AL-QAEDA'S LEADERSHIP = ROADRUNNER. BUSH = COYOTE.

So they sent us to bed all excited, hinting that they might have killed Zarqawi, but once again they were acting on bad intel:

al-Qaida Leader Not at Site of Airstrike

Al-Qaida's second-in-command was the target of a U.S. airstrike near the Afghan border but he was not at the site of the attack, two senior Pakistani officials said Saturday. At least 17 people were killed.

...The two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press on Saturday that the CIA had acted on incorrect information, and Ayman al-Zawahri was not in the village of Damadola when it came under attack....

"Their information was wrong, and our investigations conclude that they acted on a false information," said a senior intelligence official. His account was confirmed by a senior government official, who said al-Zawahri "was not there." ...

An AP reporter who visited the scene in Damadola village about 12 hours later saw three destroyed houses hundreds of yards apart. Villagers recounted hearing aircraft overhead moments before the attack. By their count at least 30 people died, including women and children....

Aw, hell, the Bushies have lowered my expectations so much that I'm impressed they're even still trying to get the people who were actually responsible for 9/11. Too bad they can devote only a fraction of the resources they've committed to the Iraq quagmire, an effort that's done nothing to al-Qaeda except allow it to metastasize.

What did Bush say days after 9/11? Oh, yeah, that's right:

"When I take action," he said, "I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive."

Still waiting.