no doubt about it... it's what you might call a "marriage of convenience..."
(robert parry in consortium news...)
On Oct. 29, 2004, just four days before the U.S. presidential election, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin-Laden released a videotape denouncing George W. Bush. Some Bush supporters quickly spun the diatribe as "Osama's endorsement of John Kerry." But behind the walls of the CIA, analysts had concluded the opposite: that bin-Laden was trying to help Bush gain a second term.
This stunning CIA disclosure is tucked away in a brief passage near the end of Ron Suskind's The One Percent Doctrine, which draws heavily from CIA insiders.
the strategy was brilliant...
By demanding an American surrender, bin-Laden knew U.S. voters would instinctively want to fight. That way bin-Laden helped ensure that George W. Bush would stay in power, would continue his clumsy "war on terror" - and would drive thousands of new recruits into al-Qaeda's welcoming arms.
and it's been successful beyond both men's wildest dreams... bush has his endless war on terror and osama has jihadists falling all over themselves to enlist in the cause... in light of the previous post about al qaeda turning in zarqawi in return for lessening the pressure on bin laden, it makes a certain kind of twisted sense, doesn't it...?
butwaittheresmore...
Al-Qaida leaders sold out Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to the United States in exchange for a promise to let up in the search for Osama bin Laden, the slain militant's wife claimed in an interview with an Italian newspaper.
The woman, identified by La Repubblica as al-Zarqawi's first wife, said al-Qaida's top leadership reached a deal with U.S. intelligence because al-Zarqawi had become too powerful. She claimed Sunni tribes and Jordanian secret services mediated the deal.
[...]
"I think a secret pact was struck whose immediate goal was his death," she told the newspaper. "In return, the American troops promised to ease, at least momentarily, their hunt for bin Laden."
"Al-Qaida is currently especially worried with protecting its charismatic leader," she added.
if we made a deal to get our hands on zarqawi and money changed hands, i am disgusted beyond all measure... the only rationale i can come up with is that we aren't serious about capturing bin laden and that bush badly needed a bounce in the polls... what else could possibly make sense...?
there's no doubt about it, osama bin laden is george bush's best friend... as long as he's at large, the bush administration can continue to inflate the fear of terrorists and george can remain in the all-powerful position as commander-in-chief of the endless war on terror...
And, yes, I DO take it personally