U.S allowed Zarqawi to escape???

[ls317]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/us-allowed-zarqawi-to-escape/2006/04/30/1146335608444.html


The United States deliberately passed up repeated opportunities to kill the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, before the March 2003 US-led invasion of that country.

The claim, by former US spy Mike Scheuer, was made in an interview to be shown on ABC TV's Four Corners tonight.

Zarqawi is often described as a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, whose supporters masterminded the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

Mr Scheuer was a CIA agent for 22 years - six of them as head of the agency's Osama bin Laden unit - until he resigned in 2004.

[tuvor]

1. You don't kill your bogeymen.

Anything to keep the people scared and compliant.

[nytemare]

2. We let Bin Laden slip away as well.

Something that pisses me off to this day.

[creeksneakers2]

3. If the general public was aware of this

When the first reports of Zarqawi being passed up were broadcast by NBC, the Bush administration denied the story. Other media outlets passed it up until the Wall Street Journal did an extensive piece just before the 2004 election. The Bush administration admitted to the WSJ that the story as told on NBC was correct, in effect admitting that the Bush administration lied their way out it the first time. And the Bush administration had great reason to lie.

Before the war, the White House might have been telling insiders that they were overlooking Zarqawi to please the French. This is obviously another one of Bush's lies. Before the war, there was a faction in the debate who, as an alternative to total war, favored limited strikes against Iraq to take out any suspected terrorists or WMD sites. If Bush could take out a terrorist camp without invading, its likely the public would have concluded that an invasion wasn't necessary to solve the problems Bush insisted Iraq had.

Bush ran in 2004 almost exclusively on his ability to fight terrorism. If the Zarqawi story was given a hard look, it would have proved that Bush was willing to ignore terrorism to go to Iraq. Bush claimed Iraq was PART of the war on terror. Letting Zarqawi go meant Bush knew he wanted the war in Iraq INSTEAD of the war on terror. If this story had been pushed properly, it would have destroyed Bush's entire case for himself and the war.

It would be nice if the story caught on this time. Attention to what happened could destroy Bush.

[rustydog]

4. Well duh! If freddy kruger was killed in the first movie....