When Kevin Drum pointed to the NBC News story about the Bushites having passed up a chance to bag a major terrorist group in the fall of 2002, appparently in order to avoid weakening political support for the eventual invasion of Iraq, I didn’t comment because I didn’t have anything to say that wasn’t obvious, and expected to see an avalanche of commentary from people more knowledgeable than I am.
But aside from Fabius at Tacitus, who thinks there is no longer any reason, after this story, for War on Terror hawks to vote for Bush, I’ve seen virtually no mention of what I would have expected to be a major scandal.
Another story Kevin noticed that no one else seems to have picked up: the Bush team is asking the Sharon goverment to stall on withdrawing from Gaza until after the elections, because they’re worried that violence unleashed by the withdrawal might be bad for Bush’s popularity.
Given the level of cynicism-in-action now prevailing at 1600 Penn., what amazes me is that there isn’t more Bush-hatred out in the country. Part of the explanation, I think, is that Bush and his cronies do so many awful things that it’s hard to keep track.
A Missed Chance to Kill Abu Musab Zarqawi?
There seems to be much concern about this MSNBC report regarding plans to kill Zarqawi in Iraq in 2002. I don't think we can talk about the decision not to attack the camp in Iraq without looking at the context….