Could it be that the terrorists are waiting for Bush to be gone and for Hillary to take over? They are notoriously patient. Hell, they’ve been waiting since the last Crusade 500 years ago to restart the war on Christianity and the West.
There are indications that Osama Bin Laden was very shaken by America's response to 9/11. He apparently thought that we would continue Bill Clinton's policy of speaking endlessly (ala the U.N.) of stopping terrorism, but not actually doing anything about it.
I've heard reports that Osama was shocked by President Bush's almost immediate, decimating attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan after 9/11. He must have been amazed when we went to Iraq, too. He was apparently counting on the fact that, like George H.W. Bush not actually going all the way to Baghdad in the first Gulf War, and Bill Clinton prattling endlessly, but only using force when there was no risk involved and/or it suited his political purposes, President George W. Bush would do the same.
That is what he meant when he spoke of America being "soft": we wouldn't resort to all-out war.
Be that as it may, why do you think that we haven't been attacked on American soil since 9/11?
I have a lot of respect for the CIA and the FBI, but do you think that, with 1 million illegal aliens coming across the border every year, that one, single suicide bomber couldn't make it across, find some explosives and blow up a mall?
That's absolutely illogical.
My guess is that Osama has seen the destruction that President Bush has rained down upon his forces and doesn't want to give him an excuse to go further.
But if he's patient, there's a very good chance that, in just 3 more years, there will be another Clinton in office (or just another Democrat) who will be adverse to using the military on any grand scale.
I've heard plenty of people who are frightened of what Hillary would do domestically, and rightly so. But can you imagine what this woman, this ex-hippie, military-hating feminist from the 60's would do if handed the "War on Terror"?
I really can't imagine what she would do. The one thing that I can imagine is that she wouldn't prosecute the war. She, personally, hates the military. Her base hates the military. There's no way on this earth that she'd fight this war.
That needs to be the message put out there even before she begins her campaign in earnest.
Interesting proposition. Osama does take the long-term view, so maybe you're right. On the other hand, I think he and his cult are so steeped in a fantasy ideology that trying to guess what he might be thinking is like trying to guess what Howard Dean's going to say next: no rational person has a clue.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that OBL will try to reassert himself close to the election (the Madrid strategy)- and as a result Americans will demand a president that will bring the full force of the military onto OBL.
ReplyDeleteWhich is why I still like Condi and/or Rudy.