Posted on 05/05/2011 6:30:28 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
As lefties gloat over the political implications of Osama bin Laden’s demise, and the media ramp up an “Obama bounce” meme, conservatives should politely but persistently shift the conversation from politics to policy. In my latest column for Townhall, I draw on a number of fascinating news accounts elucidating how the our military and intelligence community finally nailed bin Laden. US officials describe a “mosaic” of intelligence that ultimately led a team of Navy SEALs to a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan — suggesting that it took many years and myriad sources to pinpoint bin Laden’s precise location. As we now know, the central strand of intel involved one of bin Laden’s trusted couriers, Abu Ahmed Al-Kuwaiti; finding him was the key to locating his boss. The early evidence is in, and President Bush and his team should feel gratified and vindicated:
Osama bin Laden was found because the United States military exploited actionable intelligence extracted by subjecting terrorists to enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs) in secret CIA prisons, by questioning enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, and by capturing a top al Qaeda source in Iraq.
As long as some liberals remain intent on keeping political score, it must be pointed out that all three sources of these indispensible data points were direct or indirect results of Bush policies EITs, Gitmo, and the Iraq war that much of the American Left, including Barack Obama, fought tooth and nail.
Much of the evidence I cite to back up my thesis comes from two sources: A short AP story published shortly after the raid (and linked here by Allahpundit), and an incredibly detailed piece in London’s Daily Telegraph. A few key bits from the resulting information goldmine:
On the Guantanamo connection -
Secret American military files from Guantanamo Bay, leaked to Wikileaks and seen by The Daily Telegraph, suggest that al-Kuwaiti may have been with bin Laden ever since he disappeared from the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan in 2001.
The file for the Guantanamo detainee, Muhammad Mani al-Qahtani, who was to have been the “20th hijacker” on 9/11, contains a reference to the key US intelligence thread that led directly to bin Laden.
According to the file, al-Kuwaiti provided al-Qahtani with computer training for the mission to attack the US in the summer of 2001. Al-Qahtani was told by the lead 9/11 hijacker, Muhammad Atta, to make reservations and buy airline tickets to Orlando for five individuals including himself.
Detainee [al-Qahtani] received computer training from al-Qaeda member Abu Ahmad al-Kuwaiti in preparation for his mission to the US, according to the file, dated 30 October 2008.
On KSM, secret CIA “black site” prisons, and Enhanced Interrogation Techniques -
Current and former U.S. officials say that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, provided the nom de guerre of one of bin Ladens most trusted aides. The CIA got similar information from Mohammeds successor, Abu Faraj al-Libi. Both were subjected to harsh interrogation tactics inside CIA prisons in Poland and Romania.
…
The CIA gained crucial information confirming the role of al-Kuwaiti from two inmates at Guantanamo Bay Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Faraj al-Libi.
Al-Libis file, dated 10 September 2008, also refers to his contact with bin Ladens personal courier, although he gives another name.
And on the Al Qaeda operative captured in Iraq:
The file suggests that the couriers identity was provided to the US by another key source, the al-Qaida facilitator Hassan Ghul, who was captured in Iraq in 2004 and interrogated by the CIA. Ghul was never sent to Guantanamo but was believed to have been taken to a prison in Pakistan.
He told the Americans that al-Kuwaiti travelled with bin Laden…
The picture that emerges from al-Qahtanis Guantanamo file supports statements given in the last 24 hours by US officials, who named Ghul as the linchpin in the intelligence operation to find bin Laden.
In short, Al-Kuwaitis existence was flagged by at least one Guantanamo Bay detainee, his role and pseudonym were confirmed by KSM and al-Libi, and his true identity was spilled by an Al Qaeda terrorist operating in Iraq. It’s no exaggeration to assert that all three of these intelligence “strands” may never — or perhaps would never — have materialized absent the controversial Bush administration policies listed above. These facts are not historical footnotes. They eviscerate a number of core left-wing articles of faith, including the flawed notions that President Bush “took his eye off the [Al Qaeda/bin Laden] ball,” that Iraq was unrelated to the larger war on terror, and that EITs are not effective — not to mention the ongoing obsession with shuttering Gitmo. As I conclude in the Townhall piece, Presidents Bush and Obama deserve significant credit for this massive accomplishment, and it would be intellectually dishonest to suggest otherwise:
Barack Obama ran for president, in large measure, as the anti-Bush. He was a prominent opponent of the war in Iraq. He promised to shutter the Guantanamo Bay prison. He pledged to ban certain EITs. Today, as president, he is rightfully receiving praise from virtually all quarters for his decisive order to take out the most wanted man in the world. Obama, his supporters, and indeed all Americans have every reason to celebrate that accomplishment. But they must also recognize and appreciate that actions and policies implemented by President Bush, often in the face of searing partisan criticism, played an inextricable role in identifying the dots that were finally connected and acted upon last weekend.
In response to bin Laden’s death, Americans of all partisan stripes should follow the example set forth by the current president and his predecessor: Credit the brave special ops forces who conducted the daring operation, offer political credit where it’s due, and celebrate this American achievement, which is a gift to all of civilization.
UPDATE – Larry Elder makes another good point in this vein:
Osama bin Laden was a) killed by a unit overseen by what New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh denounced as Vice President Dick Cheney’s “executive assassination ring,” which was b) sent into action based on intel derived from the now-outlawed “enhanced interrogation techniques,” which were c) used on detainees captured during the George W. Bush administration, who were d) being held in now-outlawed “secret prisons” or in the intended-to-be-closed Gitmo.
That’s another feather in Bush’s cap. All of the detainees/informants involved in this story were captured on his watch.
Guy Benson is the Political Editor of Townhall.com — HotAir’s sister site — and hosts the Guy Benson Show. Follow him on twitter: @guypbenson
“All you are mad about is disagreements you have with president Bush's policies and results. No one agrees with him 100% but it's his character that counts, not his policies and actions and results as president. It doesnt matter if he expanding the government, ran up the national debt, promoted homeownership to minorities with bad credit(who later got forclosed on), bailed out the banks and GM, turned the Republican label into a joke, supported and signed green mandates into law, got voters to support Democrats on every issue, got Pelosi as Speaker and Obama as president with a $500B TARP slush fund handed to him. None of that matters, he has good character, but more important I met him and he gave me a kiss. That should be enough for you. I feel sorry for you..you are so petty.not like me I am serious...BLa-Bla-Bla.. the sky is blue...the trees are green...the ocean is red... I have to go now, the little red men are coming for me again.”
man, this is like a class reunion, we need more of these threads :)
;^)
Specific? I think you’re going to have to be more specific, if you want anyone to think I have supported Obama being in the White House. Just link me to where I expressed that thought.
“They have finally made their big mistake. Posting comments on our ‘I love Bush’ thread calling him out as a big government liberal. We have never seen them do that before. It doesn't matter what they say. They are irrelevant. What they say means nothing. So write down their names for future reference. They are marked in stone in my head. I will never forget. I have IDed them like a mental tattoo in my head. Enough is enough!” ref : #86
Is this the first time we have complained about GWB here? Was it all a dream?
Woofie, George Bush will. His complete record will. Sadly.
That’s what you might want to give some thought to.
The good, the bad, and the ugly will be there.
I’ll be long gone, and Bush’s record will still be there for everyone to see.
Good luck with that.
And another one launched out of the tube.
But he stood for what matters while fighting two enemies...TWO...at home (the MSM) and the terrorists, while keeping us safe and providing for the slaughter of Bin Laden with his amazing foresight. He never complained and he never degraded anyone.
Nanny him all you need to, but I miss him and I miss the example that he set.
Most of all-I love the way he loved this nation and our TROOPS!
I agree with that Bush-bot, err fellow freeper. What business do you have being critical of president Bush when you have never been president yourself? That is completely unreasonable. You should never be critical of a president unless you have been president yourself .... Wait, did you just ask ‘what ABOUT Obama??’ Well of course you can complain about him without being president, or mayor, or meter maid, that's completely different.
And now you know why I stopped contributing to FReepathons.
WOW! Awesome ping,Thanks, *
GOD bless America!
GOD bless US Troops( incl.
Navy Seals FT. Campbell,KY)!
&GOD bless President Bush!
Bushbots.. is an accurate term.. I used to be Gingrich bottish.. so I know the feeling.. After much consideration it remains like this..
You can remove the democrat from the party but its damned hard to remove the democrat from the democrat.. It happens sometimes... but not everytime..
Today,for the first time, I heard someone say the ‘assaulters’....I thought....what..??? and then gave them the benefit of the doubt. WRONG! thought...maybe, they just couldn’t think of the correct word. I should have known better. I will keep tuned to this and if I hear this again, a call will go to the TV station or the WH and/or to Congresscritters. I agree...this word should not be used for our brave military who went face to face with the murderer of 3000 innocent people.
It never ends....
p.s. LOVE the Turbinator pic......LOL. W looks way cool!!
Assaulters is the correct term. The members of the assault team are the ones who breach and clear a building, as opposed to the security team that would hold the outer cordon.
I realize that without context it might sounds bad, but it's actually the terminology that SOF teams will use themselves, as part of recognized CQB doctrine. More colloquial terms would include 'door kicker' or 'trigger puller'. Assaulter is the formal word, but it's not a negative one by any means.
OH-OH, he FINALLY caught us. Now he knows we think his hero Bush is a failure, our big secret. Where can we go now? We must run and hide shunned by the country.
When he says ‘IDD HERE’ is that like caller ID? voter ID? Fingerprints? DNA? FoS?
And now you know why I stopped contributing to FReepathons.
~~~~~~~~~
Is that right.
I don’t get what one thing has to do with the other,
but you’re actually comfortable posting ugliness here AND you’re admitting to being a freeloader, too ?
I can’t imagine why you should be/deserve to be a FReeper.
Ah....thanks for the smile on my face after seeing that again!
;)
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