Clearly
the guy is a Republican.
"Don't be too happy, for the banner (of al Qaeda in Iraq) hasn't dropped but has passed from one lion of Islam to another lion."
Rove must write his stuff! Who knows! It's tough to tell when aljazeera.net is a 12.120 IP address.
Snark aside, it's important to understand how Osama bin Laden plans to win this war and what we might do to stop him.
He outlines his entire strategy in one sentence for all to see, and Bush continues to behave predictably.
"We will continue, God willing, to fight you and your allies everywhere, in Iraq and Afghanistan and in Somalia and Sudan until we waste all your money and kill your men and you will return to your country in defeat as we defeated you before in Somalia" yada, yada...
Bluster aside, he is kicking our ass financially. Let's see, we are a "non-exaggerated" $500,000,000,000 into this war, on a cash basis, and $2,000,000,000,000 if you factor in the long term health care costs for the vets, equipment replacement, long-term societal costs of vets with PTSD (1/4 to 1/3 of all serving), opportunity costs (underfunded levies, etc.). What did it cost Osama, the master at asymmetric warfare? Let's say he has martyred 10,000. Assuming his death benefit payments to the families of the martyrs is $10,000, and the cost of IED construction, AK47 and RPG procurement, etc. runs around $500 per martyr, his total costs are around $100,000,000.
For every $1 Osama spends, we spend $20,000. If Osama can keep buying martyrs for 5 more years at his present rate he'll spend a half billion and double our national debt. I mean the guy should be a lobbyist for estate tax repeal. He's a wiz!
Who's winning George?
And Dick, how about you and Rummy picking up the tab for the second half of the war instead of pinning it on my grandchildren?
Now on to more practical matters. He wants the body back.
Bin Laden called on U.S. forces to release the body of Jordanian-born Zarqawi, adding : "What scares you about Zarqawi after his death is that (his funeral) will be huge and will show the degree of sympathy Muslims have for the mujahideen."
First, I think this is a crock of shit. Sure, let's deliver it to Iraq and have the Interior Ministry simply gun down everyone who attends the funeral. There isn't a state left in the middle east, save perhaps Pakistan, that tolerates al Qaeda. Not Jordan. Not Iran. Not Eqypt. Not Saudi Arabia. The Sunnis aren't going to shed a tear for Zarqawi. His killing spree was indiscriminate.
Which brings me to my recommendation. I say, give the man what he wants. Ask Osama where he'd like Zarqawi's body delivered. Let him know he'll have to sign for it personally. A nice depleted uranium coffin liner would be a nice touch. His virgins await.