Great point by WH press secretary Jay Carney on bin Laden/Al Qaeda

[rhombus]

Just a few minutes ago during press briefing.

He said the capture/killing of bin Laden was a result of a renewed focus and push by Pres Obama when he took office. He stressed that Iraq was a huge diversion away from the real target, Al Qaeda. The Obama administration made the Afghan/Pakistan region their prime focus. Can you imagine if the Bush admin had kept their eye on the ball, and devoted full resources to targeting Al Qaeda, instead of taking us on a foolish and costly misadventure in Iraq?


Repeat this point. Obama renewed a focus on Al Qaeda that Bush squandered.

[liberal N proud]

1. Bu$h didn't want to capture or kill OBL

He used OBL as an instrument of fear to manipulate the American people and policy. OBL messages always appeared at convenient times to facilitate bu$h regime initiatives.

[lob1]

2. Yep.

[tridim]

4. Didn't an OBL video come out right before the 2008 election?

It was either that or a red-level threat.

[liberal N proud]

7. Or both

I remember a OBL message every time bu$h and Cheney needed something.

[guruoo]

8. Bush needed an OBL around to provide an excuse for looting the Treasury

[TTUBatfan2008]

3. Rove lied about this on TV the other day...

Shocking, right? haha. He said he needed to "correct a misstatement" by Obama during his Sunday night speech. Obama said that he directed Panetta to make locating and killing Bin Laden the top priority of the CIA. Rove claims that this was "always" the top priority of the CIA after 9/11, and thus Obama "should" have said "continue the Bush administration policy." Other than the fact that Rove is a pathological liar, I immediately noticed this particular lie because the Bush administration got rid of the Bin Laden task force in the CIA back in 2006. Bush himself made public statements that he wasn't concerned about catching Bin Laden.

[CJCRANE]

5. Bushco and the Repub candidates specifically said they wouldn't go into Pakistan. nt

[damntexdem]

6. More important than OBL: Dubya destroyed a possibilities of Afghanistan.

After the Taliban fell, there was an opening, despite all the dangers and warlords. A real focus on nation building, on reforms, and on development might have gone somewhere, or failed -- but there was a chance. Instead, in addition to withdrawing resources from Afghanistan, and especially not focusing new ones there, so as to focus on Iraq (and its oil), we got the same Repuke incompetence in dealing with Afghanistan that was to play such a major, horrible role in Iraq. Dubya didn't just commit war crimes in Iraq, didn't just blow OBL and Al Qaida, he blew a chance for Afghanistan as well.

[JoePhilly]

9. Just repeat ... "Iraq was a DISTRACTION"

[Honeycombe8]

10. I hope the Dems continue to make this point!!! Iraq was a HUGE distraction.

The masses are so forgetful. Remember the beheadings? The horrors? The nightmare of the whole thing? The HUGE cost of Iraq War? The no-bid contracts to build that turned out to be $$$ going for nothing...that is, sometimes NO WORK was being done at all? Esp. by Cheney's old company.

All of that was going on, while OBL was busy having the blueprints of his new compound home in Pakistan drawn up and then built! With Musharaff and Bush hand in hand, acting hunky dory, Musharaff taking heaps of cash from us, while OBL was building his compound in Pakistan.

Obama shouldn't directly talk about this, I think. But the airwaves should be flooded with Dems who casually mention the Iraq War distraction, to remind people.