Bush deserves no credit for finding Bin Laden

[Hugabear]

First of all, I don't care what the right-wing talking points are, I don't give a goddamned what the media says, the intelligence we used to find Bin Laden did not come from torture. It's been shown repeatedly that torture is a very inefficient way to gather knowledge.

Then there was Iraq. How much of our intelligence resources did Bush squander on his hunt for nonexistent WMD's? Even after we occupied Iraq, how much resources did we waste searching for Saddam, and subsequently trying to put down the insurgency?

When it comes to Afghanistan, and the actual hunt for Bin Laden, even that approach was a colossal waste of time, money, energy, and human life. All we succeeded in doing was pushing the Taliban and Al Qaeda into Pakistan, and it still took almost 10 years to find Bin Laden. Treating this as a conventional military operation, using tanks, predator drones, and 18-yr old recruits seems a rather cumbersome way to find someone. This is precisely the reason why we spend billions of dollars on our intelligence agencies and Special Operations forces. I'm still not a big fan of covert military operations, but at least that way there would have been a lot less dead Americans and Afghans.

[IronicNews]

1. Christiane Amanpour in 2003 on Mahr revealed OBL's whereabouts-

I saw on Real Time with Bill Mahr tonight, and old clip of Christiane Amanpour saying she had heard intelligence that he was in a nice home in Pakistan. So the rumor was already out there about his whereabouts for years. hummm.

[Contrary1]

3. The house OBL was found in wasn't built until 2005.

Maybe someone else was hiding him in Pakistan before that? :shrug:

[TTUBatfan2008]

8. Her comment was actually in 2008...

I think the house we found him in is exactly what she was referring to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-ySteY3r9I

[spin]

4. It's often been said that we should replace the CIA with CNN.

That's where Amanpour was working in 2003.

[Hugabear]

5. Didn't some reporter manage to interview Bin Laden even after 9/11?

I could swear I remember some reporter arranging to meet with Bin Laden sometime after 9/11 and getting an interview.

[spin]

6. Yes,...

The Osama bin Laden I knew
Last updated on: May 2, 2011 23:42 IST

***snip***

Mir, who works for Pakistan's Geo TV network, was the only journalist to interview bin Laden after 9/11.

***snip***

"I was the son of a rich father, I could have spent my life luxuriously in Europe and America, like many other wealthy Saudis. Instead I took up arms and headed for the mountains of Afghanistan. Was it personal interest that drove me to spend each moment of my life in the shadow of death? No!"

"I was merely discharging a religious obligation by waging jihad against those who attacked Muslims. It does not matter if I die in the course of fulfilling this responsibility. My death and the death of others like me will one day awaken millions of Muslims from their apathy."

***snip***

After the interview he again said, "Mark my words Hamid Mir, they can kill me anytime, but they cannot capture me alive. They can claim victory only if they get me alive but if they just capture my dead body, it will be a defeat."

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-osama-killed-bin-laden-afghanistan-pakistan/20110502.htm?invitekey=fe31ce4e0215169009e8c5799f61c62a

[Lasher]

2. Right, that's because he didn't.

Just think, we would have had him all the way back in December 2001 if Junior wasn't such a fuckup.

[The Magistrate]

7. Be Fair, Sir: he Deserves Lots Of Credit For Helping Him Hide....