Democrats to Unveil Ambitious Security Plan

[Rose Siding]

From Roll Call (subscription required)

Democrats to Unveil Ambitious Security Plan
By Erin P. Billings
Roll Call Staff
March 28, 2006

Seeking to convince the electorate of their military muscle, national Democratic leaders will vow to eliminate Osama bin Laden and destroy al-Qaida as part of their 2006 national security platform, which will be publicly unveiled Wednesday.

[babylonsister]

1. Criminy, why don't they reach for some doable objectives? nt

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. And give themselves something they can be held accountable for?

Pfeh! Since when has any professional politician done that?

[catnhatnh]

5. Keeping OBL alive as a stalking horse....

has been a HUGE advantage for Republicans...I think this has to do with "put up or shut up"...Produce the body or admit that you could not complete a simple contract hit with a $200 billion budget-His corpse is what they promised their base and now nothing less will suffice....but that said,IF they kill the bogeyman their base may start taking a close look at what else was happening behind the curtain.This "policy" means bad things for Bush-a perfect lose/lose proposition...

[babylonsister]

6. What 'military muscle' do Dems have? I don't understand

why they're chasing an issue they have absolutely no physical control over?

[BlueManDude]

2. they should focus on borders and ports and cities

these things aren't sexy but they are more important than chasing down obl.

[Brothaman2k]

3. It's about damn time!

I'm so sick of hearing that "The Democrats just have criticisms, not solutions" bullsh*t I don't know what to do. And any goal is perfectly doable if they impress on the American public they're a true, viable alternatives to the no tax (the rich) and spend, start a war on false pretenses and then allow the country you invaded to fall into utter turmoil, Republicans. A definite plan of action is the wa;y to do that.

[Ian David]

7. Bush: "I don't know where bin Laden is... and really don't care.

Bush Quotes about Bin Laden
November 13, 2002

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by Karen

For your amusement and future reference, here's what Bush has said about bin Laden at various points in time, depending on how he was trying to spin things:

"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 want justice...There's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,'"
- G.W. Bush, 9/17/01, UPI

"...Secondly, he is not escaping us. This is a guy, who, three months ago, was in control of a county {sic}. Now he's maybe in control of a cave. He's on the run. Listen, a while ago I said to the American people, our objective is more than bin Laden. But one of the things for certain is we're going to get him running and keep him running, and bring him to justice. And that's what's happening. He's on the run, if he's running at all. So we don't know whether he's in cave with the door shut, or a cave with the door open -- we just don't know...."
- Bush, in remarks in a Press Availablity with the Press Travel Pool,
The Prairie Chapel Ranch, Crawford TX, 12/28/01, as reported on
official White House site

"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)

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


Also:

Third Bush-Kerry debate: on War & Peace
George W. Bush: FactCheck: Bush DID say he was not concerned about Osama

KERRY: Six months after he said Osama bin Laden must be caught dead or alive, this president was asked, "Where is Osama bin Laden?" He said, "I don't know. I don't really think about him very much. I'm not that concerned."

BUSH: Gosh, I just don' think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those exaggerations.

FACT CHECK: Bush stumbled when he denied making some remarks about Osama bin Laden that Kerry had accurately paraphrased. In fact, Bush said almost exactly what Kerry quoted him as saying. It was in a news conference at the White House on March 13, 2002, after US forces had overturned the Taliban regime in Afghanistan:

Q: (March 13, 2002): Mr. President, in your speeches now you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden. Why is that?

BUSH: So I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him , to be honest with you. I truly am not that concerned about him. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country.
Source: Analysis of Third Bush-Kerry debate(FactCheck.org Ad-Watch)


More:
http://www.issues2000.org/Archive/Bush_Kerry_3_War_+_Peace.htm


March 10, 2006
Osama and George
by Bob Burnett

<snip>

Shortly after 9/11, George W. Bush invoked images of American frontier justice when he discussed the hunt for Bin Laden, “When I was a kid I remember that they used to put out there in the old west, a wanted poster. It said: ‘Wanted, Dead or Alive.’ All I want and America wants him brought to justice.” Bush declared, "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."

Late in November 2001, Bin Laden and many Al Qaeda fighters were cornered in the remote Tora Bora region of Afghanistan. Then the U.S. made the decision to use Afghani mercenaries to capture the fugitives. Not surprisingly, they proved incapable of doing this. By the time American forces arrived, Bin Laden and most of his companions had slipped across the border into northwest Pakistan.

In March 2002, President Bush abruptly changed his story, “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.” Bush has a notoriously short attention span; his focus shifted from Bin Laden in Afghanistan-Pakistan to Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

There are striking similarities between Osama Bin Laden and George Bush: Both grew up in privileged circumstances. Both had strained relationships with their fathers. As young adults, both men were seen as disappointments.

Both fell under the spell of radical religion: Osama was swept up in Islamic Sunni fundamentalism, Wahhabism. This argues that the Koran (Qur’an) is literally true, that life should be lived by puritanical rules, and that women are second-class citizens. In his late thirties, George W converted to fundamentalist Christianity; he was “born again.” Bush’s version of Christianity teaches that the Bible is literally true, that life should be lived by puritanical rules, and that women are second-class citizens. Both have an ultra-conservative belief system that tells them that the world is inhabited by two kinds of people: believers and infidels. Paradoxically, both men believe in a God of love who directs them to kill non-believers.

More:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bob_burn_060310_osama_and_george.htm

[mmonk]

8. More military industrial complex expansion?