I was sifting through old headlines and bookmarks that I made years ago, some back to 2002.
Amazing how many defended, even praised, Team Cheney leading the hunt on a different trail, ultimately to have it fail in getting OBL within their two terms in office. Let's set aside the loss in life, money and sympathy that was incurred by all that just for now.
The new guy running for office says, and I quote:
"And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act, and we will take them out.
We will kill bin Laden. We will crush al Qaeda. That has to be our biggest national security priority."
..and does exactly that halfway through his first term by circumventing the corrupt and obviously infiltrated Pakistani military. He pursued the goal in an intelligent manner and knew when to side with the pros, and when to go for it. It's the stuff of movies, and if it had been a Republican president many here would still be sporting woodies months after Sheik Cyclops gave modern free-diving a try.
But it isn't a Republican president, so instead those like a777 do their best to invalidate Obama's successful performance in office while trying to sound respectfully insightful. He doesn't deserve all the credit, but he was hardly watching from the sidelines. Funny to see the talk radio crowd try to rally behind Panetta, a man they recently derided when he was selected by Obama. The words of Panetta himself, along with Mullen and others, in the end mean far, far, faaaaar more than... what was it again? "Certain inside sources that spoke with confidence" or something?
Question for all the new financial experts hanging around here lately:
What's the difference (ballpark?) in cost between a roughly year long lead-up to a 'snuff and grab' in Pakistan, and the ongoing cost of invading and rebuilding of Iraq?
Where the polls were taken means everything if we're talking Middle East. Kuwait or UAE will probably yield different results than Pakistan or Iran, for instance. I fail to see how any rational human, regardless of nationality, could weigh a single person's life as more important or noteworthy than the hundreds of thousands that are normally lost in a war, specifically the invasion of Iraq.
Still, let some Arabs enjoy their cardamon flavored cup O rage, what the fuck do I care?