Joan Walsh: How the Iraq war saved bin Laden's life

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 18:11 ET
Joan Walsh
How the Iraq war saved bin Laden's life
Bush shifted resources from the Osama hunt into a needless war. It's time to wind down both wars now.
By Joan Walsh



http://www.salon.com/news/osama_bin_laden/index.html?story=/opinion/walsh/politics/2011/05/10/iraq_war_saved_bin_laden

One particular statement by President Bush about Osama bin Laden has gotten a lot of play this week, because it encapsulates so much that was wrong with his presidency. You've really got to hear it, complete with frat-boy snorts and chuckles:



I was asked to react to the quote on MSNBC last week, and I focused on the rich-kid arrogance and denial you hear in Bush's claim. But in light of revelations about how the Bush administration essentially dropped its bin Laden hunt to plan and execute its war with Iraq, the quote, "I really just don't spend that much time on him, to be honest with you," has a chilling new meaning. It turned out to be true, and who knows how many thousands Americans, Iraqis and terror victims are dead because the former president changed course in 2002 and made "the scope of the mission" an unrelated and unnecessary war with Iraq.

On Monday the Washington Post reported about a number of times U.S. military officials were asked for troops or equipment to go after bin Laden, and didn't provide it, at least partly because they were distracted by Iraq. The best-known example is when bin Laden was located in a cave in Tora Bora in December, 2001. Special Forces requested more troops on the ground, and didn't get them. Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf was asked to move his troops in, and he asked for air cover, and didn't get it. Wendy Chamberlin, then U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, told the Post she later realized Franks was already "planning for Iraq," she said. "Even if he could have helped out, he was already starting to have to reshuffle." Lt. Gen. John Vines told The Washington Post in 2006 that he had troops within close to catching up to bin Laden, and asked for drones to cover escape routes. "But only one drone was available - others had been moved to Iraq," the Post reported. Bin Laden got away.