton getting a blowjob was the ‘woist ting evah!’
Yeah. Truth of the matter is that America’s Bin Laden’s Bitch. He killed 3000 people and caused a trillion dollars worth of damage and walked away laughing, and we just took it. We got rid of Saddam Hussein for him. We basically danced like his monkey.
The hypocrisy of the American right is breathtaking.
January 17th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Danceswithgoats, all I can say is that with leadership the likes of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, John McCain, Sara Palin and the rest… well, we’d all better start practicing Arabic.
Because I think its been proven that not only could this crew not manage a syphilitic donkey in a coma, but given half the chance, they’ll screw things up completely for the rest of us.
Face facts: If Wahhabi’s had Saints, George W would be a candidate for them. Who else in the Christian world worked so hard and so consistently to throw away every advantage, ignore every opportunity and hand victory to the enemy.
January 18th, 2009 at 5:44 am
I hope all those peeing their pants about how them skeery Moooozlims is gonna killusall will consider buying a good set of adult diapers so as to keep the people around them in less misery.
January 18th, 2009 at 6:42 am
Danceswithgoats: (I love this idiot’s handle – it’s SO appropriate since he probably screws sheep, too.) “You heard it here first.”
No, actually I heard it from hundreds of other morons elsewhere first – including morons in the Federal government, including in fact the biggest moron of all, the Prez.
If the US stopped supporting Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and the rest of the scumbags in the Middle East, pulled out completely, and started working on reducing our dependence on foreign oil, bin Laden and the rest would forget about us by the end of the first year – except bin Laden would probably be so pissed that we were no longer useful targets that he’d probably bomb us one last time just out of spite.
And then some stupid fuck like goats would start it all up again, to bin Laden’s delight.
There is no “clash of civilizations” going on – unless you want to start one – which you do, moron, so you can drive your gas-guzzling Humvee.
January 18th, 2009 at 7:24 am
Come on Hack; sheep aren’t that baaaaad.
You may not believe there is a clash of civilizations going on but the Wahhabists do. It’s not what we do that counts; it is their religion that drives them. Read the book. They chose to highlight the blood thirsty parts and are pushing them hard. BTW – if $4/gallon gas kills all SUVs then I would be glad. No sense in funding our enemies.
The Prez is selling the narcotic that Islam is a religion of peace. Meanwhile, from the Philipines to Spain and the US, radical Muslims are hacking, bombing, shooting and terrorizing those who don’t see it their way. I am Islamophobic because I fear Islam and it’s message. The book says I have a choice to convert or live in a state of dhimmitude. And that’s the moderate intrepration.
Prince Harry calls a squad mate a “Paki” (BTW – Ahmed didn’t mind the term) and gets flayed in the press. Tens of thousands of Muslims pour through the streets of the West calling for the death of Israel, saying go back to the ovens and Hitler do a good enough job and they are justified. Aided by the MSM, the West is committing suicide.
January 18th, 2009 at 8:46 am
If Obama captures Osama, they’ll just say he did it with the people and strategies left over from the Bush Admin.
Same way Clinton was responsible for 9/11 even though it happened on Bush 43’s watch (8 months after taking office) while still being responsible for the first attack on the World Trade Center (32 days after Clinton took office) because Bush 41 was former CIA and there’s no way it was his fault…or Reagen’s for supporting Bin Laden against the Soviets.
You guys really need to learn to play the game.
January 18th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Speaking somewhat more seriously, this whole ‘clash of civilizations’ stuff is overblown nonsense. I’m sure its an aide to furious masturbation by those who get off on it, but beyond that? Not so much.
The thesis behind ‘clash of civilizations’ is that Islamic worshippers have embraced a violent ideological extremism which drives them to destroy infidels. Thus, Islamic Civilization as a whole is inexorably opposed to other civilisations, particularly ours.
One could as easily say the same about Chinese, Indians, Latin Americans, Japanese, etc. Not historically, but right now. One could say it about Americans.
The truth of the matter is somewhat different:
1) Islam is not a homogenous block, but the majority or minority religion of choice in a number countries and ethnic groups scattered across Asia and Africa.
2) With the exceptions of Iran, quasi-sort of Saudi Arabia, and now possibly Iraq, none of the Islamic states are theocracies. Several of them are traditional monarchies – Morocco, Jordan, Saudi and Kuwait. Most are secular dictatorships – Syria, Tunisia, Malaysia. A few are functional or occasional third world democracies – Turkey, India, Lebanon
3) Yes, there is conflict, but on examination, these conflicts tend to be locally rooted. Israel plops itself in the middle of the region and displaces millions of people… well, you gotta expect that to happen. Afghanistan has a state of permanent civil war. The Pakistan and India situations are deeply rooted. Indonesia’s recent internal history is one of secular violence and genocide.
4) Wahabism and even Salafism are hardly dominant movements, but rather artificially elevated as a result of funding and support by the Saudi Arabians. Even within Saudi Arabia it was never historically dominant, but is a by-product of the politics needed by the Royal family to hold things together.
5) Sweeping generalisations about the Koran are illiterate nonsense. One could say the same things about the Bible or Book of Mormon.
This whole ‘clash of civilisations’ thing is compelling mythology to those who would see the world in overheated black and white terms, with good guys in white hats and black guys in black hats. It’s comforting. It’s particularly comforting because the Islamic world poses no real threat. Not in the way the USSR does. So there isn’t even the shadow of personal risk.
January 18th, 2009 at 11:12 am
I’m happy to see this, although posts like this should have been a daily occurrence since Tora Bora. Bush not only is personally responsible for criminal negligence in not lifting a hand to stop the 19 hijackers, after being repeatedly informed that terrorists were in the U.S. in the summer of 2001, but all evidence point to the Bushies intentionallly letting OBL escape, just as the Bushies, with their confidence in Pakistan, allowed the Pakistanis to airlift out ISI and Taliban leaders from Kunduz for two days in December of 2001, while American soldiers watched. Basically, the Bushies allowed for the reconstruction of the Taliban Al Qaeda interface on Pakistan’s soil.
The result, of course, is that the nuclear armed Pakistan state is the uneasy host of a group that has penetrated the ISI, supplies tactics and trainings for attacks, such as that perpetrated in Mumbai, has assassinated one Pakistani leader, and has staged rather easily attacks in the U.K, Spain, Morocco and Turkey. OBL well understands, however, the terms of his deal with Bush – for Bush, he is the terrorist on tap upon whose boogieman status our worst President produced the justification for his corrupt and war crimes strewn regime – for OBL, Bush was a heaven sent recruiter and patron.
Historians will reassess Bush, I think, in coming decades. They will more carefully look at the incredibly avoidable WTC and Pentagon attacks. They will look at the rhetoric of toughness that veiled the tactics of incompetence and malfeasance. And they will draw the appropriate conclusions about the immaturity and psychological problems of the panic-attack prone Bush.
January 18th, 2009 at 11:32 am
It always struck me that the Bush gang never really wanted to catch Bin Laden. He was more valuable to them as a threat who was still on the loose plotting to kill Americans. If he were to have been caught, that would have undermined everything they wound up doing to America as a justification for protecting America.
January 18th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Nerves of steel = willing to kill lots of innocent people to attain a symbolic victory.
January 18th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
It occurs to me that telling people they have nerves of steel might be a cleverly backhanded compliment: aren’t you really just calling them a blockhead?
January 18th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Sounds like Skeptic has been reading the “dhimmi” handbook.
January 18th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Nah, it’s just that I can tell the difference between what’s real and what’s a feverish apocalyptic fantasy.
January 18th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Tens of thousands of Muslims (and that’s just the men) screaming in the streets of Europe and Britian calling for the destruction of Israel is not a fantasy. It is here and now. The European lack of will to breed is going to leave the continent to the progeny of these “protesters”. It ain’t about 5 million Jews in the ME. It is about “Prophet” cartoons, Kashmir (did you notice in Mumbai they wiped out the Jewish Center while they were at it), the loss of the Iberian peninsula or whatever else they can manufacture. In 30 years you are going to remember this exchange.
January 18th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
I really wonder why Barnes has spent the last 8 years laying on his back getting teabagged by Dumbya every day. Did he lose a bet?
January 19th, 2009 at 12:49 am
Goats, there’s a book out which documents a massive poll that was done in every Muslim country a while back.
Everything you believe is complete and utter bullshit.
The poll established beyond a doubt that most Muslims actually like the US, although they don’t like US foreign policies. It established that most Muslims are moderates,not radicals.
In other words, it established that you’re an ignorant, zenophobic idiot.
Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think
http://www.gallup.com/press/104209/Who-Speaks-Islam-What-Billion-Muslims-Really-Think.aspx
January 19th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Hack – you kept the foul language to a minimum and didn’t accuse me of having sex with animals although you did misspell “xenophobic”. All in all I think that this indicates you are slipping.
Perhaps I could moderate my views and respect Islam if I saw Muslims doing the same. As it is, the turn outs at these Jew hates makes me wonder who we are dealing with. Other polls conducted in Britian show sizable minorities that either support the notion of “Jihad” or at least acceptance. We are fortunate in the US that we have the relative pick of the litter. Europe is not so lucky.
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