Friday, July 09, 2004
The New Republic reports that the Bush administration has stepped up pressure on Pakistan to find and apprehend Osama bin Laden. This is no surprise, but what is odd is their insistence that his capture occur before the election:
This is brilliantly devious and contemptible. Any American wants bin Laden in custody, but if, as TNR reports, the Bush administration is deploying previously unutilized pressure on Pakistan, the question is why they waited.
I trust The New Republic. The publication takes the war against Al Qaeda seriously. It supported the war in Iraq. It scoffs at the conspiracy-mongering of the left and Michael Moore. If it's printing something like this, it is out of conviction.
So. The Bush administration has decided to try to play a trump card: the war against terror. And if bin Laden is captured, no one in their right mind would bewail the political impact. Myself, I'll go out for a beer. Democrats would not be able to speak ill of the operation - their only real option would be to shift the praise to Pakistan. We're getting into some very dangerous territory when Al Qaeda and Pakistan are becoming actors in our electoral process.
- Bush administration officials have told their Pakistani counterparts they have a date in mind for announcing this achievement: 'The last ten days of July deadline has been given repeatedly by visitors to Islamabad and during [ul-Haq's] meetings in Washington.' Says McCormack: 'I'm aware of no such comment.' But according to this ISI official, a White House aide told ul-Haq last spring that 'it would be best if the arrest or killing of [any] [High Value Target] were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July'--the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston.
This is brilliantly devious and contemptible. Any American wants bin Laden in custody, but if, as TNR reports, the Bush administration is deploying previously unutilized pressure on Pakistan, the question is why they waited.
I trust The New Republic. The publication takes the war against Al Qaeda seriously. It supported the war in Iraq. It scoffs at the conspiracy-mongering of the left and Michael Moore. If it's printing something like this, it is out of conviction.
So. The Bush administration has decided to try to play a trump card: the war against terror. And if bin Laden is captured, no one in their right mind would bewail the political impact. Myself, I'll go out for a beer. Democrats would not be able to speak ill of the operation - their only real option would be to shift the praise to Pakistan. We're getting into some very dangerous territory when Al Qaeda and Pakistan are becoming actors in our electoral process.
