Then by that logic, Clinton must have done a woeful job since he failed to get Bin Laden despite the fact his group engineered the first bombing attempt on the WTC in 1993. A month after Clinton was inaugurated. >>

Whatta hoot! Of course most of the planning, reconnaissance, logistics, funding, etc for that 1993 attack would have occurred before Clinton took office, when GHW — Dohh!

When a contractor gets his head chopped off in Iraq, why isn’t that a terrorist attack? When a bomb goes off in the green zone, how is that a combat operation? When our consulate is bombed in Karachi, why doesn’t that count? When Anthrax is sent in the mail killing a few and causing a post office panic why doesn’t that count? When a mosque is bombed in Cincinatti why doesn’t that count? When our military allies involved in Iraq are subject to massive terror attacks, why doesn’t that count? If a soldier is killed during a combat operation by the opposition on what you term the front line of the War on Terror, why doesn’t that count?

Rah Rah Rah DrDoper. A simple fact on the causes of terrorism: it isn’t the left that simplifies the roots of terrorism, it’s the right (they hate us because of our Freedom). Now you have just taken the leap that exactly shows why Bush’s illegal wiretaps are so dangerous. He views the democrats to be a bigger threat to his power than terrorists. It’s why his new CIA chief was purging personel, not because of competency or job performance, but for not having kool-aid loyalty to Bush. And that is across the board behavior in his administration. I would have to say that blindly cheering on his gross incompetency and naked power grabbing is more dangerous to this country than anything else.

And I didn’t miss the point, you did. In WWII the country came together to win the war. Now we have the democrats flying off the handle all over the place trying to triangulate themselves into some sort of a political win, regardless of what that does to our fight. Like I said, when our enemies are using the same stats and arguments as the democrats, well, maybe that is a sign that the democrats are our enemies?

Put away your Bush-hatred and think of the good of the country for once

We had the chance to get Osama, and if that meant killing a few innocent people, so be it.

Then again, OBL didn’t kill 3,000 people in New York on his watch either.

Then by that logic, Clinton must have done a woeful job since he failed to get Bin Laden despite the fact his group engineered the first bombing attempt on the WTC in 1993. A month after Clinton was inaugurated.

“We just need a few more good men like this guy Murtha, and we will be back in the falafal! Just have to get those pesky Marines outta here so we can get back to building bombs in peace…” LOL

Have the people responsible been brought to justice?

Is that the way we should measure success?
Back in September 2001, didn’t we hear that the people responsible would be “brought to justice”? Does that lack of an encore performance mean thay have been brought to justice? Were the people responsible in Iraq?

Well no. And no. And no.

I understand it’s “hard work”.

But four years and four months after Pearl Harbor, we didn’t hear anyone crowing that there had been no more Japanese attacks in (against) the US since Pearl Harbor. But that was probably because the war had been over for eight months already.

Pearl Harbor is a great example john. You also didn’t have the minority party in the US screeching about quagmires, and worrying that we were listening in on the Japanese did we John? Well maybe one or two, who were then imprisoned for sedition or treason….

Thanks for your twisted leftist viewpoint though….

The american people on the other hand are going to start to realize that for all the screeching about being “patriots”, the democrats are nothing but self-serving opportunists whose goals mirror those of al qaeda when it comes time for elections.

To further clarify the conflict: There can be no “central front” in fourth-generation, asymmetrical warfare.

“…Sadly, there were more American journalists on the ground at the battle of Tora Bora than there were U.S. Soldiers. The battle was a missed opportunity to bring bin Laden to justice.

And where is he today? The short answer is that no one really knows.

(snip)

However judging from his most recent videotape appearance, it seems unlikely that al-Qaeda’s leader has spent four years cowering in a cave. On the tape he appears healthy, rested, well informed and well dressed.”

Peter L. Bergen
From the Vanity Fair excerpt “From the Shadows–An Oral History of Osama bin Laden” (January 2006)

1. There were no terrorists attacks against the United States after the 1993 WTC bombing and before 9/11 aside from OK City. Because for some reason, even though being in a US embassy abroad is no different than being in the US as all US laws apply, it’s not part of the United States. Neither are our military bases or warships. Yet Oliver says the terrorist attacks in Bali were against “the west” because there were some tourists there.

2. Soldiers, fighting in a war, are victims of “terrorist attacks.” Of course, I don’t remember them using that term when a soldier was killed in Afghanistan.

3. Fighting terrorists on a central front is bad. Disbursing tens of thousands of soldiers around the world to become victims of terrorist attacks (see point 2) is bad.

4. There is no distinction between a soldier being killed who is actively engaging in combat operations and one who is hanging out while their warship is re-fueling. They both either have to be victims of terrorist attacks or not. That pretzel logic is akin to saying that anybody who is killed is a murder victim, even though one death could have been the result of somebody else acting in self-defense.

5. The fact that there have been no terrorist attacks in the United States, against re-fueling warships, embassies, or other US property is proof that Bush is doing a lousy job.

6. A tape where Osama bin Laden is reduced to quoting poll numbers and offering a truce is a terrible thing and means Bush is a terrible President.

Yea, the democrats aren’t the party of sedition and rendering comfort to the enemy…..

I can’t wait for a republican ad campaign using OBL and the democrats side to side….

See Jay C #6 above…

So is the end game defeating islamofacists on their own soil? Will we be done with the war on terror then? How will we know it’s done? No more Islam?

Look, as a libertarian I feel the need to ask these questions. Where is my money going? When can I stop paying? Freedom isn’t free and it’s not cheap either.

It’s kind of like hiring a gardner. You can ask ‘when will your work be done?’ If he answers ‘As soon as your yard is beautiful’ you might have a problem.

BTW I’m by no means advocating time tables with that last statement. My point is that you must have some sort of realistic obtainable goal when at war, or when hiring a gardner for that matter ;>).