Thursday, July 26, 2007

Al-Qaeda's Ace in the Hole - Bush


If you were in a war and you knew that, with a very small force you could tie down the lion's share of your enemy's force in one area, where would you deploy your main force? Well you would probably take the opportunity to use your greatest force where it could exploit your enemy's vulnerability. For al Qaeda today, that vulnerability is in south Asia - Pakistan and Afghanistan in particular.

For every soldier George Bush has tied down in Afghanistan he has three in Iraq, supposedly battling al-Qaeda. Three to one, that must say something.Unfotunately what it says is not encouraging.

When Bush talks of al-Qaeda it is inevitably to tie the terrorist group to his misadventure in Iraq. Drawing down US troops in Iraq would hand a victory to al-Qaeda, he claims, knowing that, with the help of his mouthpieces - the Ann Coulter/Fox News/Rush Limbaugh types - he can still persuade his base that he knows what he's doing.

Now George Bush is either lying or he's incredibly stupid - stupid the point of gross incompetence. Even as he was uttering this nonsense, his top anti-terrorism experts were appearing before Congress, in the process exposing Bush's self-serving, soldier-killing, homeland endangering deceit. From the Boston Globe:

In rare testimony before two House committees, Edward Gistaro, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats, said that Al Qaeda terrorists operating in South Asia are better equipped to attack the United States than the network's followers in Iraq are.

Asked which arm of Al Qaeda concerned him the most, Gistaro told a joint session of the House armed services and intelligence panels that it was South Asia.

"The primary concern is in Al Qaeda in South Asia organizing its own plots against the United States," he said. Al Qaeda planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks from its bases in Afghanistan.


"We see increased efforts on the part of Al Qaeda to try and find, train, and deploy people who could get into this country," he testified.


Meanwhile, a top US general in Afghanistan told Pentagon reporters in a video teleconference that the number of Al Qaeda foot soldiers traveling to South Asia has increased up to 60 percent over the past year.


"It's increased probably 50 to 60 percent over what it was last year . . . and they come from multiple areas in the Middle East," said Army Major General David Rodriguez, commander of the 82d Airborne Division.

Iraq is bleeding America's military and sapping popular support in the US. Iraq is preventing the United States from turning to face its enemy.

Ever since Bush/Cheney invaded Afghanistan they have been playing directly into the hands of al-Qaeda. When they had nearly choked the very life out of this once ragtag criminal gang, they released their grip and let it recover. Then they invaded Iraq out of sheer whim, handing bin Laden a huge victory and permitting al-Qaeda to grow in numbers and expand in range from Europe to East Africa to West Asia. Unbelievable. Now that the size and capability of al-Qaeda has grown markedly, Bush refuses to meet its thrust. Unbelievable.


I'm beginning to wonder whether Bush's top officials even tell him the truth any longer or, through the filter of Dick Cheney's organization, tell their president only what he wants to hear or what Cheney wants him to hear?


Bush is now deep in his bunker where he can no longer see the light of day. He reminds me of another delusional leader on the losing end of an invasion of whim who ordered non-existant divisions to hold off a resurgent enemy.

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