Seven years have gone by since President George Bush in the flush of victory in Afghanistan promised the American people he would get Osama bin Laden, dead or alive. Osama is still alive and Bush is dead as president of the United States leaving that office with the lowest rating of any president in history. CIA Director Michael Hayden told the Atlantic Council that Osama bin Laden is hiding somewhere in the mountains of Afghanistan near the Pakistan border and now appears to be isolated from day-by-day operations of al-Qaeda. According to Hayden, the problem is the spread of al-Qaeda to other regions of the world including Asia, Africa and other parts of the Middle East.
The CIA Director ignored why al-Qaeda is spreading all over the world. If he could speak honestly, the reason is clear–George Bush’s disastrous war in Iraq enabled al-Qaeda to obtain volunteers from Muslim nations in the world and to give them excellent training in sabotage, guerrilla warfare tactics and death and destruction. Hayden still buys into the Bush belief that capturing Osama bin Laden “clearly would have an impact on the confidence of his follower.” Why? They are doing well without him in an active leadership role.
