Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Did Bush actually capture or kill bin Laden when I wasn't looking?

Obviously he didn't -- I ask, though, because all the stories and opinion pieces about yesterday's hearings seem to contain the message that Bill Clinton is largely responsible for 9/11 (entirely responsible, in conservatives' eyes) because he never killed Osama or brought him into custody. The suggestion is that Clinton would have caught or killed Osama if he'd been competent and if he'd had the manliness and will; yes, the same thing is said about pre-9/11 Bush, but Clinton, of course, had eight years to do it, while Bush had eight months.

Except that Bush didn't have eight months. Bush has had three years and two months. And for more than two years of that time, Bush has had the unqualified support of most of the world in his pursuit of Osama. Yet he's failed. And he continues to fail.

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