Bush can't have it both ways. If Osama bin Laden is the next Hitler, Stalin and an evil akin to Slavery (all things he and his staff have alleged in the past week), then where is he? Why hasn't Bush caught him in 5 years? (Five years was more than enough time for us to get Hitler.) Why did Bush say a few years ago that he doesn't think much about Osama, he isn't that important?
And just last year, why did Bush secretly shut down the special CIA unit designated to go after bin Laden?
If Osama is Hitler and important enough to mention in a presidential speech, then where the hell is he, and why doesn't Bush seem to care?
Dan Froomkin at the WashPost.com has more:
The spectacle of the president of the United States extensively quoting Osama bin Laden to bolster his controversial policies during political season deserves notice, and reflection.
By all rights, President Bush ought to be embarrassed that the al Qaeda leader who masterminded the September 11 terrorist attacks remains at large almost five years later.
But Bush yesterday let bin Laden share his bulliest of pulpits, giving the mass murderer precisely the attention he craves and endorsing his extreme view that a Third World War is under way.
Here's the text of Bush's speech.
Mentioning bin Laden so much couldn't help but remind listeners of Bush's failure to capture or kill him. But the risk was easily offset by the fact that bin Laden remains the most effective bogeyman out there, and job one for the White House in the run-up to a potentially crippling mid-term election is to scare the hell out of people.
