"Fantastic,'' Bush says upon hearing news of arrest

Associated Press | March 1, 2003 | JENNIFER LOVEN

[HAL9000]

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush celebrated a major success in the fight against terrorism Saturday with the arrest of the al-Qaida operative suspected of planning the Sept. 11 attacks.

"That's fantastic!" the president said early Saturday when his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, delivered the news of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's capture in Pakistan.

Mohammed was arrested early Saturday in a raid conducted jointly by American and Pakistani officials. It was unclear whether Mohammed had been taken into U.S. custody or where he was being held.

It was midnight Friday when CIA Director George Tenet first called Rice, who was staying at Camp David with the president and first lady, to say that authorities were "pretty certain" they had Mohammed and two others, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.

The confirmation came first thing Saturday and Rice called from her cabin to Bush's at the Maryland mountain retreat.

"It's hard to overstate how significant this is," Fleischer said. "It's a wonderful blow to inflict on al-Qaida."

Fleischer described Mohammed as a "savvy operational planner" of the terrorist network and a nuts-and-bolts leader. Bush, portrayed as "pumped up" by a senior aide, characterized Mohammed as a "whale" of a get in the hunt for terrorists.

A White House statement accused Mohammed of masterminding the attacks on Washington and New York and of being "centrally involved" in al-Qaida plotting since then for attacks inside the United States.

"This is a great success today, but the war on terrorism goes on tomorrow," said U.S. Central Command spokesman Jim Wilkinson. "There's still a lot of work to do."

Fleischer said it is too early for decisions about how Mohammed's case might be handled and whether he might be the first defendant Bush designates for trial before a military tribunal. A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the prospect of holding someone accountable for the Sept. 11 attacks was tantalizing, but that the president's priority was first to get as much information from Mohammed as possible about the continuing threat.

Officials would not comment on where Mohammed would be interrogated or whether he was to be brought to the United States.

[The Electrician]

"Fantastic,'' Bush says upon hearing news of arrest

The article didn't go far enough - I imagine that the rest of it might have had a sentence or two such as "Oh, no, that's terrible", Daschle said upon hearing news of the arrest...

[Brad’s Gramma]

You have a rare disease called FRitis. You need to log off, turn OFF your computer, go outside and take a deep breath.

Stay away from the news.

Smell the roses.

Smile at someone. Anyone.

And relax. God's in control.

[ThreePuttinDude]

We're doing our part in S/W Florida. We just had a very positive action against one of the Palestinian terrorists, Sami Al-Arian. A great many people in the Tampa area are keeping their eyes open and watching for anything out of the ordinary. I live just blocks from the airport that Atta was training, and it scared the he11 out of us....

[Xthe17th]

HANG 'EM HIGH!

[ThreePuttinDude]

We're doing our part in S/W Florida. We just had a very positive action against one of the Palestinian terrorists, Sami Al-Arian. A great many people in the Tampa area are keeping their eyes open and watching for anything out of the ordinary. I live just blocks from the airport that Atta was training, and it scared the he11 out of us....

[tet68]

Someone talk me down and tell me it will be all right.

Here take this Thorizine suppository and tie this plastic bag over your head. Now deep breaths, deep, deep.

wink.

[Shooter 2.5]

Extra Crispy.

[cardinal4]

Imagine if Al Whore was in the White House right now ! Our country would be be an islamic caliphate by now.

Or a Chi-Com satelite.....

[KriegerGeist]

"Roundin' 'em up, one at a time..."

Just like in the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", when the Pinkertons were chasing them...Sundance kept looking back saying "who are those guys...?"

[KriegerGeist]

"How do you like your terrorist? grilled or fried?"

In the pot of cold oil with the heat gradually turned up to the deep frying point...
BUT, after he gives up the location of Oh-Mamma bin Slabbin and a bunch of his Al-Kyda buddies...beats lookin all over Ash-can-istan and Iraq and Iran and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for them...

Perhaps, they can even squeeze (literally) some of the locations and plans of more Al-Kyda here in the U.S. of A....

You never know...CIA have vays to extract information...I saw it on the TV show Alias.

[jpthomas]

From a Reuters story: A Pakistani newspaper ... said investigators believed Mohammed was the man who slit the throat of U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl in front of a camera after the journalist disappeared in Karachi last January while investigating a story on Islamic extremists.

This is the SOB who butchered Daniel Pearl. This is indeed a fantastic day.

[anniegetyourgun]

Ah, but there probably are Leftists in this country who are upset over this. I fully expect the usual suspect attorneys to be up in arms over his 'treatment' under U.S. law. Mark my words....I can hear it now....this Mohammedan will actually find support from some so-called Americans.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Isn't that what Sadam said?

[Mister Baredog]

Someone talk me down and tell me it will be all right. Just losing patience and doubt is creeping in...help me my fellow freepers...

Get a grip dude! It won't be long now, just keep the faith afterall you know whose on the side of the angels in all of this RIGHT

[ohioWfan]

Perfect advice, BG! Take it, sheamanski!

Hours seem like days, days seem like weeks, weeks seem like months when you're waiting for something to happen. It really hasn't been that long.

God IS in control. Relax. (Advice I give myself at least once a day.....)

[Brad’s Gramma]

I haven't a clue.

Is it?

[ohioWfan]

Scuse me, Joe......was that supposed to be funny?

[cubreporter]

Gotta love those cowboys! :)))

[cubreporter]

Trust your President. He's gonna do what is right and SOON!