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 Laden’s most trusted aides. The CIA got similar information from Mohammed’s 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-Libi’s file, dated 10 September 2008, also refers to his contact with bin Laden’s personal courier, although he gives another name.
And on the Al Qaeda operative captured in Iraq:
The file suggests that the courier’s 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-Qahtani’s 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-Kuwaiti’s 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
Im trashing Reagan by saying what he did?
you have really made a fool of yourself
And yet his father (lets hear how much you hate him ) was picked to fill his position
Get off of Reagan's case. His VP Bush SR won in 1988, in contrast GWB won us Pelosi and Obama. Reagan won the cold war, he won us nearly a decade of peace and prosperity after he left office. I dont see GWB leaving us with anything but problems.
Your trashing Reagan just makes you look like a cultist, not serious.
BDS is terminal.....sad
(I repeat......in a contest of honesty, this one would lose to Bill Clinton. And I'm not even close to kidding. The only freeper for whom the term 'pathological' applies).
 BDS is terminal.....sadBDS is the terminal on the battery of sadness. [Sigh] Bush sycophancy is nuclear powered. [Sigh]
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If you want off my ping list get over it!
This is one nasty thread.
Many fronts in ONE war, sir.
I understand because of your age that you haven't got a clue as to the definition of a sycophant, and thus use the term stupidly.
Most BDS'ers lack the basic intellectual skills to use words as they are intended to be used. I see you are no exception.
They can't help themselves. It's a disease.
(Note: Not a single one of them actually read the article. Beyond their mental skills....)
Yes, it's true you're probably old enough to be my momma. I'm 53.
And since you're having trouble recognizing your own Bush sycophancy I'll add delusional to your list character flaws....sad.
"A servile self-seeker who seeks favor by flattering influential people."
You see, no one you accuse of being a sycophant is any of the above. No servile folks. No self-seekers. And no one who seeks favor by flattering influential people.
Those of us who defend the honor of President Bush against mindless attacks of the ill-informed, are not seeking recognition by President Bush (He's smart, and I'm sure avoids people like you. I guarantee I'm not going to get any 'favors' from him by defending him here on this thread against moronic attacks. LOL!).
Perhaps when you reach first grade and stop crying, you'll learn to read and use only words you know the meaning of.
btw, did I say, nice pic? Thanks for the special posting of post 145 1/2 to me. It was swell. :)
Yes. I can see you groveling toadying along Bush flattering every bad decision and sniping at anyone who dare criticize. Maybe suckyphant would be a more appropriate spelling. If Palin can invent refudiate I can create a new word.
Or would you prefer Minion?
btw, you have also completely misused the term 'grovel.'
There is no servitude involved in defending the honor of an honorable man.
Perhaps you should consider 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary. Your understanding of the English language is abysmal.
(But your blonde curls are adorable!)
Maybe you can get your Mommy to read the article at the top of the thread for you, since you haven't done so. There are some big words in it, but she can help you try to understand it.
I hope by the time we meet again, you've stopped crying. You're too pretty for those tears.
Nary a blue eye or blonde hair. You're insults again are misdirected. Let go of your irrational worship of the semi-honorable RINO who wouldn't give you the time of day if you really are the conservative you purport to be.
btw, love the adhominems and mindless insults you keep flinging out (using the wrong words all the while). You've given me quite the Saturday afternoon amusement..
btw, I don't have to defend my conservatism to a name-flinger like you. I AM one, across the board, and all my life. The vast majority of BDSers aren't even close to being as conservative as I am, and that also amuses me.
That's why I can have so much fun with the moronic insults I get from the undereducated and the desperate (like you).
I can let you make abject fools of yourselves, twisting yourself into pretzels to say something really, really mean, and ending up doing nothing but drooling all over yourselves (as you have here).
It's been fun. Now read the article (and use a dictionary, since you obviously don't know what the big words mean.....)
Now I really do need to do grown up things, so enjoy the rest of your day, and God BLESS President BUSH! :)
BushBot? Problem with reading comprehension?
love the adhominems and mindless insults...
Fire with fire, eh, hypocrite?
btw, I don't have to defend my conservatism...
I don't see where you defend much of anything other than insult, hypocrite.
[i know you are but what am I ... I'm rubber you're glue...etc. yadayada]
Hypocrite
Now I really do need to do grown up things...
No you won't, hypocrite. You always have to have the last word. So go ahead and post one more time. I know you will. I have to go do grown up things. [tee-hee]
I was kidding about the little girl in the picture. GET IT?
Now please, stop this silliness. There is a nation to save from Marxism and building up conservatism, and your picking this dopey fight with me is counter-productive. If that's your goal, keep it up.
I have better things to do.
Now that was and interesting read. Some of it I had to laugh at but, others things well BP you know how I feel. Whether I am a BB or not. I like Bush for what he stands for MORALS his FAITH. Yes Pres. Bush did things wrong one immigration but, in the long run I would beg to have him back, for what we have as a so called president.
That is my 2cents. BP you are a great person and very educated. You always remind me “Did you read the whole thing ? “
(Mrs T)
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