By L. C. Johnson (bio/blog)
Sorry. If you're looking for some breathless analysis about another lame videotape, which allegedly contains the latest ramblings of the man behind the 9-11 attacks, this ain't it. It is meaningless bullshit. Why? Because the United States, and the Bush Administration in particular, is not serious about finding and eliminating Bin Laden.
Frankly it would not surprise me to learn that the person appearing as Bin Laden is someone else. What's with the beard dye? Is Bin Laden buying Grecian formula for facial hair? This video just does not make sense in either a strategic or tactical realm. It is simply a fuck you to the West.
Now let's go back to why I insist the Bush Administration is not serious about finding Bin Laden.
For starters there is no one in charge of the effort. I have continued to work with U.S. military units that have the terrorism mission. I know for a fact--I've seen the reports and briefings--that there is not a fully coordinated, integrated, comprehensive effort to find Bin Laden. The U.S. military is doing its thing, separate from the CIA, separate from FBI, and separate from DEA. No single entity or person is in charge of the effort. And some agencies that ought to be involved--DEA in particular--are not even at the table.
Then there is the problem of failing to work and play well with others. The CIA is particularly at fault. Six years after 9-11 the CIA is still pursuing its own tangents and persists in refusing to fully share intelligence with U.S. special operations forces. And there is no one at the White House tasked with the job of forcing cooperation and focus. One would think that Fran Townsend or her deputy, Juan Zarate, would be on top of this but they are not. They are asleep at the switch. Consequently the various agencies pursue their missions without any overarching direction while staying largely in their own lanes.
What is needed is a full up interagency task force that is empowered to call on and enlist any military, intelligence, or law enforcement asset believed necessary to accomplish the mission. But that is not being done and no one is asking George Bush, "why not?"
So four days shy of Bin Laden's masterful, visionary attack on the United States he apparently is still running around free and healthy. He has the time and comfort to dye his beard. And he's listening to the news and reading books.
Let's face it--Bin Laden is taking on an Elvis type persona. Maybe our best bet is for him to acquire a 40 lb. colon and pitch over dead. Someone order a gross of Krispy Kreme donuts and we will ship them to Pakistan.
