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The Vindication of George W. Bush
Hotair ^ | 05/05/2011 | Guy Benson

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.

UPDATELarry 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


TOPICS: News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; bds; biggovernmentscum; binladen; bush; bushbotshere; bushdoctrine; bushisobama; bushkoolaid; bushlovefest; bushlovfest; bushwasarino; dubya; fakeconservatives; fantasy; featherinhiscap; georgebushresolve; georgebushvindicated; georgewbush; georgewbushhero; georgewobama; guybenson; gwb; gwbdreams; illthinkwhatiwantto; itspresbushmorons; obltermination; prebushwasright; presidentbush; presidentgeorgewbush; rightallalong; rino; whogaveorder; wot
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To: DoughtyOne; stephenjohnbanker; rabscuttle385; hosepipe
It's been a while but let me give this a try:

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 :)

101 posted on 05/06/2011 6:14:13 PM PDT by sickoflibs ("It's not the taxes, the redistribution is the federal spending=tax delayed")
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To: sickoflibs

http://tinyurl.com/3fddtsl


102 posted on 05/06/2011 6:35:36 PM PDT by STARWISE (The overlords are in place .. we are a nation under siege .. pray, go Galt & hunker down)
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To: sickoflibs

;^)


103 posted on 05/06/2011 6:48:11 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Tell me you haven't asked yourself what mistake Obama made, that wound up causing Laden's death?)
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To: eyedigress

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.


104 posted on 05/06/2011 6:54:23 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Tell me you haven't asked yourself what mistake Obama made, that wound up causing Laden's death?)
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To: DoughtyOne; stephenjohnbanker; rabscuttle385; hosepipe
Here's another gem I couldnt make up:

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?

105 posted on 05/06/2011 6:57:16 PM PDT by sickoflibs ("It's not the taxes, the redistribution is the federal spending=tax delayed")
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To: woofie

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.


106 posted on 05/06/2011 6:57:18 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Tell me you haven't asked yourself what mistake Obama made, that wound up causing Laden's death?)
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To: DoughtyOne
RE :;^)

And another one launched out of the tube.

107 posted on 05/06/2011 7:00:07 PM PDT by sickoflibs ("It's not the taxes, the redistribution is the federal spending=tax delayed")
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To: rabscuttle385
I'm just soooooooo sorry President Bush wasn't perfect.

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!

108 posted on 05/06/2011 7:10:37 PM PDT by Republic (The entire White House presidential team needs to grow up and face facts!)
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To: DoughtyOne
RE :”I’ll be long gone, and Bush’s record will still be there for everyone to see. Good luck with that.

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.

109 posted on 05/06/2011 7:16:32 PM PDT by sickoflibs ("It's not the taxes, the redistribution is the federal spending=tax delayed")
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To: STARWISE; Liz; AuntB; calcowgirl; DoughtyOne; stephenjohnbanker; Avoiding_Sulla; TigersEye; ...
Remember their names for the future. I am.
Enough is enough.

And now you know why I stopped contributing to FReepathons.

110 posted on 05/06/2011 7:43:39 PM PDT by rabscuttle385 (Live Free or Die)
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To: STARWISE

WOW! Awesome ping,Thanks, *

GOD bless America!
GOD bless US Troops( incl.
Navy Seals FT. Campbell,KY)!
&GOD bless President Bush!


111 posted on 05/06/2011 7:51:16 PM PDT by Majie Purple (osama bin laden done been obliterated! Thank YOU, GOD & US Troops!!!!!)
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To: woofie
I flame Bush here.. nowhere else..
The fact Bush is not stupid means he does things ON PURPOSE..
This to me is worse than being stupid.. he's maleficent...
112 posted on 05/06/2011 7:54:55 PM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole...)
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To: ohioWfan
I appreciate your comments. I believe there are grounds for us to agree on a number of issues. There are others we'll just have to disagre on. Take care.

Thanks. You too.  (Forgive me for not responding to your entire post, my FRiend, but my eyes are not good and your font is light so I'm having trouble reading it).


My light font is merely a repeat of your post, paragraph by paragraph.  If you can't read it, take your mouse and highlight it.  It will be reversed on screen, and it will be a lot easier to read.

You do know that I disagree with some of the things that Bush did (just as I disagree with some of the things Reagan did). I'm an educator who really hoped that RR would fulfill his campaign promise to get rid of the DoE. Haven't changed my mind on its value since the department was created. (i.e. NONE).

That issue hasn't been on my radar, but if your reasoning were made clear, I might join you.  I'm not a big fan of Presidential Departments as a general rule.

I think perhaps one of the problems with communication here is that, if we opposed the mindless, childish, angry bashing of President Bush (not accusing you - but others for sure), it was interpreted as being in agreement with everything he did. Not so.

In some cases I agree with you.  In others I do think we can safely say nothing negative is acceptable.  I've seen way to much evidence of that not to recognize it for what it is.  People are going to do what they think is best.  You can't convince them it isn't productive.  It's not my cup of tea so I avoid it the vast majority of the time.  And no, I'm not directing this to you either.

Many, many, many of us disagreed on specific issues (spending, immigration, etc.) but fought against the vile, infantile hate-filled spamming of threads that went on so often around here (and has happened even on this very thread, btw).

I do think there is frustration on both sides.  I think this causes both to overplay their hand to a certain degree.  I'm not going to address it more than that.

I am PROUD of my unflagging support of this man of impeccable integrity, and as I watch him in his post-presidency, I continue to be impressed with his love for others, his support of our military, his support of freedom, his love of country and his love of his Lord.

I want you to know something.  In private life, I'm not going to take Bush to task for things I was compelled to take him to task for when he was president.  Unless he makes a policy statement backing something I disagree with, his love of people and his relationship with God is his business.  I respect that.  Unfortunately, when you're the CIC, you can't rule by always granting the opposition a GP rating no matter what they do.  Sadly, in many instances, they truly don't mean well, and you have to go after them.  The Left does not play by Hoyle rules.

No disagreement on any issue is going to change my understanding, having watched him carefully for 10 years, of who this man really is. As I have observed others commenting on FR, I can truly say that I am more consistently conservative than almost anyone else (though not as angry as some), and that the people who hate the President most are, by and large, not across the board conservatives. Conservatism - the real thing - requires rational thought, and people who think rationally do not hate this man.

I do think there is some misconception on by sides here.  You state that a lot of Bush supporters really do get the border and spending thing.  Honestly, I haven't seen that.  When I took him to task on those issues, I got plenty of guff for it.  Some of the people who take Bush to task, are convinced they are going to get attacked for doing it, so they don't mince words and it seems like they hate him far more than they do, if they do at all.  There are also people who go a long way back with Bush, and they never saw him the way you do.  They knew he was going to do certain things they couldn't sign on to, and regretted him getting elected from day one.  While you can reasonably disagree with that take, I am not convinced they are any more unreasoned than you are due to their take on things.  You folks just see things differently.

I am very, very happy to see the recognition of his strength, the compliments from people who were very critical, and the understanding of almost every conservative that he provided the strength that America needed when we needed it most.

As I said eariler to you, or perhaps someone else, if you step into a thread where most people won't allow anything negative to be said about Bush without going for the throat, are you going to jump into that thread and make glorious rosy comments that have already been made five to twenty times, or are you going to voice the objection you would like to see addressed?  If these threads were not so incredibly lop-sided  in favor of Bush, and for some things that are certainly deserving, I think you would see a lot more people joining you to make the occassional favorable comment about him.  It would be mixed in with comments that were about 50/50 favorable and unfavorable on policy.  I doubt you'll agree with the ratio, but I do think there are legitmate questions to be raised.  I don't see that as negative though.

It has always been my premise, that it would be very healthy for Bush to see some reasoned objections to some of his policies, and why those objections made sense to people

It could have helped him avoid making some mistakes.  It works both ways too.  A healthy pro/con environment can help him see the issues broken down in a reasoned manner.

Good presidents don't want yes men around.  They want team players, but people who can think outside the box and at least present alternative ideas, even if they are over-ruled in the long run.  That's the way I've always seen objections here, as long as they were reasoned and could be debated reasonably.  I do admit that this doesn't always work due to problem people on both sides.  I've actually gotten worked up at times and not argued productively.  Hey, it happens.

Jehovah Jireh. And at the time of our direst need, HE provided George W. Bush.

While I don't have a problem with that in concept, it has been my experience in life that when we want something very bad, we often think it's God's will for that to take place.  I'm not trying to give you grief over Bush on this topic, because I don't want to make those types of arguments regarding him.  God's will is not always as easy to see as we would like to think it is, and I don't want to speak for Him regarind this man.  It's not an argument that I think men should argue definitively on a person that has good and bad traits.  That's just my take on it.

Hey, thanks for the response.  I appreciate the exchange.

113 posted on 05/06/2011 8:01:17 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Tell me you haven't asked yourself what mistake Obama made, that wound up causing Laden's death?)
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To: sickoflibs
[ Is this the first time we have complained about GWB here? Was it all a dream? ]

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..

114 posted on 05/06/2011 8:02:06 PM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole...)
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To: STARWISE

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!!


115 posted on 05/06/2011 8:04:09 PM PDT by 4integrity
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To: 4integrity
Today,for the first time, I heard someone say the ‘assaulters’....I thought....what..??? and then gave them the benefit of the doub

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.

116 posted on 05/06/2011 8:10:27 PM PDT by Steel Wolf ("There are moderate Muslims, but Islam itself is not moderate." - Ibn Warraq)
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To: DoughtyOne; stephenjohnbanker; rabscuttle385; hosepipe; STARWISE; NFHale; genetic homophobe; ...
RE “THEY HAVE FINALLY BLOWN IT! THEY ARE FOREVER MARKED AND ID’D HERE BY THEIR PERNICIOUS BABBLINGS. Remember their names for the future. I am. Enough is enough.

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 ‘ID’D HERE’ is that like caller ID? voter ID? Fingerprints? DNA? FoS?

117 posted on 05/06/2011 8:37:04 PM PDT by sickoflibs ("It's not the taxes, the redistribution is the federal spending=tax delayed")
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To: rabscuttle385; Jim Robinson

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.


118 posted on 05/06/2011 8:57:34 PM PDT by STARWISE (The overlords are in place .. we are a nation under siege .. pray, go Galt & hunker down)
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To: STARWISE

Ah....thanks for the smile on my face after seeing that again!


119 posted on 05/06/2011 9:05:33 PM PDT by NordP (COMMON SENSE CONSERVATIVES - Love of Country, Less Govt, Stop Spending, No Govt Run Health Care!!!)
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To: NordP

;)


120 posted on 05/06/2011 9:36:46 PM PDT by STARWISE (The overlords are in place .. we are a nation under siege .. pray, go Galt & hunker down)
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