nostalgia: re-visiting memory lane

President Bush Says Usama Bin Laden May Not Be Captured During His Time in Office
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Fox News
Capturing Usama bin Laden has been one of President Bush's top priorities during his time in office, but the president now seems to doubt the Al Qaeda mastermind will be found before his term ends next January.

Speaking about his goals for his last year in the White House, Bush tells FOX News in an exclusive interview to air this weekend that if U.S. military and intelligence knew where bin Laden was, they would have apprehended him already.

"If we could find the cave he is in, I promise you — he would be brought to justice or wherever he's hiding," he tells FOX News in "George W. Bush: Fighting to the Finish," a documentary scheduled to air Sunday, Jan. 27, at 8 p.m. ET.

Recall:

THE PRESIDENT: "They will try to hide, they will try to avoid the United States and our allies - but we're not going to let them. They run to the hills; they find holes to get in. And we will do whatever it takes to smoke them out and get them running, and we'll get them."
[President Urges Readiness and Patience
Remarks by the President, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Attorney General John Ashcroft
Camp David
Thurmont, Maryland
15 Sep 2001]

Ah, yes: "Constancy of purpose." One of Deming's 14 points for management! (Didn't W learn anything at Harvard Business School?)

... and recall Mullah Omar's reply:

[Mullah] Omar: "I am considering two promises. One is the promise of God, the other is that of Bush. The promise of God is that my land is vast. If you start a journey on God's path, you can reside anywhere on this earth and will be protected... The promise of Bush is that there is no place on earth where you can hide that I cannot find you. We will see which one of these two promises is fulfilled."
[Mullah Omar - in his own words
Wednesday September 26, 2001
The Guardian]

Not only is the world's most powerful military losing two wars to third-world insurgents, but the Leader of the Free World, the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces, has lost the rhetorical battle to the Taliban's Mullah Omar!

Stop the madness!