No S**t Sherlock: Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledges that he hasn't found bin Laden

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Gates offers hope of Iraq withdrawals

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071222/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gates

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer Sat Dec 22, 6:55 AM ET

WASHINGTON - In a year marked by progress in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday acknowledged two bits of unfinished business in his first 12 months on the job: He has yet to close the Guantanamo Bay prison or find Osama bin Laden. Gates held out hope that if security gains hold, U.S. troop levels in Iraq can drop through next year. But with a nod to the increased attacks in parts of Afghanistan, he did not rule out a small uptick in U.S. troops there.

While Gates would not put a specific number on Iraq troop levels, he agreed a consistent reduction over the next 12 months would leave 10 brigades there — or roughly 100,000 troops — soon after American voters go to the polls for the 2008 presidential elections.

"My hope has been that the circumstances on the ground will continue to improve in a way that would — when General (David) Petraeus and the chiefs and Central Command do their analysis in March — allow a continuation of the drawdowns at roughly the same pace as the first half of the year," he said during a Pentagon news conference.

Gates acknowledged he still has not found a way to overcome the legal obstacles and shut down the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility where 285 suspected terrorists are being held — some for as many as six years. "I think that the principal obstacle has been resolving a lot of the legal issues associated with closing Guantanamo and what you do with the prisoners when they come back," he said. "So, I would say that the honest answer is that because of some of these legal concerns ... there has not been much progress in this respect." At the same time, U.S. military forces have not found bin Laden, the man responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Bush 'Not Concerned' about Bin Laden in '02

By Maura Reynolds
The Los Angeles Times

Thursday 14 October 2004



http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/101504W.shtml

WASHINGTON - Sen. John F. Kerry caught President Bush off guard during their final debate Wednesday night, asserting that the president once said he was "not concerned" about hunting down Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

In one of the testiest moments of the evening, Bush protested, "I don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. That's kind of one of those exaggerations."

But during a news conference at the White House on March 13, 2002, Bush said something close to what Kerry quoted. "I truly am not that concerned about him," the president said, according to the official White House transcript.

The exchange between Bush and Kerry came during rebuttals to the first question of the debate, when moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS News asked Kerry whether the United States would regain the sense of security it had before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"Six months after he said Osama bin Laden must be caught dead or alive, this president was asked, 'Where's Osama bin Laden?' " Kerry said. "He said, 'I don't know. I don't really think about him very much. I'm not that concerned.' We need a president who stays deadly focused on the real war on terror."

Bush's original comment came while U.S. forces in Afghanistan were searching for the Al Qaeda leader, who had eluded joint American-Afghan military operations designed to find him.

"We haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is," Bush said during the 2002 news conference. "I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run.

"I was concerned about him when he had taken over a country," Bush continued. "I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban. But once we set out the policy and started executing the plan, he became - we shoved him out more and more on the margins. He has no place to train his Al Qaeda killers anymore."

[cloudbase]

1. Too much time in Aggieland. n/t

[Xipe Totec]

2. He can't even find his nose with his own finger

what hope do we have that he'll ever find Osama?

:shrug:

[ColbertWatcher]

3. Unpossible. n/t

[Rincewind]

4. Find bin Laden?

Easy, go to a certain pig farm near Crawford Texas, ask for "Tommy".