Bush and Bin Laden locked in an embrace

[bigtree]

Friday September 8, 2006

Simon Tisdall
The Guardian

{snip}

Bin Laden's political comeback was sealed by no less than 17 name checks during a Bush speech in Washington on Tuesday. Since declaring after the September 11 2001 attacks that he wanted him "dead or alive", Mr Bush had tended to avoid mention of the al-Qaida leader for fear of reminding Americans of his failure to catch him.

Now the president has changed course, reportedly at the behest of Karl Rove, his chief strategist, and started talking up the global menace represented by the "enemy leader". In another positional shift, he asserted that Bin Laden, his followers and emulators were "not madmen ... they kill in the name of a clear and focused ideology, a set of beliefs that are evil but not insane", he said. That made them even more scary.

"He calls it 'a war of destiny between infidelity and Islam'," Mr Bush said.

"For al-Qaida, Iraq is not a distraction from their war on America. It is the central battlefield where the outcome of this struggle will be decided."

On this last idea, both he and Bin Laden clearly agree.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1867317,00.html



my 2 cents: Because Bin-Laden Says So (9-6-2006)

[eleny]

1. He can only be locked in an embrace with himself