Osama, Saddam? What's in a name? (* slip of the tongue)

[sabra]

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2005-12-19T173706Z_01_DIT963372_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-BUSH-NAMES.XML

Osama, Saddam? What's in a name?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With a slip of the tongue, U.S. President George W. Bush briefly turned Osama bin Laden into Saddam Hussein on Monday.

Bush momentarily switched the names of his two greatest nemeses in a news conference at the White House where he was defending his decision to authorise eavesdropping on Americans suspected of links with al Qaeda and other organisations in the U.S. war on terrorism.

"In the late 1990s, our government was following Osama bin Laden because he was using a certain type of telephone and then the fact that we were following Osama bin Laden because he was using a certain type of telephone made it into the press as the result of a leak," Bush said.

"And guess what happened. Saddam ...Osama bin Laden changed his behaviour. He began to change how he communicated. We're at war. And we must protect America's secrets."

[DesertRat]

1. I caught that Freudian slip

He's tried to morph the two for the past 4 years.

[CatWoman]

3. Saddam Bin Laden

:crazy:

[JoFerret]

2. He must have meant Obama

.

[JoFerret]

4. "...We're at war. And we must protect America's secrets."

Protect secrets? or the American people? Protect Bush secrets more like. Another Freudian slip.

[CottonBear]

5. I heard that little slip. Of course, no one in the neutered press corp

asked him about what he had just. They also never ask why he refers to people by their first names rather than by their surnames and titles.

[Missy M]

6. His tongue is always slipping. Also, he always comes up with the...

most feeble excuses and many Americans buy it hook, line and sinker. What a ridiculous excuse for spying on Americans.

[BikeWriter]

7. So now he mentions Osama? Osama who?

[Seabiscuit]

8. Osaddama Bin Hussein

[Rocknrule]

16. Damn! You beat me to it!

[ECH1969]

9. Bush mixes Saddam, Osama

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush did for just one second what critics have accused him of doing for two years: Mixing up terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and ousted Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein.

"In the late 1990s, our government was following Osama bin Laden because he was using a certain type of telephone. And then the fact that we were following Osama bin Laden because he was using a certain type of telephone made it into the press as the result of a leak," he said.

"And guess what happened? Saddam -- Osama bin Laden changed his behavior. He began to change how he communicated. We're at war. And we must protect America's secrets," Bush said during a year's end press conference.

The US president has drawn fire for accusing Saddam's regime prior to the March 2003 invasion of having close ties with bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, which carried out the September 11 terrorist attacks. No collaborative links have been found.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051219/pl_afp/usattacksbushsaddam_051219201834

[shain from kane]

10. Supermuslim and Baathistman.

maybe they were using the same telephone booth.

[elehhhhna]

11. He doesn't know the diff. Surprised?

He COULD be telling the truth (accidentally, of course--he's NEVER tell the truth on purpose) and WAS monitoring OBL. LIHOP, dontchaknow?

[BenDavid]

12. The Osama clock is still ticking, and

It's been 1554 days since Bush said he'd catch Osama bin Laden 'Dead or Alive!

[DesertRat]

13. That's right

Whatever happened to "gonna smoke him out of his hole" and "catch him on the run" ?! :eyes:

[daleo]

14. "Osama bin Laden changed his behaviour. "

Lots of people think he changed his behaviour from alive to dead. Or from Skinny Ossam behaviour to Fat Ossama behaviour. Whatever.

[Hyernel]

15. Saddam bin Cheney

[madmark]

17. The two are firmly conflated in his mind; its a problem if you have to

critically think about issues related to one or the other.

[Ouabache]

19. they are conflated for him since it was his job to conflate them for every

one else by catapaulting the propaganda for the neocons. George can't be expected to shield himself from his own propaganda, he is a dope.

[BeFree]

18. In the late 1990's

Osama had been fingered, but in 2001, when the president had a briefing about OBL, he didn't do a damn thing.

He knew OBL was on the run, but when OBL ran past the president, the president looked the other way.

What did he do? He went on vacation.

Mr. President, get the hell outta our White House!