I seem to recall bin Laden having something to do with 9/11…

August 28, 2006

When Bush said he’s no longer “concerned” about Osama bin Laden, it was bad. When the administration said the CIA had disbanded its unit devoted to hunting down bin Laden and his top lieutenants, it was worse.

But the idea that the administration hasn’t added bin Laden’s role in the 9/11 attacks to the terrorist’s official, FBI list of crimes is just odd.

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is a longtime and prominent member of the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list, which notes his role as the suspected mastermind of the deadly U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa on Aug. 7, 1998.

But another more infamous date — Sept. 11, 2001 — is nowhere to be found on the same FBI notice.

The curious omission underscores the Justice Department’s decision, so far, to not seek formal criminal charges against bin Laden for approving al-Qaeda’s most notorious and successful terrorist attack. The notice says bin Laden is “a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world” but does not provide details.

David N. Kelley, the former U.S. attorney in New York who oversaw terrorism cases when bin Laden was indicted for the embassy bombings there in 1998, said he is not at all surprised by the lack of a reference to Sept. 11 on the official wanted poster. Kelley said the issue is a matter of legal restrictions and the need to be fair to any defendant.

I’m just curious. If a President Gore, or a President Kerry, had said he’s unconcerned with bin Laden, reassigned the CIA unit devoted to his capture, and then left 9/11 off a list of charges “to be fair” to [tag]bin Laden[/tag] as a possible defendant, would the right have anything to say about it?

“David N. Kelley, the former U.S. attorney in New York who oversaw terrorism cases when bin Laden was indicted for the embassy bombings there in 1998, said he is not at all surprised by the lack of a reference to Sept. 11 on the official wanted poster. Kelley said the issue is a matter of legal restrictions and the need to be fair to any defendant.”

Now that’s a novel notion from the people who GitMo innocent Afghanis sold to them by their enemies.

Isn’t that ignoring the 1% solution?

  • Someone good at snark, like Pelosi or Murtha, who has been subjected to attacks from the Right should point out what “pre-9/11” thinking this is!

  • Amazing.

    Hey we captured him on a Friday afternoon, didn’t ya read about it?

    Or he turned out to be a 16 year old hacker from Hoboken.

    We need a Left Wing Noise Machine. I remember revisiting Memphis TN and the middle aged black cab driver had Rush Limbaugh on the radio. That’s how good they are at getting their right-wing word out.

  • I’m just curious. If a President Gore, or a President Kerry, had said he’s unconcerned with bin Laden, reassigned the CIA unit devoted to his capture, and then left 9/11 off a list of charges “to be fair” to bin Laden as a possible defendant, would the right have anything to say about it?

    Yep.

    Bush may be an asshole… but he is their asshole.

    And that ,my friends, makes all the difference between being on the right and wrong side of history.

    And that’s just one small reason in several seasons of reasons… of why I consider wingnuts the true enemies of America.

    Pshaw!
    I pray for a pox on their house and no medical science to bail them out…

  • Maybe it’s a really clever way of “smoking him out”.

    All I know is no Democrat would be able to get away with this, especially with the 5yr anniversary coming up. Liberal media my ass.

  • According to BushCo, the crime of 9/11 is not a law enforcement issue. They can’t call Kerry wrong to approach terrorism as a law enforcement issue and then turnaround to list bin Laden’s biggest crime on his official FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” poster. That would run counter to their (lame) argument.

  • … Justice Department’s decision, so far, to not seek formal criminal charges against bin Laden….

    Hey, you’re forgetting: Osama bin Laden is a dues-paying member of the Bush Crime Family. Without bin Laden and 9/11, Bush could never have strapped on that codpiece and proclaimed himself a “war president”. And without that codpiece Bush is just another coke-head frat-rat drunk whom no one (including his parents and business associates) took seriously.

  • Of course they don’t want to get ObL—it would bring an early end to post-9/11 thinking!

    Now as I recall, ObL openly declared responsibility for the attacks. Lots and lots of evidence connects him directly to the masterminding of these attacks. And with all of that, the FBI wants to talk about “being fair?”

    Are we talking about the “stalk-anti-war-protestors” FBI?

    The “stake-out-the-meat-is-murder-crowd” FBI?

    The “sieze-public-library-patron-records” FBI?

    Maybe someone needs to stake out the FBI….

  • According to BushCo, the crime of 9/11 is not a law enforcement issue.

    Apparently it’s not a “War on Terror” issue either. We pulled back U.S. troops and sent in native Afghan fighters of dubious loyalty or efficiency to smoke bin Laden out of the Tora Bora caves. And as a result, he slips off to the wilds of northwest Pakistan.

    Bin Laden and 9-11 were always political issues. As soon as it was safe for Bush and Cheney to stop cowering in fear, they immediately the tragedy as something to be exploited in crassest way for immediate (and long-term) political gain. Bin Laden alive and free is far more valuable to Bush than sitting in a prison cell awaiting trial in a federal court. This way he or an associate can release a video or audio tape, or pull off an attack like the Madrid or London bombings. And everytime something happens, Bush or Cheney can say “See? The world is still scary! You need us!” and cow people back into submission.

    And they still haven’t been called on it. Disgusting. God, I hate these people.

  • prm: …everytime something happens, Bush or Cheney can say “See? The world is still scary! You need us!” and cow people back into submission.

    And they still haven’t been called on it. Disgusting. God, I hate these people.

    *mirthless laughter*

  • I wanna hear that question asked over, and over, and over again, from now ’till the presidential election in ’08; What did you mean when you said that you are no longer “concerned” about OBL?
    Sadly most of the questioners are on the same team as he.

  • Equally amazing is that no elected Dems bother to talk about this with November elections coming up.

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