Progressive Minds

K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

No wonder we haven't killed Osama bin Laden or taken him into custody yet....he and Bushie are the best of friends, it turns out.

Remember the October surprise of the 2004 Presidential campaign?  It came just four days before Americans went to the polls to vote.  A videotape of Osama bin Laden was released.  In the tape, he criticized George W. Bush.

Many Bush supporters claimed the videotape was proof that Osama wanted John Kerry to win the election. 

But the CIA had another view.

During a 5:00 PM meeting on October 29, 2004 (the day the videotape was released), Deputy CIA Director John McLaughlin began by stating "Bin-Laden certainly did a nice favor today for the President."  CIA officers gathered around the tabled nodded in agreement at McLaughlin's assessment that Osama had done Bush a favor.

So just why did Osama want Bush to remain in office a few more years?  Why was he threatened by the prospect of a President John Kerry?

Some CIA analysts felt that in part, Osama realized that Bush's policies, including the Guantanamo prison camp, the death and torture of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib, and the ongoing violence in Iraq, were helping Al Qaeda recruit an entire new generation of jihadists.  In short: George Bush was Osama's most effective recruitment poster. Jami Miscik, CIA Deputy Associate Director for Intelligence, said "Certainly, he would want Bush to keep doing what he’s doing for a few more years."

According to Ron Suskind in his new book The One Percent Doctrine, the CIA analysts fell silent, as the hard truths began to sink in for them. And they wondered, what did it say about U.S. policy that Osama wanted Bush to keep doing his thing for four more years.

CIA: Osama Helped Bush in '04