Bush, Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and Iraq: Match Made In Heaven?

Several sets of documents were declassified recently, portraying Osama bin Laden’s plans of setting up an Al Qaeda terrorist cell with the intention of using it as a staging ground for launching terrorist attacks on American soil.

Is this the link between Iraq and Al Qaeda that Bush has been asserting for some time now? Maybe, but consider that the now declassified intel was described at the time it was first received as credible but not specific. It did not prompt the administration to raise its national terror alert level.

Bush’s recent speeches on the situation in Iraq wasn’t devoid of the usual rhetoric:
“Hear the words of Osama bin Laden: He calls the struggle in Iraq a “war of destiny“. He proclaimed “The war is for you or for us to win. If we win it, it means your defeat and disgrace forever.”

Democrats and other critics have accused Bush of selectively declassifying intelligence to suit his own agenda, more precisely to provide an element of foundation to Bush’s agenda in Iraq and elsewhere.

On the subject of released documents, it has now been revealed that U.S. intelligence agencies warned senior members of the Bush administration in early 2003 that invading Iraq could create instability that would give Iran and al Qaeda new opportunities to expand their influence.

Fancy that. Does that mean Bush dismissed intelligence warnings and went ahead with the war plans? So is anyone surprised that the war in Iraq is going badly? Actually, is it a war? Because it seems that the United States is playing referee in fights, an apparent civil war even, between the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

See a pattern evolving here?

Bush is using and twisting some of the intel he receives to substantiate his plans, whilst ignoring other intel which he doesn’t agree with.

I’ll end with another rhetoric-packed quote from President Bush:
“Victory in Iraq is important for Osama bin Laden, and victory in Iraq is vital for the United States of America.”

I’ll let you make your own assessments on that quote…

Sources:
CBS News: Bush: Bin Laden Had Iraq Plan
CBS News: ‘05 Bin Laden Intel Declassified
CBS News: 2003 Intel: Iraq War Will Aid Qaeda, Iran

US Intelligence Hot On Bin Laden’s Trail, Again/Still…

Armed with fresh intelligence, the CIA is moving additional troops and equipment into Afghanistan and Pakistan in an effort to find Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri, playing down doubts that the trail for bin Laden has gone cold.

Wait, haven’t they been “hot” on his trail for over 5 years now?

It seems that concerning Bush’s War on Terror, a bin Laden, alive and well, taunting the United States from some cave in a far off land is more beneficial to the terror doctrine than a bin Laden rotting in jail or six feet under. It’s the classic comic book superhero/archnemesis scenario: On one hand you have the superhero, protecting society from evil; on the other hand you have the supervillain, the superhero’s archnemesis, who the superhero persistantly engages in battle, fending off his minions all the time; at times the archnemesis sits back to plan his next move, whilst the superhero spends everyday fighting evil, be it small crooks or other supervillains; the archnemesis strikes at those closest to the superhero, which makes the public beg for the superhero to come and save the day; before the final battle, the public loses love for the superhero for his methods and behavior; the superhero can’t attain victory over his archnemesis and the public until the very end of the saga.

Now let’s translate that into today’s world: Bush is the superhero, Osama is Bush’s archnemesis; The War on Terror drags on relentlesly; The United States and Bush battles Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups all the time; Osama has been in hiding for years; The Bush Administration engages in battle everyday against insurgents, terrorists, as well as rogue states and their leaders such as Iran and Ahmadijaned, and North Korea and Kim Il Jon; Osama attacks American soil, American troops around the world as well as American targets, not forgetting Bush’s allies; the public rallies behind Bush, sending his approval rating up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks; the ensuing and faltering wars in Afghanistan and Iraq pull Bush’s approval rating way down; the hunt for Osama bin Laden continues as time begins to run out before Bush’s tenure in office is over.

With Bush’s second and final term in the White House drawing to an end, it’s time for the superhero to catch his archnemesis. With the known capabilities of the US intelligence agencies and military forces (in addition to the capabilities the public isn’t aware of), one would have thought that finding one man wouldn’t be too difficult. Maybe it’s not time to find him yet. Maybe the Bush Administration has a really good, solid idea of where Osama is at any given moment. Catching Osama right before the 2008 Presidential Elections would be a giant victory for the Republicans, rallying more support and votes, as well as saving Bush’s legacy, making him forever the man who caught Osama bin Laden, the devil himself. If Osama is caught by US forces within the next few years, especially around the summer of 2008, the long and arduous hunt for Osama bin Laden will have been a mere political game. Think about it. It makes sense.

By the way, although Osama bin Laden might really be a supervillain, Bush’s archnemesis, I am not suggesting George W Bush is a superhero in any sense of the term.

Sources:
CIA Rushing Resources to Bin Laden Hunt – The Blotter
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/03/cia_rushing_res.html (via Digg)

http://digg.com/world_news/USA_hot_on_Bin_Laden_s_Trail

George The Jaguar And His Mean Twin Osama

You might have heard of the sad events at the Denver Zoo in Colorado last week, where a zookeeper was killed by a jaguar at the zoo. But it was an article on Yahoo! News which caught my eye.

The article was titled ‘Killer jaguar had mean twin named Osama’, which I though was somewhat entertaining that someone would name a jaguar after Osama Bin Laden. Reading on I noticed that the killer jaguar in this case was called Jorge, or George in spanish, and was actually named after President George W Bush.

Here are some quotes about the jaguars from the article:

“…[Jorge] was well-behaved as a young cat but his twin was so mean that his handlers named him Osama…”

“A zoo employee shot and killed Jorge when he approached emergency workers…”

“Jorge — Spanish for George — had been named after President Bush”

“Osama was always the more dominant of the two. He was always rough with Jorge. That was the relationship we saw between them.”

“Jorge wasn’t bad, really… I don’t know what could have happened. Perhaps because he was so well-behaved, the trainer thought she could trust him. But you never know with wild animals.”

Can you see the similarities between these jaguars and the human world? Osama is mean-spirited, rough with George and dominant, whilst George is well-behaved, submissive, and the one the zookeeper seemed to trust. With these descriptions in mind, which would you expect to kill someone, George or Osama? And which one did actually kill someone?

Source:
Killer jaguar had mean twin named Osama – Yahoo! News