Finding Osama

One of the officials of the Bush Administration, Cofer Black(?), said in Pakistan yesterday that they were close to finding Osama Bin Laden, and he would not be shocked if the arrests happened shortly.

Well, about time, wouldn't one say? After all, he was cornered in Tora Bora in late 2001, if you recall, and rather than commit US forces, they outsourced the job to Afghan warlords, whom history records as being noticeably partial to the higher purse. Osama was apparently more persuasive, and he and his associates, including Al Zawahiri (who was declared dead by the administration early on) made good their escape.

So, if he gloats about capturing the fugitive now, Bush would only be displaying his incompetence. There is a reason why the "Wanted, dead or alive" of the early days following 9-11 dissipated into the "We don't really care what happened to him" of later.

Let's not forget Mullah Omar either, the leader of the Taliban government. The Clinton Administration had cut off all aid to the Taliban. After coming to office (all in the few months before 9-11!) the Bush Administration gave 43 million dollars to the Taliban Click here to see an article written May 2001, well before 9-11. In fact, the article even asks why the Bush administration wants to give aid to a government which harbors Osama Bin Laden!

Why John Kerry does not raise this 'Faustian Bargain' (in the words of the article) in every speech is past my understanding. Why did the Bush administration in Texas (when he was Governor) invite a Taliban delegation to Texas to do business?

What about the oil connection? The current ambassador to Afghanistan (post-Taliban) is Zalmay Kahlilzad, a Unocal executive. As, evidently, was Hamid Karzai himself. The Bush-Cheney-Taliban-Oil connection bears investigation, and Michael Moore's movie exposes the surface. Why does no mainstream news correspondent follow up?

In any event, like the Zinoviev letter, it is possible (though hopefully, unlikely, given the scandal it would create) that Osama bin Laden will be captured, and the news released at the opportune time. But the Democrats need to articulate the fact that this should have happened in 2001.