🚀 go-pugleaf

On 2007-07-15 19:53:57 -0400, Phil <dogglebe@yahoooo.com> said:

> On Sun, 15 Jul 2007 12:43:13 -0400, Slim <slim@pickins.com> wrote:
> 
>> On 2007-07-15 11:36:44 -0400, Phil <dogglebe@yahoooo.com> said:
>> 
>>> On Sun, 15 Jul 2007 10:57:01 -0400, Joeseph P. Blow <jpblow@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> So blowing the same women and children to bits from a distance like
>>>> the US does isn't cowardice? Fool.
>>> 
>>> Actually, it's the smart way to conduct war.
>> 
>> So Bin Laden is a genuis in your eyes for 9/11?
> 
> No.  Bin Laden didn't commit an act of war.  He committed an act of
> terrorism.
> And it wasn't him in the plane, either.

What about George Bush? The conventional thought would be that Osama 
would want Bush gone because of his dreaded “war on terror”, except for 
the fact that Osama apparently doesn’t qualify for Bush as a target of 
this war. Lets look at the facts:

Five months before 9-11, the Bush administration welcomed the Taliban 
to the White House, knowing full well they supported and harbored 
Osama. The administration then also gave 43 million dollars to the 
Taliban, reportedly for aid in light of the destruction of the opium 
crop that year. Osama must have been grateful.

Two months before 9-11, when bin Laden was still public enemy # 1 
because of his alleged role in the Cole bombing, he was actually 
treated in an American hospital in Dubai. Not only was he treated for 
his ongoing kidney problems, but also he was reportedly seen by a CIA 
agent, and then was simply allowed to ride off into the bad-guy sunset. 
Of course the administration denies this, but it was broadly reported. 
Widely respected John O’Neill, the counter-terrorism expert who was 
renowned for being the most committed tracker of Osama, resigned from 
the FBI at this point because of what he called repeated obstruction by 
the White House. O’Neill tragically, and conveniently, dies in the 
Trade Center attacks, on his first day at his new job. Osama must be 
really starting to like our President at this point.

After being blamed for the 9-11 attacks, Bush then gave bin Laden a 
two-month head start before trying to track him down. Multiple reports 
from that country at that time simply state that he still could have 
been caught, if that was truly the goal of the administration. After 
installing the new government, and signing the pipeline deal on the 
first day, Bush largely ignored Afghanistan and when asked about bin 
Laden soon after, he responded that “he is someone who is marginalized 
now, I really don’t think about it that much.” Reports say that bin 
Laden was registering as a republican at this point.

The single event that sealed bin Laden’s support for Bush, was the 
decision to invade Iraq. The benefits for bin Laden were threefold. On 
the one hand, it took resources out of Afghanistan, so that the Taliban 
could reassert themselves and he could be left alone. Secondly, he got 
to watch Bush obliterate a country that he opposed, due to its secular 
nature. I know Cheney would have you believe that Saddam had bin Laden 
over for curry goat every month, but the truth is that they were polar 
opposites and actually never really collaborated on anything.  Lastly, 
because of all the attention paid to Iraq, which has nothing to do with 
a war on terror, bin Laden has been allowed to fade into the fabric of 
American fear again, only to be pulled out during election times, with 
vague and unsubstantiated warnings.

There is no doubt that Osama would vote for Bush. In just three years 
he went from public enemy number one, to being marginalized. One day 
you are a worldly pariah, the next day, you are not thought of much. 
Who would Osama vote for? I think that is pretty obvious. Bush hasn’t 
done wrong by him yet, why change in mid-stream?

-- 
"Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in 
England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after 
all, IT IS THE LEADERS of the country who determine the policy and it 
is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a 
democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist 
dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to 
the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is TELL 
THEM THEY ARE BEING ATTACKED, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of 
patriotism and exposing the country to danger. IT WORKS THE SAME IN ANY 
COUNTRY."
 
--Goering at the Nuremberg Trials